Winter is such a wonderful time! All the white snow outside makes it perfect cuddling weather. It’s so nice to stay indoors and sit by a cozy fire. However, with all the holidays and the sitting around fires, it’s easy for children to become less active. It’s important for children to exercise and stay active while they’re young so that they’ll develop good habits throughout their lives. Here are 7 awesome ways to give children exercise in the Winter.
Ways to Give Children Exercise in the Winter
Play Outside
Yes, it’s cold outside, but when has that stopped children from having some fun? Make sure they have warm coats, gloves, and hats then send them on their way. Provide carrot sticks for snowmen noses and have a snowman building contest. Make forts, snowballs, and igloos. Your kids will have a great time and they’ll get lots of fresh air and exercise too.
Shovel
You don’t have to do all the shoveling yourself. Have your kids help you if they’re old enough. Smaller kids love having smaller shovels to help with. Let them help you move all the snow out of the driveway or do some service and shovel someone else’s driveway too. Shoveling is great exercise and it’ll warm you up quickly. Just make sure that your child knows how to lift snow properly so that they don’t get hurt.
Have a Dance Party
Make some room for a dance party by moving furniture out of the way and blast some of your kids’ favorite music. Let them have a good time being silly and making up their own dance moves. They’ll love moving to the beat and creating a fun party. Before you know it, they’ll start to get sweaty. Dancing is great exercise and dancing like a kid is even better exercise.
Just Exercise!
Lead by example and show your children how important it is to be active. Ask them to join you in a workout and have them do what you do. Do jumping jacks, sit-ups, pushups, squats or just jump around! See if they can do what you do. Tell them that exercising helps make them strong, then they’ll want to keep exercising with you!
Play Simon Says
If your children don’t feel like exercising then make it into a game. Playing Simon says is a good way to get in some exercise without your kids really noticing. Whenever you’re Simon, make sure that you do some good exercise movements to help your children raise their heart rates. They’ll have a lot of fun and they’ll be exercising too, although they won’t notice.
Summing Up
Although Winter is a great time to stay indoors, it shouldn’t mean your family stops being active. Exercise in the Winter is important because it’ll help you stay active year round. When your children exercise in the Winter their bodies will fight off illnesses more effectively, they’ll stay fit, and they’ll be less prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder. Use these ways to exercise in the Winter and your children will have fun and be healthier.
