Workouts To Do With a 5yr Old?

ashleighjoy2007
ashleighjoy2007 Posts: 150 Member
edited October 5 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all! I'm a fulltime nanny (9.5hrs a day) with an hour commute each way to get there. So I'm short on time, and making a ton of excuses not to workout when I get home. My boss said that I can bring my workout with me, and that her son would probably have fun trying to do it with me. I love this idea to burn some energy off of the hyperactive guy as well.

I currently do Turbo Jam, and I'm not sure if he'd enjoy it? I figure probably the 20min one, because even that is a long time for a kid. (Not that he'd be working out the whole time, he just thinks he needs my attention 24/7, plus I'd be doing this while the 2month old is napping.)

I'm just wondering if anyone has any DVDs they think a 5yr old might have fun trying to immitate, maybe dancing ones? And should I go shorter and try to find the 10 Minute Solution stuff?

Thanks in advance =]

Replies

  • luv_lea
    luv_lea Posts: 1,094 Member
    My five year old (now 6) has always been fond of anything kicking/punching. Like Tae Bo. Of course, nothing I've ever done has held his attention for longer than 10 minutes. We have a Wii and he really likes the Just Dance games. (But that would depend if you had a Wii or gaming system).
  • drift
    drift Posts: 143 Member
    If you have access to a wii, just dance is great, my daughter loves it, also wii fit plus, especially the obstacle course, the cycling and even the running...otherwise a skipping rope?
  • GabrielMaestas
    GabrielMaestas Posts: 88 Member
    Anything with martial arts, boxing, jumping, stuff like that. I teach a Junior Boxing class in a gym and the little tykes love it...
  • swisspea
    swisspea Posts: 327 Member
    I dont have tips, but I was a live-in nanny for a year, and I think this is a great idea, and it' great that the mother is supportive! First off, set your settings to highly active and live up to it by taking every opportunity to stay on your feet. I was a nanny for 3 children aged 1-7. I used to carry the 5 year old around every once in a while and say "thank you for the free muscle workout" and she loved that. I think the Tae Bo idea is a great idea to get a young boy engaged. I remember when the 7 year old boy got into my yoga cards and wanted to try all of them himself- he thought some of them were very fun.
  • prettyfitchick
    prettyfitchick Posts: 502 Member
    Shuan T has a dvd called fit kids club that might be fun to do with kids
  • PlunderBunneh
    PlunderBunneh Posts: 1,705 Member
    I have a four year old daughter, and she loves to help me do my "exercising." I just throw down and extra mat and verbally guide her through the pilates moves, pushups, situps, or whatever else I'm doing. I stopped doing videos for the most part, but when i did the free ones from netflix Em loved to try and follow along. Of course, this usually meant I didn't get as much accomplished, but to see her get excited to do exercises with momma is great.
  • getitamb
    getitamb Posts: 2,019 Member
    Let me tell you . I was a nanny for a year and a half last year and I am one this year. Last year they really took to Zumba with me. They loved the dance moves. They also really loved running outside and 5 year olds generally love to walk, so walk yourself slim with Leslie Sansone was a good one too. Anything short and really intense would be fun. But I get the best response when walking outside bc they really enjoy it. we would even race sometimes. Hope that it helped.
  • bhalter
    bhalter Posts: 582 Member
    I know they have some kid fitness DVDs that you may be able to buy that would be a workout for you and fun for the kid. If you have access to the Wii, kids like the Just Dance games and I believe there's even a kids version of that. My 8-year-old really wants to do the Wii Zumba with me, so I have to go out and buy her a holster belt for it so she can join me.
  • getitamb
    getitamb Posts: 2,019 Member
    Let me tell you . I was a nanny for a year and a half last year and I am one this year. Last year they really took to Zumba with me. They loved the dance moves. They also really loved running outside and 5 year olds generally love to walk, so walk yourself slim with Leslie Sansone was a good one too. Anything short and really intense would be fun. But I get the best response when walking outside bc they really enjoy it. we would even race sometimes. Hope that it helped.
    I just proofread this and realized that first sentence made no sense. Please forgive my igcompetance.
  • cgraylyon
    cgraylyon Posts: 292 Member
    My 5 year old loves the Walk away the pounds. It's not a real intense workout, but you could add hand weights. She also likes Butt Bible Lower 1 (Fitness on Demand), because when you do the leg lifts you can lay down and look/talk to each other. Fun and Cute!
  • Pocket_Pixi
    Pocket_Pixi Posts: 1,167 Member
    I spend half my time with my 6 year old niece, we work out together frequently. She loves the Wii fit games(bubble burts, skiing, the flying one etc), and doing yoga. She also really loves doing Zumba, and I have one other one I think by Golds gym that she loves. The other night she was teaching her dad how to do Zumba moves lol.
  • LizzieBee17
    LizzieBee17 Posts: 123 Member
    I would just go back to your youth... the hokey pokey. Just make it more animated. The chicken dance. All that crazy silly stuff we did in PE when we were Elementary School
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    my 6 year old will do just about anything with me, even 30DS. I got him some tiny one pound weights and he just goes to town.
