Do you and your family need to spend more time staying fit and active? You're not alone. Afterall, we’re all staying home a lot more these days. It’s easy to get lost in the Trolls soundtrack and cheddar bunnies.
Why not make fitness and health a family adventure?
There are plenty of family fitness activities and games that everyone will want to get in on, regardless of age. There's no age limit on family fun, even if some people feel like they're too old to play.
If you want a few ideas to help you stay fit as a family, keep reading! We have plenty of family fitness games and activities to share.
1. Scavenger hunts
Everyone loves a good scavenger hunt, and if it's big enough, it can be a great way to get blood moving.
You can split up into teams or make it an "every person for themselves" kind of game. With older children, adults and children can both make their own lists and act as teams. With younger children, you'd be better off making a list and letting them have the fun.
Write a list of several objects or kinds of objects that you want the children to find. If you have a big backyard, they can be things like types of leaves or sticks. If your children have phones or tablets, you can ask them to take pictures rather than bring the objects into the house.
2. Obstacle courses
Who doesn't love a good obstacle course?
The younger your children are, the less likely it is that you'll be able to get much fitness out of the course that you make for them — but part of the fun is in building it, right?
Make your course based on the child's age. You don't need a lot of complex equipment; even a few hula hoops, pieces of rope, and traffic cones will be more than enough to get young children moving and active.
It's better still if you have monkey bars, slides, a sandbox, or a pool. If nothing else, anyone can draw up a tricky hopscotch course!
Pretend you're setting up an age-appropriate Ninja Warrior course and make things that your child will need to balance on, walk through, run around, or climb on, and make sure to have an awesome prize for the end.
If your kids are old enough to challenge you, make a course that's difficult for everyone!
3. Family dance breaks
Rainy days can be the worst for fitting your daily activity in. They're dreary and dark, and there's no way to get outside so you and the kids can blow off some of that energy.
This is where family dance breaks come in.
Think of it like musical chairs. Set up a timer for when everyone is doing their work or chores at the same time. When the timer goes off, everyone should stand up and dance around like no one's watching!
When the music is done, and everyone has shaken out their energy, it's time to get back to work.
This is a great game to play when your kids are bored with their homework or chores. That small burst of play will get them (and you) motivated. Anyway, it's good for you to break up long periods of sitting with some activity time!
4. The floor is lava
This is an old classic; almost everyone has played. Like the dance breaks, this can be done indoors or outdoors for the same results with different challenges.
This game doesn't require anything that you can't find around the house or garden. To play, set an area up as the finish line. It can be as small as a stuffed animal or as large as a piece of furniture.
The rule here is that you have to get from point A to point B (the finish line) without ever touching the floor. Fun, right?
If you're playing outdoors, consider wrapping some outdoor seat cushions with plastic to make them safe to hop upon. Indoors, everything is a free game. Make sure you have enough potential "islands" for you and the children to strategize the escape plan with.
You and the children will have so much fun hopping around and using your brains to stay fit physically and mentally.
5. Tag hide-and-go-seek
Hide-and-go-seek isn't a very active game, but when you add tag to it — it's a total gamechanger.
As with normal hide-and-go-seek, one person is "it" while the others run and hide. "It" does the normal job of looking around for the hiders and when one is found, instead of staying put, they have the option to run to a predetermined base where they're considered safe.
They then get the opportunity to hide again.
The game is over when all hiders have become "it", all chasing the same hider from their hiding spot.
This game can get fiercely competitive, but it's a lot of fun for everyone involved. You'll get a lot of physical activity without even realizing it.
6. Single or team sports
The sports that you can play will vary depending on the size of your family. This category is pretty broad.
Small families may love games like tennis or badminton. You can do these with affordable equipment, and they're great for your children's' hand-eye coordination.
Larger families may want to play a game of driveway basketball or backyard soccer. You can play these with teams of two or more.
Playing small sports games like this doesn't only help with fitness and coordination, it also helps your kids find interests. Your child may never realize that they want to play team soccer with their peers if they never played a "mini-game" with you.
Which of these family fitness activities is your favorite?
Anything that gets your children moving and keeps you playing with them is the right thing to do. Don't let everyone sit around all day; get active! And yes...this is more of a message to ourselves.
To learn more about parenting, milestones, and keeping your children on track, visit our site for our parenting blog and a variety of resources that can make parenting easier and more fun!
