10 Ways to Encourage Exercise for Kids

Promoting daily activity or exercise is important for kids to achieve optimal health. There are so many benefits to moving around. It encourages circulation, enhances brain function, creates happy feelings and reduces pain, improves metabolism and bone health, tones/strengthens muscles, and more!

Here is a list of 10 ways to encourage kids to get moving:

1. Create a list of activities that require movement that you and your child(ren) love to do! This makes it easy when trying to plan something for exercise.
2. Require exercise before screen time and limit the time they look at screens (TV’s, phones, computers, ipads, etc). Consider breaks every 10 minutes to move around.
3. If you exercise, figure out a way to have your child(ren) exercise at the same time. For example, I run my dog in the morning and my children ride their bikes with me. My daughter also loves to do floor exercises with me in the home.
4. Play games with them outside like jump rope, hop scotch, Frisbee, Chinese jump rope.
5. Go to the park and play tag with them, go to the beach and swim around, go for a walk around the block, or go for a bike ride together. On rainy days, go to an indoor playground area.
6. Have them help you with chores around the house.
7. Chase them around the house or surprise them with a nerf attack!
8. Have them be involved in weekly sports.
9. Walk or ride bikes to and from stores, activities, friends homes, and school.
10. Get a dog for them to play with, bond with, chase around, and walk/run around the block.

If you would like to learn more about how to improve children’s health, contact me for an appointment. I will make recommendations that are individualized to your child’s needs based on health concerns and family health history.