Exercising with kids

[bearfootzcontinued]

Talk to me like the exercise idiot that I am.

DD was diagnosed with diabetes and the doctor said she should be getting at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day.  She has gym three days a week and is usually active at recess, but I'd like to start some sort of routine at home.  Unfortunately for DD, her mom is not a fitness fanatic - but in the past when I've made the effort, like that one time I tried the whole life challenge, she did enjoy doing yoga with me and once in a while would join in on the Leslie Sansome videos.  We also like going for walks but I'm not sure we'll be able to get that in before it gets dark and I'd probably prefer to stay at home until we get an idea of how the exercise will mess with her blood sugar.  

Any ideas for what the 8 year old and I can do?  She doesn't need abs of steel but the activity/video/etc.  needs to hold her interest.  We have the firestick, a Wii, dvds... Also any tips on fitting this into an already packed schedule because 3rd grade teachers love homework? 

[bearfootzcontinued]

thisbitch, sending you the bat signal

[billyhorrible]

It's not 30 minutes, but a lot of the cosmic kids yoga videos are 20+ minutes. My 6 and 2 year old love them and we do them after bath, before bed.

[Lord Disick]

What about family dance parties?

[Scarlet]

Do you have a pool nearby? Swimming is great in the winter for us since it's harder to play outdoors in the dark.

[Deleted]

billyhorrible, DD loves cosmic yoga. BUT I have to do it with her. Which is okay at the end of the day.

[Deleted]

I’m woefully ignorant on the subject of childhood exercise. My kid is lucky enough to go to a school where they have recess every day, plus she has tennis clinic two times per week and soccer once a week after school. She’s also interested in yoga and gymnastics, but i’m selfishly interested in my sanity, so no.

We go to parks and hit balls (practice tennis) on the weekends. She does swim team in the summer.

My parents always told us that they didn’t care what sport we chose, but we had to do one, and that was a requirement through high school. H’s parents were much stricter about tennis being the primary sport.

Research shows that kids whose parents exercise are more likely to exercise. It’s lame advice, but true. My kids genuinely believe exercise is just a normal and natural thing adults do, because that’s what they’re used to.

[hawkward]

Oct 16, 2017 14:40:22 GMT -6 billyhorrible said:

It's not 30 minutes, but a lot of the cosmic kids yoga videos are 20+ minutes. My 6 and 2 year old love them and we do them after bath, before bed.

Are these the ones that do "Disney" yoga? DS1 loves those videos. 

[hawkward]

DS1 really loves to just kick the soccer ball around in the backyard. I (intentionally but pretend it's not) kick it a little off from him so he has to get after more if I want him to run off some extra energy.

As for fitting it in in an already busy day, it doesn't necessarily have to be all at once to be effective. It's a lot easier to find several 10-15 minute times than it is to find one solid block of 30 minutes or more. I would try for something like 15 minutes of yoga in the morning, a kids' dance video on youtube while you're making dinner, and then the whole family plays in the backyard (or basement or wherever if it's cold out) for a while after dinner.

[billyhorrible]

Oct 16, 2017 18:55:33 GMT -6 hawkward said:

Oct 16, 2017 14:40:22 GMT -6 billyhorrible said:

It's not 30 minutes, but a lot of the cosmic kids yoga videos are 20+ minutes. My 6 and 2 year old love them and we do them after bath, before bed.

Are these the ones that do "Disney" yoga? DS1 loves those videos. 

I know they have a Frozen one, but I'm not sure if there are other Disney ones.

[loony]

DD (almost 4) likes to do the indoor walking videos with me. The 12 minute one really isn't "hard" but gets me like 2300 extra steps.

It's basically like low impact aerobics and DD thinks it's hilarious.

Do you have a wii or some sort of dance game? That totally works too.

[Ali7P]

DD1 is 6 and always wants to workout with me. But she gets frustrated with my workouts because she "can't do it". (I think she could if she just paid attention but what do I know?) Anyway, we tried this one (I just searched workout for kids on youtube and it came up) and she loved it.


I don't know if your 8 year old will like it, but I will say that I did it with her & it really got my heart rate up.

Also, check out Jessica Smith indoor walking videos. She's a little more youthful compared to Leslie Sansome and her stuff is free on youtube.

Good luck, I hope you find something she likes!

[leahcar]

Do you have a video game system? We hooked up our old Xbox 360 with Kinect and my girls LOVE it. The dancing games can be a good workout and it feels like playing.

My middle HAS to exercise or she's a crazy person. We have her do something really active for 15 minutes or so after school or homework is a nightmare. If it's warm out, she climbs trees or runs laps in our backyard. If the weather is bad, we have a little indoor trampoline and a jump rope. We'll have her do a few push-ups and jumping jacks, then practice her spelling words while she bounces on the trampoline.

[Sweetjane]

Why don't you pick a variety of activities and do a different one each day? That way you are not overcommitted to one sport or activity and the variety will be more fun. Like Mondays go for a walk (take flashlights if it's getting dark), then yoga the next day, hit balls at the park, Wii games...does she have a bike or scooter?
You really want to make it an expected part of your day rather than something you "have to" do.
Maybe start out putting all the activities in a hat and draw one each day?