As our lives become more sedentary, it’s important to actively plan exercise and other family activities into our daily and weekly routines. You will be surprised how much fun you can share together when you turn what was once a boring and frustrating chore into a family fun activity that gets the heart pumping!
In this article, we bring you nine great ideas on how to start exercising for families of all ages, strengthening the emerging motor skills of youngsters and keeping the rusty old hips turning in the adults! Let’s get into it.
Dance your way to fitness!
Dancing is a fantastic way to stay fit for people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. It has a wide range of mental and physical benefits, helping to lift your spirits while getting the blood pumping and the muscles working.
For the youngsters, dancing is also said to improve their social, communication, and teamwork skills, as well as helping to reduce the fear related to performing in front of an audience.
What are you waiting for, get your favorite tunes on and get dancing!
Make a game out of the household chores
Chores – every kid’s worst nightmare. We all know they have to be done, but that doesn’t make it any easier. But what if you could turn your household chores into a fun game for all the family? Here are some fun ideas for cheering up chore time:
- Get kid-sized cleaning supplies
- Create a competition chart and keep score
- Turn the chores into a race
- Hide treats or snacks around the house and ask your kids to dust for you
- Create a “10-minute tidy up time” each day
Have a family sports night
Schedule a family sports night at least once a week. Mix up the activities and make sure everyone gets a shot at winning or being the center of the attention. It’s a great way to build confidence, get some family bonding time, and improve your kids’ sporting skills.
To keep the momentum going, keep a weekly, monthly, or yearly scoreboard and give out prizes to the winner and participants.
What could be better than exercising as a family and keeping all the people you love fit and healthy? Well, doing it for a charity, of course!
Do a charity walk or run
What could be better than exercising as a family and keeping all the people you love fit and healthy? Well, doing it for a charity, of course!
Do a quick search of local walks or races and get everybody to take part in the fundraising. You can pick an ace that suits everybody and turn it into one big feel-good event! Don’t forget to use headbands during a workout to make sure you look as professional as possible!
Take the dog for a walk
If you are lucky enough to have a dog as part of your family, you have the perfect excuse to exercise each day! Get your kids to take your four-legged friend for a walk, or even better, go out as a family and explore some new places around your home.
Take a bike ride
Bike rides are an excellent family activity. They’re fun, easy on the joints, and you can explore a wide range of places both near and far from your home. Getting your kids peddling from a young age can help them build up the key motor skills needed for day to day life while encouraging a positive mental attitude.
It’s fun, it’s outdoors, and it’s free, what more could you ask for?
Go swimming as a family
Swimming is another great activity to take part in as a family. The kids will love it and you can help them develop a key life skill that is hugely important to their safety. Swimming is a full-body workout that gets the blood pumping and almost every muscle is activated, plus it’s easy on the joints, making it a great activity for both the young and the old.
Try to limit screen time
According to a recent report, “American 8-to-12-year-olds spent 4 hours and 44 minutes on screen media each day. And teens average 7 hours and 22 minutes.” Unfortunately, more screen time means less time outdoors and less time exercising. Two vital needs that we all seem to neglect nowadays.
At least once a week, try to schedule in a phone-free zone, limit the screen time, and get outdoors together as a family.
Swap out short car journeys and commutes for walks or bike rides
Last but not least, here is a healthy habit that we should put into practice more often. If you have a regular commute or a journey that you need to take, try, and consider if you could get there on foot or by bicycle first.
Too often, we simply hop into the car and mindlessly drive to our destination, but what if we could use this as our key daily exercise time? It burns calories, gets the muscles moving, and it’s also environmentally friendly. GIve it a try next time you need to head out somewhere.
Thanks for reading!
