When we think of family exercise it’s easy to attach negative connotations. When I was a kid, if there wasn’t some form of ball attached to the activity, I found it boring. Use this time to bond and grow as a family. One practice that has proven effective with the girls’ soccer team is called “gratitude groups.” We take 3-5 minutes at the beginning of practice and the girls partner up with someone and they share three things that they are thankful for from that day. It is amazing to see their attitudes change while they are doing this. Expressing gratitude while doing some fun family exercises is a great way to bond with your children during these crazy times. Even if you are in the house for the majority of the day, we can all find three things to be thankful for. We have so much in this life, and it is a good reminder to us as to what God has blessed us with.
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” ~ 1 Chronicles 16: 8-11
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” ~ Colossians 3:15
AND BE THANKFUL
This issue brought to you by Eric Osberg
Keeping Kids Active at Home
Here is an article that gives some context about what staying at home is and has done with children on screens and some easy things we can do as parents to help them out. Use the button to read the full article, or see an excerpt below.
WANT TO KEEP KIDS ACTIVE AT HOME? MAKE IT LIKE PLAYTIME
by Gretchen Reynolds | May 15, 2020
When we asked readers recently what they wanted to know about the coronavirus and exercise, many parents responded with variations of the question — or in some instances, the cri de coeur — of, how do I get my kids to move more and stop sitting all day in front of laptops, phones and televisions?
It’s a legitimate concern.
“A growing body of evidence shows excessive sitting to be linked with various health risks, low self-esteem and decreased academic achievement in school-aged children and youth,” said Taija Juutinen Finni, a professor of health sciences at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland who studies inactivity in young people.
But how do we encourage young people to be more active without making activity one more draining chore? Exercise scientists and coaches, some of them also parents, had some suggestions.
Chase Bubbles and Dance
Parents’ primary goal should be to find a way — any way — to encourage homebound offspring to get up and move, at least a little, said Stuart Phillips, the director of the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Health Research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.“Getting some kind of physical activity every day greatly improves their mood, sleep and, of course, their health,” Phillips said.
The current federal physical activity guidelines recommend that children and teenagers exercise for at least an hour a day, while preschoolers between the ages of 3 and 5 should be up and whizzing about for three hours or more. But, for now, young people “should just try to get out of breath once in a while,” Juutinen Finni said.
To that end, the researchers recommend that, in technical parlance, you let the wild rumpus start.
“Hopping, skipping, ball toss, bear crawls and crab walks can be fun ways to engage younger kids,” said Samantha Stephens, a pediatric exercise physiologist and research fellow at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Things Your Family Can Do at Home
Here is an article that gives some context about what staying at home is and has done with children on screens and some easy things we can do as parents to help them out. Use the button to read the full article, or see an excerpt below.
- Design an outdoor scavenger hunt. Take an evening walk as a family, and use it to hunt for the items.
- Set up a back-yard obstacle course using anything that you can find around your house. For example, use plastic containers as cones that family members either run between or need to avoid.
- Modify the classic “road trip bingo” and create a “family walk bingo” sheet. Carry it with you on your family walk.
- Plank, and track who can do it the longest or who improves the most over a specific period of time.
- Complete household chores or yard work as a family.
- Do an exercise coloring sheet, similar to summer reading at the library, except with exercises. Learn more and print off sample pages below.
- Activity Dice: something you can order on Amazon, or something that you can create. Roll the dice to determine what exercises should be done along with the number of repetitions.
Sometimes, just getting outside and having fun together is all you need. Here is a list of our family’s favorite games to play outside our house (all can be found on Amazon):
- Boochie, A Whole New Ball Game
- Ladder Ball
- Corn Hole
- Throw Throw Burrito
- Washers (search for “washers game set”)
- Croquet
- Badminton
Apps and Websites to Encourage Activity
- GoNoodle App (can be downloaded to AppleTV or other devices and played through a TV; it is free)
- The YMCA 360 website: This is a great resource with updated videos and trainers demonstrating how to do things.
- Sports Engine is a great website for ideas to do as a family, as well as finding individual sports for training.
- If your kids like dancing, Kidz Bop is a great website/app to get them moving and dancing.
Exercise Coloring Sheet
FRCS Head Varsity Volleyball Coach and Elementary Parent Amanda Deich sent me this exercise coloring sheet for things to do at your house. This is a lot like the summer reading logs at the library. You complete one exercise and you color in the area till they are all colored. Once all of them are colored you can find something fun or a “reward” for your family to do. Download the sheet using the button below.
