Skating and Exercising: What Fun!

You see them everywhere - parents and kids playing ball in a park, mothers with infants in jogging strollers loping through neighborhoods and kiddos on bikes or "blades" heading down the sidewalks. Getting fit doesn't have to mean time away from your child. In fact, being active with your kids teaches them to make exercise a lifelong habit.

Here are some fun ideas to share with your children:

Moving to the music can be a fun indoor/outdoor sport. Put on some lively music and create ideas for activities such as "pretend to be a bird hopping around and building a nest", "blowing like the wind as if you were a kite (carry a scarf and let it billow) or "pretend you are a professional dancer and put on a show." Anything is fun to do with music playing in the background.

Skating is an all-time favorite for kids and adults alike. Bring out the shoe skates or even better yet, these new fit on the shoe NEON Street Rollers from Yvolution. New to the market are adjustable heel skates that easily fit you’re your child’s shoes and feature innovative wheel technology with bright light-up LEDs in pink, blue or green, which glow with each turn of the wheel, no batteries needed. Kids are able to control how fast they ride and simply put their foot down to stop, very easy to master this technique. NEON Street Rollers are recommended for ages six and up, with a maximum weight of 132 pounds. Buy these skates online or your local retailer. Think about skates as a holiday gift. Your kids will love them. 

Let the ball call the shots. Blow up a small plastic beach ball and write movement ideas (with stick figures) on the sections with a black permanent marker. Throw the ball to each other. Have the kids read the action by looking under their right hand when catching the ball and doing the motion marked. Agree upon the number of times to do each action.

Make exercising an incentive by changing the "challenges" daily. Children will be eager to see what's posted on the family bulletin board (say in the kitchen) and to be more interested in exercising. You may wish to let the kids make fitness necklaces or bracelets to be punched with a hole punch when a certain activity is completed. Use this idea to accumulate points for a special prize or treat.

NEON Street Rollers – information and sample from the manufacturer. I was not compensated for this review.

Until my next post.

Happy Parenting,

Tania :)