Many parents and caregivers want to instill in their children a love of movement and exercise that will last a lifetime. Unfortunately, less than 24% of American youngsters aged 6 to 17 engage in the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day.
The positive news Early love for a particular activity, like exercise, typically lasts a youngster their entire life. You must lay the groundwork for a lifelong appreciation for movement in your child’s early years if you want to ensure that they get enough exercise as they get older.
Learn how a child develops a love of movement at home, receive tips for encouraging young children to be active and enjoy it, and find out why physically active kids grow up to be active adults by reading on.
The desire for exercise begins at home
Your example to young children is crucial to their long-term health.
Children imitate their parents’ and other major role models’ behavior when it comes to a variety of lifestyle behaviors, including physical activity and fitness routines, according to Denise Woodall-Ruff, MD, a pediatrician and the director of the Healthy Weight & Wellness Center at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.
“A youngster is more likely to embrace these behaviors for themselves if they see a parent or role model engage in a healthy level of physical activity,” the author claims. Similar to this, Woodall-Ruff explains, “a youngster is more likely to accept sedentary behaviors as the norm if they see their caregiver sit on the sofa for extended periods of time and engage in sedentary behaviors.”
At the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, orthopedic surgeon Natasha Trentacosta, MD, specializes in pediatric and adult sports medicine. Children look up to parents, babysitters, and teachers as examples of how to negotiate life, she says, thus they serve as role models for young children.
According to Trentacosta, “Children who routinely observe their parents participating in sports and fitness activities are more inclined to do it themselves. This is especially true now as young children are spending more time on screens and engaging in less physical exercise. Early development of good behaviors will benefit children as they age.
How to encourage a passion for movement
Maintaining the enjoyment element as the main priority will help cultivate a passion of movement from an early age. Kids are less likely than adults to become enthusiastic about something they don’t like. Additionally, kids will likely want more of it if they’re having fun, which offers them time to hone their talents and advance their knowledge.
According to John Gallucci Jr., DPT, ATC and CEO of JAG-ONE Physical Therapy, “every child is different, and some gravitate toward exercise and physical activity more than others.”
Finding activities that your child enjoys and transforming them into activities that encourage them to exercise more are crucial. Children, particularly young children, shouldn’t feel like exercising is a chore, according to Gallucci.
Keep in mind that while many kids enjoy organised sports and competition, some youngsters do as they get older and more active in organized sports. Maintain a broader definition of mobility that includes activities they like, such as going for walks as a family, dancing in the living room, climbing trees, and yoga.
Kids who are introduced to movement and physical activity at an early age are more likely to experience all of their advantages sooner, and as they become older, their enthusiasm in exercise is likely to expand.
Advice for beginning
Your child’s physical, mental, and emotional growth depends on you giving them opportunity to move every day. Additionally, it assists in laying the groundwork for adult active participation in physical activities.
Here are 12 ideas to get kids interested in activity at a young age
Verify the activity’s age suitability.
It might not be the best idea to invite a 3-year-old to join in on a family game of badminton in order to promote mobility. Lowering the net and providing them with a preschool-sized racket and a huge ball, on the other hand, promotes success and raises the level of fun.
Accentuate motor skills
Children, especially toddlers, must develop their gross motor abilities. These abilities aid children’s coordination, response time, balance, and strength .
Keep games focused on kicking or throwing a ball, hopping, climbing, obstacle courses, or riding a trike or bike with training wheels if you have toddlers and young children.
When they are riding bikes, make sure they are wearing helmets and other safety gear, and make sure they are being properly watched when climbing or using toys or equipment that moves.
Provide toys that are active
Include toys that demand vigorous play when picking indoor and outdoor toys, such as balls for small children and bikes and scooters for older children. Make sure the climbing toys are age-appropriate before buying them for toddlers, preschoolers, or school-age children.
At home, try to prioritize active toys over passive ones. Have your child donate a passive toy in exchange for a new active toy when they ask for a new one. As a result, the balance is tipped in favor of mobility, and they learn that less is more.
Shop our picks for children of all ages’ most active toys
- Little Partners Wobble Board
- Little Partners Pikler Climbing Triangle and 2-in-1 Climbing Ramp Slide
- Carrom Balance Board
- Special Supplies Stepping Stones
- Easy Outdoor Space Dome Climber
- Slackers Extreme Ninja Line Kit
- Slackers 8-Foot Rope Ladder
Favor unstructured play
Children discover themselves and their environment via unstructured play. Additionally, it’s a great opportunity to squeeze in some exercise.
