what do your kids do to stay active?

smae1980

We all talk here about what we do to exercise and stay active, I thought it would be fun to talk about what our kids do to get up and get moving. I though we could use this to exchange ideas for physical activities for our kids to try besides the regular stuff like just letting them go outside to play so please include your kids age(s) so we can get age appropriate ideas. I'll start, I have a little girl who will be four in a couple of months and we just enrolled her in a gymnastics class for 3 and 4 year olds ( 45 minutes once a week), and she loves to dance so sometimes I'll just put on some music and we get up and dance together. Also, over the summer she went on a trampoline at someone elses house and she loved it, so we are thinking of getting her one for her birthday in March, which will be great exercise for all of us. There's a place near where we live called "Bounce it Out" and it's a big building with about a dozen bouncy houses/bouncy rooms filled with soft foam gym equipment so the kids can go and run from one to the next and bounce, climb and basically play until they drop( which is all we can ask for right?) What do your kiddos do for exercise/fun?

ChubbieTubbie

My 7 year old daughter goes to gymnastics for one hour per week, dance classes for 2.5 hours per week, tumbling for 1 hour per week and swimming lessons for 30 minutes per week. She also plays outside a lot and does a lot of indoor tumbling that she gets fussed at quite often about. We're buying her a small training balance beam for her birthday next month and setting it up for her to get some practice in when she's not in class. She loves to ride her bike and she and her friends do a lot of tumbling, jumping on the trampoline, etc. She's the most active of my children. Our 5 year old plays soccer--1 hour of practice and one hour of game time every week, and she also likes to play outside often. My 1 and 2 year olds like to dance indoors with me, and we chase each other around and dance to music and stuff like that.

bigcurt61

Well my kids are 3 & 1, so my oldest does push-ups and situps with me three times a week. It's the cutiest think to watch and he has good form for a 3 year old. I want fitness to be a regular everyday routine like brushing your teeth or making your bed. That way as they group up it won't feel like work it will be fun.

flyinmomof3

I'm teaching the neighbor girls to jump rope along with my daughter. They are loving it! I take the kids to the park once a week or so. We used to go just about everyday, but my schedule has changed. My kids all have bikes and we go on family bike rides. They all have scooters and balls and anything to keep them active. My husband and I are actually like yin and yang because I'm very active and I keep the kids active, but he is happy just sitting all day playing video games. So it's actually getting harder to get the kids active, but I just put my foot down and say if you want to play video games, get outside and play for an hour. Also now Sunday's are No video game days. I also play catch with baseballs, footballs and we all play tennis together. My kids are still very young, but it grows on them. Oh, another thing we do as a family is go to the gym. My gym has a great playroom, kind of like McDonalds, but without the burger, so we all go there and they get to play and we get to play!

sherip22

My 12 year old son is huge into football. He has practice 3 nights a week and games on Saturday from August to the end of November. Those practices are like boot camp, so he is extremely fit during that time. He still rides his back everyday that he can even though its freezing out and we have 18 inches of the snow on the ground.
My other son is 7 and plays soccer in the fall. During the winter, he basically uses the wii sports for physical activities, besides the usual playing in the snow/sledding stuff.

smae1980

Bigcurt, picturing a 3 year old doing sit ups or puh ups is adorable! flyinmom, wow a jump rope is such a simple thing I can't belive I haven't thought of that! great inexpensive investment!

CakeFit21

This has been the topic around our house. We just went to a b-day party at a gymnastics place. I was a gymnast and planned on putting our three year old in it, but wasn't sure when. He is ready! He also does yoga and kenpo X with me and we walk/run around the block when the weather is nice. We make a game out of it, he chases me and we count trees and stop signs. He loves to dance and jump so, we do that a lot too. Martial arts are also in the plans for the whole family as well, probably kickboxing/MMA. When we do Kenpo X he does all of the counting and it it the cutest little thing to watch him try and do the combos.

smae1980

I love to watch little ones do "adult" type exercises, it's so cute. Also they're usually better at it than we thought they would be!

