Get Your Kids Moving This Winter
By Debra Rodzinak
Just because the kids are stuck inside the house for days on end during their winter break doesn’t mean the parents have to go crazy. There are many different ways to keep the kids active and burning calories even during the coldest winter days.
Indoor Exercises
Here are some inexpensive, fun, and ingenious ways to keep everyone active this winter. For added fun, write down the exercises on a strip of paper, fold, and let each child pull one from a basket.
- Headstands – Activate the core muscles and get the blood flowing to the head
- Jump Rope – As long as you don’t have downstairs neighbors, search for jump rope rhymes and get jumping
- Balloon Ball – Make up games like keeping the ball in the air or catch
- Wheelbarrow, crab, or bear races – Be sure to have a clear space when playing this game
- Animal Game – Choose an animal like a frog, duck, or kangaroo and have children mimic
- Follow the Leader – Add movements to get the blood flowing
- Dance Party – Show the kids some of the moves from “your day” or have a dance off
- Freeze Dance – Hold a pose when the music stops
- Scavenger Hunt – Write down clues and hide them around the house for kids to find
- Parachute – Take an old sheet and have everyone grab a corner while one runs underneath
- Bubble Wrap Attack – Stomp or roll on bubble wrap until all the bubbles are gone
- Clean-up Race – A simple way to get a clean room is to set a timer and have kids race to see who can clean up the quickest
- Tickle Tag – Chase kids around the house and when they are caught, they get tickled
- Temper Tantrum – Have a pretend meltdown while stomping, screaming, and flailing
- Carnival – Using items like plasticwear, set up knockdown games or fishing games
- Hallway Bowling – Use a ball and filled up water bottles for some fun
- Hopscotch – Use tape to have an indoor hopscotch game
- Pillow Fight – Set the ground rules and swing away
- Sock Skating – Good on hardwood floors, sock skating is a fun activity
- Bubble Bashing – Get some bubbles and have kids try to pop them
- Wrestling – Lay a rug or mat on the ground and see if kids can wrestle you to the ground
- Pushover Parent – Planting the feet on the ground, see if children can move you off balance
- Popcorn Push-ups – Place a small bowl of popcorn on the ground and using only their tongue, kids pick up one piece with every pushup