Image by Mish Mish via Flickr
Exercise for children should be fun. In fact it should be fun for everyone because that is how you make the habit stick. Human nature is to do what we like the best over and over again. Let’s beat the childhood obesity epidemic and provide fitness activities that are fun for our kids.
Here are 5 great exercise and fun based games for kids of all ages, but 2-6 year-olds really get a kick out of them.
- Red Light, Green Light – this is a wonderful fitness activity game for the littlest in the gang. It teaches them to listen to a leader’s voice and respond accordingly, instantly. Some people call it the stop and go game because it teaches kids to respond quickly to those words. Either one will work. You could do one of each on different days. Gather all the children together in a safe play area where there is plenty of room for them to run. You, the leader, yell out either “green light” of “go” and they run around like crazy until you yell “red light” or “stop”. Children who don’t respond correctly are asked to sit out. The last one standing is the winner…if you want to make it competitive. If you have mostly 2 or 3 year-olds I would suggest you just make it about listening and being active rather than winning.
- Tag – the two-year-olds in the group might not be able to keep up with the older kids so if you have a mix of ages I suggest you conspire with the older ones so they can make it fun for the wee ones. I generally don’t make it a win-lose scenario. Just let them run and have fun. The rules haven’t changed since you played it. Everyone is active; lots of quick stops and starts and direction changes…and laughing. Take part, be active with them and the little ones will quickly catch on.
- Follow the Leader – depending on the leader this game can teach a myriad of skills without the children even knowing there is a lesson. Just let them try to follow the leader, doing what they do to the best of their ability. You might want to be the fitness activity leader first to give them some ideas of what the leader can do…hopping, jumping, skipping, running, backwards movement, sideways, lead a train and run all around, make certain noises while moving. Just be silly, move and have fun.
- Jumping Rope – this isn’t the kind of jumping rope you may be thinking of. Put about a cup of dried beans or peas in an old sock and tie a knot in it. To this knot tie a length of light rope or strong string about 8-12 feet long. Now swing this around you in a circular motion and have the young athletes jump over the rope when it gets to them. The two and three-year-olds will just be learning to jump so go really slow for them until they get the hang of it. Encourage the older ones to help the younger ones in the spirit of cooperation rather than competition. No winners or losers, just have fun.
- Soccer – you don’t need a soccer pitch for this. Your back yard or the outfield of a baseball diamond will do. The littlest fit kids will just be getting good at running so for them you have to stop the ball in front of them and just encourage them to kick it. I set up a goal of some sort…it’s usually a pile of jackets and a carriage or a light standard and something else. You begin to teach about direction and passing to the older athletes. This is an amazing game for kids’ fitness…great cardio. Just keep it really positive for the little ones with lots of opportunity for success and wild and crazy cheering. Since they are the littlest and the slowest runners they can easily get frustrated. If they get to whining and wailing I just put them in goal and give them a very important job! Again, no competition.
If you play each of these games for 5 minutes only you will have completed 25 minutes pretty high cardio exercise …for the kids and you. Yep, you play too. And if you go to a park there has to be at least 5 minutes of the slides and swings and other playground equipment…there’s your 30 minutes for the day.
Fit Kids and Food 