TaneeisFitforLife

My boys are really into sports...they both play baseball & football. When they aren't playing those we swim, play volleyball, badminton, biking, etc. We are a very active family my daughter is 4 and she likes jumping on the trampoline & hooping with me...and pretty much whatever I am doing, she's my shadow lol

cardbucfan

My kids are both competitive swimmers. They are 14 and 16 (almost-yikes!) boys and have been swimming since they were 2 and on a swim team since 5. They have tried every other sport there is (tae-kwon do-(both got to black belt then burned out), soccer, football, golf, baseball and basketball) and swimming really stuck for the older one. Once the younger one realized he could get a great workout while hanging out with teenage girls in bathing suits-game on! The younger is recovering from surgery so can't really do anything while the older has practice 3 hours a day, every day. Flyinmom, I feel your pain on the video game front. It's not so much my husband (I'm probably more electronically addicted than he is) but the fact that our xbox even exists! they are really limited in how much they play and they have to earn time on it too.

smae1980

My boys are really into sports...they both play baseball & football. When they aren't playing those we swim, play volleyball, badminton, biking, etc. We are a very active family my daughter is 4 and she likes jumping on the trampoline & hooping with me...and pretty much whatever I am doing, she's my shadow lol

When you say hooping do you mean hula or basketball? or neither

TaneeisFitforLife

Hula

smae1980

Hula

That's another good one I'm gonna try with my little girl! I actually think we have a hula hoop in a closet or the garage or somewhere....

Stooooo

Ok, lets see. My oldest son (he's 10) plays soccer, outdoor season ended, so now he plays indoor in 2 leagues. My middle son (he's 8) plays football in the fall and now does wrestling during the winter months. My daughter (she's 6) also plays soccer outdoor during the fall and indoor during the winter.

On days they don't have a game or practice they have been known to join me in the basement for a P90X work out, or they exercise to Tony Horton's Tony and The Kids or Shaun T's kids club (both by Beachbody).

And yes both my wife and I still find time to work out ourselves..... :happy:

BullDozier

My kids are all involved in organized sports throughout the year.

My step daughter plays softball in the spring, soccer in the summer/fall, volleyball in the fall & winter, and basketball in the winter.

My boys both play baseball in the spring, soccer in the summer, football in the fall, and basketball in the winter. They are only 7 and 9 now, so their sports aren't more than a couple days a week.

During the summer, we are in the yard or at the park daily playing baseball, football or soccer. During the winter, it is a little more challenging since I personally hate the snow and don't enjoy being outside. They do get their organized activities, gym at school a couple of times a week, and recess at school is alwasys active.

mlb929

Fun Topic.

My kids are 9 and 11. Both are very academic and are challenged in the athletic ability area. They are small and when they engage in sports, they are the ones that get hurt (ie several broken bones between the two of them at school).

On weekends, we have a no tv, no electronics policy. We have an acre of yard work for them to help with and keep moving one My husband hikes, bikes, camps, jet skis, skis etc with them at least one weekend a month.

I'm presently doing P90X and they join me on the cardio and ab routines. They are huge kenpo fans, and my 9 yo rocks at plyo. My 11 yo runs with me and is entering his first races this year. Because he is 5ft tall and 70lbs, he is built like arunner and hoping something to pursue.

Tonika44137

I'm a group fitness instructor and teach Step & Sculpt, Cycling and Kids Aerobics...my 6 year old daughter does ALL my classes... the women in my Step and Sculpt class love to see her step and lift 3lb dumbells lol...its really cute..she also comes to my Cycling classes sometimes when its not crowed and sneaks on a bike...i dont like her to do that class...My 8 year old son comes to my Kids Aerobics class sometimes along with my daughter.

They also have their own sport activities too. My son has played basketball for the last 3 years. Hes in a year round league so he plays all year. My daughter also does ballet, cheerleading and hip hop dance but those classes all rotate with the sessions available. I truley believe in helping all kids to be healthy, active and strong

smae1980

wow I think it's great to hear all the fun and interesting activities everyone's kids are involved in!

edorice

My daughters are both in middle school. They have PE still in their school (private school). During the summer, vacation, and weekends they do the Power 90 DVD together. They are currently on levels 3 & 4 or Power 90. Before that we did Shaun T's Fit Kid's with them, but they grew out of that quickly.

Neither one of them play a sport. Both of them play an instrument.

SweetPandora

My daughter is 12, she has been doing gymnastics since she was 18 months old (I had to participate too).

Currently she does gymnastics 2 hours a week, plays on a soccer team in the summer, just joined a one night a week volleyball group, is on the school downhill ski team.