A few free-play opportunities should be scheduled throughout the day. Encourage your child to spend 30 minutes outside using their creativity to design an obstacle course or scavenger hunt, ride a bike or scooter, or play with balls and other outdoor toys in order to keep the play active.
Join your youngsters in some exercise
It is not always effective to tell youngsters of any age to “get some exercise.” However, if you engage in physical activity with your kids, they’re more likely to want to take part. Additionally, this can save time for working parents who want to exercise but find it difficult to be away from their children after work.
Schedule your activities
A weekly physical exercise regimen with objectives is advised by Woodall-Ruff. You should work on this project together and upload it somewhere accessible. Choose a non-food incentive with your child for when they achieve that objective.
Discuss fitness
You must explain what movement is to your children if you want them to embrace it. Seek out chances to instill a healthy fitness culture at home. Discuss how essential your sports, activities, and workouts are to your life. Discuss the role that food plays in driving movement at the dinner table.
Converting tasks into exercise
Combining housework with physical competitions helps your youngster complete a home duty while also getting some exercise. Make chores a game that involves exercise if you have more than one child.
For instance, toddlers and young children can compete to see who can put their laundry in the basket the quickest. Make mowing the lawn or weeding the garden an outdoor contest. Each child (and parent) should be given a specific area of the yard to tidy up. Whoever crosses the finish line first wins.
Allow them to select the activity
Even young children are aware of their preferences, and they love being asked about them. Allow your child to pick a few sports or activities they like, and take part in them as a family.
Go through a story that was influenced by movement
There are a ton of books that inspire movement in young children in bookshops and libraries. Bring several of them together and let your youngster pick two or three to take home.
Enroll in a preschool with an active curriculum
If you require child care or want to enroll your child in preschool, seek for facilities that prioritize mobility and fitness throughout the day.
Take up a team sport
When children are old enough, you might think about signing them up for a team sport. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most kids are prepared for easy, organized sports by age.
With age divisions that adjust the game to a child’s age and ability, group sports like soccer and tee-ball enable kids to develop new skills while learning about competition.
Children’s physical activity recommendations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises kids to engage in 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day.
More specifically, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans give parents and other caregivers a framework of exercise recommendations based on age groupings.
children in preschool
Young children between the ages of 3 and 5 should engage in a lot of physical activity each day. At this age, exercise is intended to promote growth and development. Children in preschool should be exposed to a range of activities and active play. The key when feeding young children is variety.
Adolescent students
Children, adolescents, and teenagers between the ages of 6 and 17 should exercise for at least 60 minutes per day at a moderate to strenuous intensity. This doesn’t have to happen all at once. Encourage children to divide the 60 minutes into manageable portions.
Taking part in 20 minutes of physical activity at school, such as 20 minutes of soccer practice, 20 minutes of biking, etc. Remember that the physical activity requirements apply to all movement and exercise, from moderate to vigorous.
Youth of school age should ideally partake in bone, muscular, and aerobic building exercises. However, the majority of your daily 60 minutes of exercise should be aerobic or cardiovascular in nature. On three days of the week, they can include workouts that build the muscles and bones, such as resistance training.
Tag, follow the leader, playing on a playground, biking, walking, skipping, dancing, swimming, tossing and catching games, and tumbling are a few examples of aerobic activities for preschool-aged children.
While athletics, dancing, catching and throwing games, hiking, swimming, tag, and flat football are among the aerobic activities suitable for school-age children and teenagers.
Movement in childhood is associated with adult physical fitness
Healthy physical exercise habits that are formed in childhood are more likely to be sustained as adults.
Physical activity strengthens bone and muscular strength, enhances heart health, and aids in maintaining a healthy weight, according to research.
According to Woodall-Ruff, these physical advantages for kids can lead to healthier adult results.
According to a large observational study involving more than 48,000 postmenopausal women, higher levels of physical activity during childhood were linked to higher levels of exercise as adults.
In greater detail, women who were physically active as children engaged in higher levels of physical activity as adults, with the majority average 2.8 more metabolic equivalent (MET) hours per week than women who were never physically active as children.
Another study discovered a link between sports participation at age 10 and increased physical activity at age 42. In contrast to playing sports, this study also examined outdoor play at age 10 as a predictor of physical activity in adulthood and discovered that it was not linked to physical activity at age 42.
Children who are physically active grow up to be more active adults and generally live healthier lives.
According to research, when exercise and physical activity are introduced early in infancy, self-assurance in one’s skills and an interest in leading a healthier, more active lifestyle are fostered early on and then sustained for the rest of the person’s life, says Gallucci.
