Keeping your family fit and healthy can sometimes seem like an uphill battle especially if you have one or more fussy eaters on your hands and even more so if your family aren’t exactly enamored by exercise. However, we all know that, as parents, it is our most vital duty to ensure that our kids grow up fit and healthy and that we maintain a healthy lifestyle so that we can be there to support them for as long as possible.
Luckily, even if you have a family of exercise-hating couch potatoes on your hands, you can get them hooked on activity, you just need to find that sweet spot where family fun and fitness collide. Here are some ideas of fun family activities to help you with that:
Just Play
You might not think so, but the simple act of playing can burn up quite a few activities, especially if you’re doing something like playing hide and seek, hitting a baseball around, pushing each other on the swings or even playing interactive video games in the Wii or Nintendo Switch. So, be sure to schedule in at least one hour of family play each day if you want to ensure that you all stay fit and have fun.
Hula Hoop
If you have kids who balk at the idea of going for a run or have very little interest in sports, you might have more success getting them to move around by buying them a hula hoop. Hula hoops can be purchased to suit all shapes and sizes so that the whole family can have fun together, and if you have competitive kids, you can even turn it into a competition by seeing who can master a new trick first.
Buy a Trampoline
Trampolines are not only great fun – I mean who doesn’t love jumping up and down feeling the wind in their face? – But they are also very good at burning calories, and kids love them. Buying one of The 7 Best Rebounder Trampolines of 2017, therefore, could be one of the smartest investments you ever make. It’ll certainly encourage the family to go outside and move around more!
Start Cycling
You might have paid a lot for the family car, and you might think that you should use it for every journey you make, but you know what, making as many journeys as you can by bike will make you all healthier as a family. If you don’t already have bikes, you can pick them up used on platforms like Craigslist, so it needn’t be too expensive, but do make sure that you buy new helmets, so that you can ensure the safety of your family on the road, and of course, take the time to teach your kids the rules of the road and safe cycling practices if they are going to be allowed out on their bikes without you.
Dance
What could be more fun than a family dance night to get you all moving around burning calories? Fire up iTunes, let each member of the family add a few of their favorite jams to the playlist and get your boogie on. The kids might cringe at your outdated dance moves, but they’ll have a lot of fun showing you how it’s done today, too.
Hike
Family hikes make for fun times. It’s just you and the kids out in nature, exploring the beauty of the country and getting lots of fresh air and exercise. Take along a tent, and you’ll have even more fun relaxing around the campfire telling scary stories when the walking is over.
Visit the Beach
If you live near the sea, packing the family up and taking them for a day at the beach is a great way to increase their fitness levels with stealth. They won’t realize they’re getting lots of healthy exercise as they climb the cliffs, swim in the sea and hunt for interesting critters in the rock pools, but they will be and so will you as you try to keep up with them.
Go Shopping
If you’re the kind of family who loves to shop, instead of ordering everything you need online, make an effort to go out to the city center of the local mall and actually physically shop. The combination of walking and carrying heavy bags will give you a great full body workout while you do something you really love.
Visit the Forest
Forests are wonderful places and visiting them has been proven to relieve stress and foster a sense of wellbeing. Not only that but exploring the average forest sure does burn up a lot of calories. Climbing hills and trees, walking the trails and searching for rare birds really can give you a great workout, but because the surroundings are so beautiful and there’s so much to do, you really don’t notice it.
Give Geocaching a Go
Geocaching and other app-based exploration games like Pokémon Go can be great fun for all the family, and all you need is at least one smartphone to get started. You’ll have so much fun running around the neighborhood looking for hidden treasures or your favorite Pokémon that the time will fly by in a flash without any of you even thinking about that lovely comfy couch back home like you usually would.
Gardening
You might not think that your kids would be interested in gardening, but give it a try and you might just be surprised. Children of any age can find something to enjoy in the garden, whether it’s planting a flower and watching it grow, creating bonsai trees from saplings or chasing butterflies, and most of these activities will help them to stay fit, burn calories and of course, get more fresh air – all of which will help to promote their good health and your if you help out with the digging and weeding at the weekends.
Do you consider your family to be a fit one? What kind of fun fitness activities do you do together?
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love comments. Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to talk to you further