  • jlemoore
    jlemoore Posts: 702 Member
    Try your workout with him. He;ll probably just dance around while you workout. But the important thing is that both of you are getting exercise. I take my kids to the gym and we do obsticle course running and jumping.
  • amarneu
    amarneu Posts: 164 Member
    Go to a park and get a workout in on one of the jungle gyms
  • dimoul
    dimoul Posts: 137 Member
    play tag, jump on a trampoline, ride bikes, xbox kinect adventures (it's fun and you get a work out with all the jumping), red light/green light. I bet you get anywhere from 30 sec to 5 minutes tops with any one activity, so you probably want to have a whole bag of tricks ready to go.
  • ashfuse
    ashfuse Posts: 224 Member
    If you have a wii fit, there is a new game called Nickelodeon Fit..I just got it for my kids for Christmas. I am so excited to work out with them LOL Of course, I'll have to do another hard workout in order to feel like I've done something..but just to give you an idea.
  • ashfuse
    ashfuse Posts: 224 Member
    Oh also the Wii Dance Party...or find other dvd's that you can dance to with the kids. That is a big workout!
  • janalayn
    janalayn Posts: 510 Member
    I am hula hooping with a weighted hula hoop. You can make one with supplies from Lowes... The tubing is $20 for 100 ft which will make 8 or 9 hoops. Then Electrical tape was $5 a roll. OR Walmart sells a nice weighted one for $20 that comes apart... you can get the kids cheap ones from Walmart and let them decorate them with colored electrical tape. Hula hooping burns around 100 calories per 10 minutes. The local hooping instructor advises starting with only 10 minutes a day. My BFs daughter is 6 and we are making her one this weekend and she can't wait to decorate it.
  • Sublimely_Self_Righteousreused
    Sublimely_Self_Righteousreused Posts: 935 Member
    I just pick up my 4 year old and throw her in the air over and over again. It's a great work out, and she loves it.
  • CharityEaton
    CharityEaton Posts: 499 Member
    I'm a stay at home mom of 3....2 are in school all day but my 5 year old is at home still. She loves doing the Jillian Michales videos with me. She gets her mat out and her little weights and goes right along with me. She loves it....except mountain climbers LOL! she complains about them but still does them. She stops and wanders around the room but she knows not to bother me. Also, I have a big exercise ball that she likes to bounce on while I work out. We even have those little hoppy balls with the handle thing(hard to explain) but we got them at Wal-Mart....think of a playground ball you sit on! We keep them in our living room and it is almost a nightly ritual for all 3 of my kids to bounce around the house on them. Maybe if you got one of those and only let him use it while you work out it would keep his interest. BTW my oldest is 9 yrs old and still loves her "hoppy ball" maybe get a soft jump rope in the dollar isle...less painful if you get whacked with it. Do NOT get a plastic one...they hurt!
  • Diary_Queen
    Diary_Queen Posts: 1,314 Member
    My 6 yr old boys are both really different little guys. One likes the kicking/punching of Turbo Jam or KenpoX from p90x. The other likes Ab Jam and YogaX from p90x. They both enjoy doing stuff with light weights (1 - 2 lbs.) and the lightest resistance bands I have or just plain ol jumping jacks and sit-ups and such like they do in school.
  • hcn74
    hcn74 Posts: 214
    My almost 5-year-old enjoys doing Jillian's DVDs with me (Shred, Ripped). I even got her a tiny little dumbbell. Now, I don't think her form is Jillian approved, but she enjoys trying, and gets a lot of jumping and movement in, too.
  • Jacquelyn913
    Jacquelyn913 Posts: 300 Member
    Any of the Just Dance games, My two year old will play for over an hour with me on those, Wii Fit is also very fun for adults and children, its a bunch of mini games that help you get in shape. Super fun.
  • AriannaTiyen42
    AriannaTiyen42 Posts: 86 Member
    If there is Comcast cable where you are, and you go On Demand there is a bunch of Family Fitness Stuff On Exercise TV for free. My daughter LOVES the hula hooping and it actually is a pretty darn good workout. You just need the hoops.
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
    go for a walk outside

    or Leslie Sansone has a 2mi walking video for families called (Family Walk)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyFHIfps5lA

    Dancing is fun, kids love to dance.
  • poustotah
    poustotah Posts: 1,121 Member
    So many to do!

    I box so I taught my kids how to box. We also take martial arts classes together and practice together. You can dance (we do that too) with music or a video game. Measure out 1/10 of a mile in the backyard or on the sidewalk. Use chalk and run it back and forth together for a mile. I do this with my kids and at the end, we get a special 'milkshake' which is actually a fruit smoothie with some protein powder.
  • sdailey4
    sdailey4 Posts: 56 Member
    I have been thinking of this lately as well...What about gathering toys from around the house and making obstacle course for both of you? I have been considering it w/my almost 5 yr old, He has some tube things that we can army crawl thru, stuff we'd have to jump over, then run around a table...He needs the exercise as much as I do and I think he'd have fun building it and doing the course.
  • fourgirlsmom
    fourgirlsmom Posts: 8
    look for a kids excersise dvd.. make the kids think its for them.. not you!
  • megz4987
    megz4987 Posts: 1,008 Member
    DANCE!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories