By Gina Cortese

There are any number of ways parents can help their children reach the goals for physical activity recommended by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), so that they will lead a healthful life. The key is to get them moving. Many of the activities in our daily lives, from transportation to entertainment, are sedentary in nature, which has led to a decline in spontaneous movement. This means that over time our natural expenditure of calories has decreased, which can add up. Often, the focus for many families is on increasing the number of scheduled activities, and while this may be of help for some kids, it’s important to weave all kinds of physical activity into daily life. Following are eight tips to get the kids moving!

1. Get the Whole Family Moving: This is a great way to encourage physical activity. Not only will a group effort provide an opportunity to improve the health of all family members but can provide an opportunity to spend quality time together. It also allows you, as a parent, to serve as a model. Some suggestions include:

• Walk the dog together.
• Go on a bicycle ride or a hike.
• Play ball, badminton or croquet in the park or backyard.
• Play a game of football or soccer that pits one half of the family against the other.
• Teach your child games you played as a child, such as stickball, red-light-green-light, and red rover. These games can be played anywhere there is some open space: a park, sidewalk, or empty parking lot.
• Visit your community recreation center or the local pool.
• Park the car further away in a parking lot so that everyone walks a little more.
• Walk to the grocery store, if you only need a few things.
• Take the stairs instead of the escalator at the mall.
• Walk to and from school.
• Walk to visit a friend.

By choosing more active options in our daily life over sedentary ones, we can increase physical activity without even noticing. In addition, with safety as a major concern for parents today, joining your children (or ensuring they have a responsible escort) provides a secure opportunity for activity.

2. Substitute “Screen Time”: Screen time includes everything from television viewing to playing video games and using the computer. By decreasing the time our children spend in sedentary activities, the more they will move spontaneously. This will increase calorie expenditures. Below are suggestions for limiting screen time. Remember the goal is to increase any movement.

• Limit screen time during the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. to give children the opportunity to be active while it is light outside. If you are a working parent, there are a number of after-school programs available that can provide a safe environment for activity. Look for programs at the YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, local schools, local parks and recreation centers, as well as other local organizations.
• Choose television programs for the week ahead of time, and limit viewing time to one or two hours a day.
• Replace screen time with any activity that may be interesting to your kids, such as bike riding, playing cards, or building model airplanes.
• Use indoor games that involve movement, such as dancing.

3. Find Activities of Enjoyment:Every child has his or her own likes and dislikes, and when you encourage your child to get moving, remember that the goal is to promote activity, not to promote pure exercise. Sports are not for everyone, nor is it necessary to play them to be active. What is important is to find something that your child enjoys, so that he is likely to pursue it for the long term. Even building a bird cage out of Popsicle sticks requires more energy than television viewing.

4. Encourage Responsibility and Contribution to Household Maintenance: One way to get children moving is to have them take part in household chores. This not only is an opportunity to increase movement but it also teaches responsibility. Household chores don’t have to be drudgery; they can be fun:

• Wash the dog in the sprinkler on a hot day
• Wash the family car with lots of bubbles and soapy water
• Rake leaves in the fall and jump in the piles afterward
• Make patterns in the carpet with the vacuum cleaner
• Try to “make a basket” when throwing laundry in the laundry basket or washer

By participating in household chores, children will move more, develop responsibility, and gain a sense of pride from their contribution to the family. Plus, it takes something off your plate so that you have more time to participate in fun activities with your children. Praise efforts, and don’t worry if they are not perfect. If your child happens to miss a crumb, you can get it later.

5. Provide Space for Activity: When weather or safety is a concern and they can’t go outside, children need space to be active. This does not have to be large. Even a corner of a room will suffice, as long as it’s spacious enough to jump rope, do handstands, play with a toy hoop, dance to music, or build a fort. If you have a space dedicated to your child for activity, it will help emphasize the importance of motion. For those who live in houses, garages and basements are good possibilities. Parents should ensure they are providing safe environments.

6. Turn Regular Activity into a Challenge: While taking a hike may be enjoyable to your child, searching for animal footprints along the way may bring even more enjoyment. Or, to make walking more fun, use pedometers to count how many steps it takes to get from one point to another, such as from the corner to the neighbor’s house or from the driveway to the park. Even simple activities such as jumping rope or hopping on one foot can be made into a contest, which increases enjoyment, whether it is between you and your child, your child and a friend, or even with themselves. By turning activity into a challenge, children often are more dedicated to that activity.

7. Encourage Activity Throughout the Entire Day: As schools are required to squeeze more and more into a day, time for physical activity is often downsized or eliminated. Not only is physical activity vital to health, studies also indicate that it has a positive effect on academic performance. Direct indicators include boosts in grade point averages and test scores, and indirect indicators include concentration, memory, and positive classroom behavior.¹

This is a tough area for parents because we feel that what goes on in school is out of our control. This is not necessarily so. Parents can talk to the school board about the importance of physical education classes and/or recess. Remember that the recommendations from NASPE say that long periods of inactivity during the daytime should be discouraged, and it defines this as longer than two hours.

Additionally, encourage children to walk or ride their bike to school, the park, or a friend’s house. In order to ensure a safe environment, you may want to talk to community leaders about developing safe bike paths and sidewalks and maintaining parks and recreation centers. Parents often name safety as one of the major reasons they are reluctant to allow their children to walk to school. In response, many neighborhoods have instituted a walking school bus, in which a parent leads a group of children as they walk or bike to school. Parents can rotate as “school bus” leader to relieve the burden on just one or two parents.

8. Everything is More Fun with a Friend: When children are with their peers, they are more likely to be active and more likely to engage in extra movements. Activity is much more fun when it is shared with someone and many times, this means there are more options to choose from. As parents, our goal is to expand our children’s choices for activity.

¹ Field T., Diego, M. & Sanders, C. Exercise is positively related to adolescents’ relationships and academics. Adolescence Sp 2001; 36, 141: 105-110.

Gina Cortese is associate director, Division of Education, The Cooper Institute.