Guest Post – Get Your Children and Family Up and Moving

I’d like to introduce you to Emily Patterson.  She has offered to provide a ton of great tips for getting active with your family on behalf of Primrose Schools. For over 25 years, they have helped individuals achieve higher levels of success by providing them with an AdvancED® accredited, early child care services and education.  Through an accelerated Balanced Learning® curriculum, Primrose Schools students are exposed to a widely diverse range of subject matter giving them a much greater opportunity to develop mentally, physically and socially. Emily has written a number of articles on topics varying from bilingual learning to teaching the importance of volunteering.

Enjoy!

• The percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states. (Source: Trust for America’s Health)

• Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese nationwide.

(Source: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)

Experts suggest that young children need to accumulate at least 60 minutes a day of physical activity. Unfortunately, many children do not even come close to reach this. It is clear that along with poor diet, physical inactivity has contributed to a large increase in childhood obesity in the United States in the past 20 years.

Research has shown that children who develop basic motor skills such as throwing, catching, kicking, jumping, skipping, and balance are more likely to grow into healthy active adults. Studies have shown that daily physical activity helps children academically as well. Learning basic physical skills is essential to the healthy growth and development of your child. But children do not learned this physical skills or behavior on their own…if needs to start from guidance and assistance from adults.

So, what can parents do to teach their children about the importance of being physically active and help them learn these necessary skills? Trying the tips below will help you and your family create a fun environment for physical activity and will contribute to everyone’s physical health.

Tips for Getting Your Family Active:
Find appropriate, safe spaces for quality physical activity: Provide safe spaces inside and outside for your child to be active.

Ensure the availability of age-appropriate supplies: Being physically active is like learning to read, write, or do math problems in that each requires proper materials or equipment.
• Provide abundant supplies of balls, hoops, hockey sticks, bats, racquets, jump ropes, etc. They need balls of all sizes, shapes, and weights such as beanbags and rubber balls.


• Equipment should be soft, lightweight, and made for children.

Be active with your children: Don’t just send your children outside to play–be a role model and join in! Go outside with them and participate in games and other activities that require physical exertion!

• Use sidewalk chalk to create your own four-square or hopscotch grids; blow bubbles then chase them around the yard to see who can catch them; go on a walk around the neighborhood or through a park as a family; play music and dance inside or outside; and when the weather is nice put on your bathing suits and run through the sprinklers or take a dip in the pool.


• Promote a feeling of success when you play with your child. If your child is not yet able to successfully throw and hit a target, encourage them to move a little closer so they can be successful. Skills are acquired incrementally. Children who do not experience success have a tendency to quit and not practice.


• Acknowledge their efforts with specific comments. No matter what your child’s skill level is, be a supportive coach. They will benefit from your encouragement.

When children come into the world, physical activity is at the very center of their lives. They have a mission to learn to crawl, walk, run, throw, catch, and kick. If they are going to enjoy participating in physical activities now and as adults, they need to build on that foundation of success and enjoyment that begins in infancy. So, grab a ball, badminton racket, or jump rope and set aside time each day to play with your child!