Summer vacation is just around the corner and with the break from school comes parents biggest concern—keeping kids active during the summer. While most kids don’t see their activeness as exercise, anyone who has witnessed kids on a playground knows they are naturally physically active and love to move and play. Keeping kids active can help promote a lifetime of being activeness.
Here are some tips and ideas for keeping kids active during the summer months.
Walk or Hike
- Technology. Use an activity tracker like a Fitbit or a mobile app that allow kids to track their walking steps, distance, heart rate, calories, pace, etc. Encourage kids to try to improve their distance and steps each week, or to perform the same amount of steps in a shorter time.
- Have fun. Make walking fun. Be silly while you’re walking by skipping for a block, taking small or giant steps, or walking like your child’s favorite animals. Don’t forget to walk the dog around the neighborhood, too!
- Charity. Participating in a walk or run for charity can be fun and helps to give back to your community. Plus, it is a great experience for your child!
- Hiking. Hiking is a great ‘variety’ activity. Besides being a fun adventure, is a great cardiovascular workout, and also works the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteal, abdominal, and arm muscles.
Water Fun
- Swimming. Swimming is a great exercise because it works a lot of muscles, it is easy on their joints, and its fun outdoor activity when it is HOT outside! Games like swimming races, water volleyball, and tag are great games to play in the pool.
- Backyard fun. Set up the lawn sprinkler and let kids play in the water for hours. This is an easy and fun activity to do as a family and helps to save water by watering the lawn at the same time.
- Natural fun. Take a trip down to the creek and trying to catch fish, crawfish, frogs, or tadpoles. Visiting larger bodies of water like rivers, lakes, and the ocean affords your family a large range of activities from canoeing to beach volleyball.
Fun Challenges
- Fitness challenge. Create fitness challenges like a walking, running, or sports challenges. Make a bi-weekly reward system, to help keep their interest. Whenever they reach a milestone or goal, reward them with a treat or other activities. Involving friends and family in the challenges help to increase motivation.
- Family Sports Night. Create cards that have family friendly exercises. Each family member picks a card and performs that exercise until all of the cards have been ‘played’. Cards like FitDeck Junior can also be purchased through Amazon.
Make Chores Fun
- Gardening. If you have a vegetable garden, have kids help dig, plant, or pick vegetables. They can even help clean and prepare the vegetables once they have picked enough.
- Yard work. Summertime means there is plenty of yard work to be done. Kids can help with planting bushes and flowers, pushing the lawn mower (or helping mom or dad do it), and raking the grass or leaves.
- Washing cars. Washing the car is not just a chore but can also be a great summertime activity. Have your child help by spraying down the car (or mom or dad!), cleaning the grit off the tires, or drying it off.
Games
- Outside games. Play traditional fun games like Tag, Hide and Seek, Hopscotch, or Jumping Rope. Yu can also check out more fun outside games for kids HERE.
- Obstacle course. Be creative and build obstacles courses for kids to navigate through. Invite the neighbors or friends over for even more summertime fun.
- Rainy days. Occasionally, kids will be stuck inside due to rain. Instead of just letting the kids watch TV, keep kids active by having them do sit-ups, push-ups, squats, jumping on one leg, etc. during commercial breaks.
How do you keep your kids active during the summer?
Great activity ideas! As a kid I loved going swimming and playing in the backyard when the sprinkler was turned on. So simple yet fun!