First Aid Friday: Child-friendly Exercises

Part of being self-reliant is taking care of our health.  Below are some fun ideas for getting kids and ourselves to move and exercise:

Play at the park, in the snow, at the beach...  Play sports.  Jump rope, hoola hoop.  Hike.  Bike.  Play monster--chase each other around while the monster eats (tickles) the ones caught.  Play tag--freeze tag, buddy tag, etc.  Play leap frog.  Play in the sprinkler.  Jump on a trampoline.

Run/walk relay races; make them fun by imitating animal movements:  walk like a lion, leap like a frog, crawl like an inchworm, waddle like a duck, stroll like a giraffe, walk like a dog with only 3 legs, hop like a kangaroo, flap like a bird, do the funky chicken, snap like an alligator, sideways walk like a crab.  Imitate other things:  dig like a giant excavator, push like a bulldozer, swing like a wrecking ball, bounce like a jack-hammer...  Walk with a book on your head, an egg on a spoon or on your foot.

Make exercise routines that include what the kids are learning--Have the kids count, dictate/recite the ABC's, poems, etc while doing reps--jumping on a trampoline, lifting weights, doing sit-ups/crunches/push-ups, while jump roping, etc.

When cleaning:  imitate being "the claw" (like on Disney's Toy Story).  Imitate being bulldozers and excavators.  Have a race--who can pick up and put away 10 things first (let the kids win with great drama in favor of the kid, indicating that your sure you'll win next time...); do Karate Kid--wipe on/wipe off; wax on/wax off imitations.  Play I-spy:  spy a color of an item needing to be put away and then race to put everything that is that color away until get the right object, taking turns choosing.

Help a neighbor--yard or housework, some reason helping others with this kind of work is always better than having to clean your own mess!  and the kids enjoy helping, usually.

Tin-can Stilts:  Get 2 cans of the same size and tape any sharp edges.  Using a nail, punch a hole on both sides of the side of the can near the bottom.  Cut 2 long pieces of yarn and run it through the holes, tie a not to make connect the yarn into a continuous string.  Turn the cans upside down and walk while standing on the cans and holding onto the yarn handles.

Hope these are some fun and new ideas for having fun and getting more exercise and movement into our days.  Exercise doesn't have to be the worst part of the day.  Just remember to do it at your own pace, remember you should be able to hold a conversation even while running, if you are too out of breath to talk, you are pushing yourself too hard.  Keep yourself hydrated, and warm up and cool down to allow your muscles & body time to adjust to vigorous exercise.  It is my belief that when we are taking care of our bodies, when we do get sick, we are able to recover better than if we aren't taking care of our bodies; besides that we will get sick less when we are taking care of our health.