Exercise that is not exercise

take them to the park, or go out for a bike ride

I wear wrist weights and ankle weights when im cleaning and put on some upbeat music and dance around while vaccuuming and dusting. LOL. sounds silly but i love it...

Have you seen the Clean Momma routine from the Dr's show www.cleanmomma.com

Have a "fun" day out in the park? Get a ball and kick it around? play catch with them if they're old enough, bike riding? swimming?
play music while you clean the house and if the kids are old enough they might join in

Then Angry Birds workout:

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/03/10/angry-birds-workout-plan/

Does the above poster have children? I could never get away with ignoring my daughter for 30 mins while I do a workout!!!

Ideas:

definitely walks.
I find indoor play areas are great work outs, and my daughter loves it so much when I join in , go do a few circuits for an hour and you'll be knackered!
Also taking the kids to the pool, if they are big enough you can lap swim while they play, if they are little its tiring carrying them around and playing

The great thing about these are they are such quality time with the kids and encourages them to be active too.
You are so smart to be a school teacher and have school holidays to play !

The main thing is join in with the kids, the kind of exercise they do is the most natural and great for us.

I do freeweights while I watch TV at night at least 3 times a week. You can use cans of beans or jugs of milk if you don't have weights. Sticking to cardio only will only get you so far. Don't forget about muscle building! (you will lose muscle wether you want to or not, weight training is essential in replacing that lost muscle)

Maybe doing Squats or Lunges while doing the Dishes or Cooking?
Fold and/or hang one item at a time and put it away before taking the next item out of the Dryer.
Walk or Dance in place while waiting on the Microwave or for something on the stove to boil.
Going to the Zoo or Park is fun and adds a lot of steps.
No matter where you go, park as far as possible from the store you are going to.

Have a Contest with the Kids to see who can get the most Jumping Jacks or Steps during each Commercial Break.

:flowerforyou: Good Luck!!

since your children are small here some suggestions:

you could get some sort of float that fits both of them and hold on to it pushing them around the pool while you are doing all the leg work.

go for a walk and take a wagon so that when they are tired and you need/want to keep going, you can put them in it and continue.

Everytime you go to the ladies room, do 10 squats. I am drinking at least 10 glasses of water a day which makes me have to pee a lot.... think about it... everytime I go I do 10 squats... that's a lot of squats during the period of one day!
I also bought a thighmaster (cheesey.. i know) at TJ Maxx and do it while I'm watching tv or a movie with my husband. At least I'm getting my heart rate up while sitting there! Wear ankle weights while you do housework and blast some fun, high energy music and dance around while doing it. Before you know it you will be sweating and smiling!

Good Luck! :flowerforyou:

To answer the post above, I don't have children, but I have 12 nieces and nephews and I am using my (3) sister's behavior for my example. I think ignoring your children is not only misconduct, but criminal negligence, so I am slightly surprised that it was suggested as the intention in my post. However, that is okay, I understand that mothers can be passionate.

In my sister's experience that have seen success (it usually has taken a few years); however, they have had to wake up early, exercise late, or have their husbands watch their children while they exercise. In other words, they had to find time to put themselves first.
I think finding little exercises throughout the day is great, in addition, walking with the kids is awesome and satisfying, but most importantly, I believe that everyone deserves 30 minutes a day for themeselves, especially our MFP post author. She is a mom AND a teacher. She spends her life giving. I was a teacher and a coach for almost five years. That is continual self-sacrifice. I think that she deserves 30 minutes.

I think another post mentioned squats, pushups, and leg lifts...these are great exercises.

end rant.

Body weight exercise routines. I do them all the time and they can really give you a great workout in 20 minutes or so. I have some stuff on it in my blog here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/rileysowner

My five year old granddaughter loves to play freeze tag. We use pool noodles to tag with so we don't have to get so close and risk banging heads. I try to tag all the kids before they can unfreeze each other to up the intensity

Then Angry Birds workout:

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/03/10/angry-birds-workout-plan/

Okay... that's awesome!

- Find a park that's a 20-30 minute walk (each way) from your house, and then get silly with the kids when you get there (chasing them, climbing on the equipment, and other park-y things) - For me, my 2 year old will happily walk/run about that distance, but I often carry her on my shoulders... when I have my 2 year old niece as well I'll pop them both in the wagon and pull them there.

- Most outdoor kids games are pretty active. Tag is super fun! Climbing trees, hiking up and down ditches (flowers! snails!) or through treed areas can all be fun.

- Are you within a 1/2 hour walk of the stores you need to go to? Walk with the kids!

- When the little ones are engrossed in doing their own thing and don't need/want help, jog in place for as long as they'll allow. I can usually get 15 minutes at a time.

- Not sure if this is applicable to your situation, but for me, when my daughter is napping and when my husband gets home from work I have the opportunity to do an actual workout - in my case that's usually busting my *kitten* on the treadmill in our basement for 30-60 minutes.

- You can lunge and squat your way around the house, and a quick set of pushups can be done in just a few minutes.