She has done Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred with me as well as ran her first 5 km last September. She also started doing HIIT sprint training on the treadmill occassionally the weeks she is at our house.

She has gym class everyday at school and on weekends we try to get out cross country skiing or snow shoeing and in the warmer weather we run and she bikes along with us.

We have a pool that she is in all the time in the summer and she has a trampoline at our house and her fathers house.

She also plays the piccolo in the school band.

Karen

just4peachy

My son will be 8 next week (:sad: ), he currently plays basketball on a rec center league and he's recently started running with me :noway: In fact, he's running the Flying Pig Kids Marathon in April. He really never stops moving but I limit him to one sport at a time, I want him to have time to just play,. He is, afterall, just a kid.

mnmorneau

Can an Old person jump in here and tell you something fun. My children are probably pretty close to some of your ages ( 20- 30') and some of the most fun times I remember as a family is when we went out volksmarching. I would pack a snack ( healthy of course) and we always did the 3 miles and we stopped and played in streams, looked at petroglyphs, messed with bugs, even made up cadences. It is a great way to exercise and spend family time and learn alot about things in the area. When my daughter was little like 4 or 5 we had to come up with some fun things and take lots of rest breaks but it was great. We did these till they became involved with organized sports. To this day they still mention different places we went. I only took them on ones that I thought they would enjoy and I did the others by myself. My daughter still does then with me when she is in town or we go vacationing and do one to see the area. Just for what it's worth from an old timer.

cwunderlich

I have three boys. The oldest (13) and the middle (almost 11) have their 2nd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to taking two classes during the week, they help teach the lower belts. My youngest (almost 7) has his Blue Stripe. He is working
towards his black belt. When not doing tkd, they like to do wii fit, and elliptical. My middle child also plays intermural basketball during the week, and also plays basketball at school on Saturdays.

kelsully

It is almost embarassing to list it all out...My oldest has to be forced to stop one thing before we can let her try another. She will be 10 in 8 weeks...our 8 year old daughter might not be as active as she is if not for wanting to make sure that she gets every chance her older sister gets..The 6 year old daughter also has to have limits put on her or she would do everything...the 3 year old son has his things too...ok are you all ready for this

10 year old daughter...volleyball - games twice a week (only 30 minutes long) and 1 practice a week for about 1 hour.
swim team - 2-3 practices a week for an hour to an hour and a half depending on the night
judo with the whole family at least 2 hours a week sometimes 3-4 hours depending on Vball schedule
Irish dance - practice on Fridays...just during the school year...all three girls dance for different durations during the 2 1/2 hour practice time...depends on the dances being worked on...sometimes the oldest dances a little sometmes a lot.
When I go for a run when she is home she likes to go with me for the first mile or two..I will run a 1/2 mile loo by the ouse until she/they are tired...after the last kids drops off I will go finish my distance !0 year old ran a 5K with me last summer...the others are waiting their turn and are mad they didn't get to do it yet. The older two did a kids' triathlon last summer...all three girs will probably do it this summer (very short distances and we push fun and effort over performance)

8 year old daughter

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well same as above minus Vball...she isn't old enough yet...she will not be required to play....She usually swims an extra practice though

6 year old Daughter ...she does 2 nights of gymnastics for 2 hours a night...she is being groomed to be a team athlete...which we don't know how we feel about that as she is already making sacrifices ...she wants to swim in a big bad way but we don't think it would be responsible to have her do two nights of gymnastics (in which they do P90X sometimes...and two nights of swim too on top of Irish Dance and judo....This one likes to run with me too. This kid is as strong as an ox is a natural athlete. She sems to believe if her older sisters can do something then she should naturally be able to do it as well the first time...and she can. She is a stud. She likes to do push ups and situps on commercials.

3 year old son...he is a 3 year old boy so that in itself means crazy activity but he almost always finds my 2 lb weights and does videos with me ...he does a swim class and a sports and agility class at our gymnastics gym. He is a judo player too...he hs been in the dojo since I was pregnant with him and he is a big enough 3 year old that out sensei actually needs him in class to give a little 5 year old a partner...

They have all played soccer...have done gymnastcs at some poiint, aren't allowed in the house in the summer (well they are but we prefer to have them outside)...so are always on blades or bikes or flipping like acrobats on the swing set. When I run in the forest preserves hubby and I alternate between who is rnning and who plays iwth the kids so they get a lot of hiking in too.