In a world obsessed with fixing the obesity problem....I struggle with my own weight control....and putting and keeping weight on my kids! That's right, PUTTING weight on my kids! I bred small babies (apparently...they are all in the 25%tile or lower for weight and height!) and they don't like it one bit!
When I became a parent in the Spring of 2002, I knew right then and there my kids were going to be active! I didn't want to see my kids struggle physically or emotional over something I could teach them to control. As soon as each one of them were old enough, we started sports! We have had one delayed season and one shortened season to injuries (neither caused by sports, thank goodness!) but other than that, my kids play some kind of sport year round.
We started with baseball (teeball rather, but same thing) and added football, wrestling, recently boxing and this coming winter we will be adding basketball to our long list of sports activities. Now, this is just my boys, my daughter is quickly approaching the age in which she can start getting involved (not that she isn't already in our little way!).
When we have down time between seasons, we spend as much time as possible at the park, zoo, nature center or any where else they can be active. We have had several Tag tournaments in our days at the park (my kids are fast...like scary fast!).
I give my kids time to have their screen and lazy time. There are days when I feel like they spent too much time in front of their video games (but those days I can count on two hands after a year). We stay on the up and up with the newest stuff (mainly because "Daddy" is a gamer himself) and I even get in on the action. I decided when they started playing video games on a serious level (I mean serious in so much as the games got expensive!) that I should enjoy them too. We have contests and I bought some "board game" video games so that we can play together. Getting involved with everything they find interesting allows me to keep the trust level I have with them when it comes to being active. When I tell them its time to turn off the game and get outside, I very rarely get an argument.
When going outside to be active doesn't work, the family has several options! We are all members of our local Title Boxing Club. That place is awesome! Here's a link to their webpage! We can go as often as we want and the kids have fun (sometimes they forget they are working out!). When we don't have that (or have already done that for the day), we have activities that we can engage in.
We dance! That's right! I put the iPhone on my speaker docks, crank it up, grab the toy microphone and we get busy! We do this pretty often...even have some toy guitars that come out! It's fun, my kids are hilarious and we have one yet of a pitch match! Our latest favorite tune to get down to is the sound track to Pitch Perfect! The kids attempt to re-create the money scenes....it's great! Everyone usually walks away with sweaty brow and that's how I know I am doing it right!
WAR breaks out! There is nothing more fun than shooting your kids with fully loaded Nerf Gun! We have a massive collection of guns and we put them to use pretty often! Most of the time, they are re-creating their video games and favorite movies and TV shows (which is pretty awesome in my book!). They build forts and run about the house like crazies! It's great fun and a great way to be active indoors! Of course, Nerf Wars can happen outside as well...when the idea of playing sports is just too tiring.
The Spring and Fall seasons are my families favorites of the year. We are outside the most during these times and not only are my kids active....but we are making memories that will last a life time! We explore different and new parks in our metro area, spend a lot of time at the zoo (their favorite place is the playground there!), and we otherwise keep ourselves busy.
The kids got scooters from Christmas and although they have used them in the cold weather since then; I can't wait to see what cool tricks and races they come up with this spring!
If you do other things to keep your family active, feel free to comment below! I would love to see what you guys do...might come up with something new to do with my kiddos!
~Happy Playing!
Brandie
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