How can you make exercise a game. Idea #1

Many kids are just looking to find the enjoyment in things to determine if it is something they are going to be a willing participant in. You know your kids far better than anyone else ever will so what are the things that get them excited? For some its something competitive, for others it is something more artistic. Other kids like to work towards something they want, the prize at the end of their accomplishment. I have 3 children and they are each motivated by a different means.

So far what I have learned in my almost 8 years of parenting is that you can avoid the negative feelings towards something you want your child to do if you put into terms that they look for in an activity they would choose. For example, i need to get the toy room cleaned and sanitized after a kid was sick. If I told my son and daughter they had to clean the room with me they ultimately would but it would not be something that they enjoyed and their effort would be fairly average at best.

However, if I take this cleaning and turn it into something else it takes on an entirely new meaning. For my son he is a sports fanatic and if he knows that there is a prize at the end of the chore, he will do it. If I tell him, “Lets clean the room, when we are done we will go outside and play a best of 3 game of Horse” he will clean fast and with great effort. My daughter is amazing at role playing so we can turn the cleaning into a chance to role play. We become a team of cleaning detectives looking for clues (dirt) to help us find out what happened.
I think you get my point, kids are willing to do anything if it is in their terms. Eating and exercise can also fall into this category.

For this post I am going to focus on the Fitness end of things. Say your child is artistic and would much rather color than go outside and play. Try getting them to what they want while they are doing what you know they need. Here is an example of one I have used that was fun. While your child is inside or in another room take some pens and paper and go hide them outside in hard to reach spots. They can be easy to find, just make them hard to reach like at the top of a climbing structure or on a low branch of a tree. Have them go fins the supplies and then tell them once they are done you will sit down and color with them for awhile.

Competitive kids are easy, just make it so that there is something that can be won and let them go. This is what I love about my son, he jut loves to compete and is wiling to work hard to try to win. He loves to do timed obstacle courses. I will set one up and he will have me time him as he goes through it. Then he will work for an hour to try to beat that time. I usually just make up what his time is. Sometimes I tell him he was a little faster, others he was real close but not quite. He just loves to be doing it.

Here is a video of a quick little obstacle course we set up in our backyard. Forgive the carpet as opposed to grass, we are putting in a sport court soon so this is our fake one for now. Kids are willing to exercise, they do know they need it. Get them excited about it and always be willing to participate in whatever you are wanting them to do. If they see you do it they are so much more likely to join in. For this simple little course, my son went over it for about twenty minutes, changing it on his own each time. The goal was to work on scoring baskets. He loves basketball and works hard on his own to get better at it. I had him to the obstacle course before he could shoot a shot. He loved it.

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