Children’s Exercise

Ingrid Morales, Rayleen Reyna, Ericka Zaring, and Kimberly Hurtado

Source: Lukas via Pexel, CCO

This page provides opportunities for exercise and games appropriate for children. Whether your child wants to be in a team sport, play indoors, or has a disability, there are plenty of options for every child to stay active and have fun.

Rainy Day? Or Too Hot?No Problem!

Rainy and hot days are often the perfect excuse to avoid exercise. Especially when it involves a nice hot chocolate and a movie. However, our health is important every day and the best way to encourage our children to exercise even on rainy days is by making everything a game because that is what they love to do most. Here you will find some game ideas as well as links you may find useful:

What’s Your Name?

Materials:

1. A Notebook
2. Pen/Pencil/Marker/Crayons or Color Pencils

Steps:

1. Have your child write his/her full name vertically on a piece of paper.
2. Example:

N: exercise

A: exercise

M: exercise

E: exercise

3. You may participate in the activity in order to encourage your child and have fun together.

4. Check the exercise assigned to each letter of their name and write it down one at a time:

5. Both you and your child must perform the assigned exercise of the first letter before writing down the exercise for the next letter.

6. Take turn after each letter.

7. When done, make sure to high five them and congratulate them on how good they did.

Benefit: Builds strength and endurance, and improves balance and coordination.

Ready, Set, Go!

Materials

1. Poster Paper
2. Markers
3. Tape

Steps:

1. Create a list of exercises or look at the list from the previous activity.
2. Create Groups.
3. If, it is only you and your child then you only need one poster paper per player.
4. If, there are more players then you may split them un into a desired number of groups. Give each group a poster paper.
5. Set-up a poster (per player or group) on the wall.
6. Give a marker to each group or player if there are only 2.
7. Choose an animal/drawing they must draw on their poster. (ex: an elephant)
8. Assign an exercise that must be done on their way to the poster or before getting to the poster.
9. Once at the poster, each player must draw only once without picking up the marker.
10. If, they pick up the marker then the next player must go next and try to finish the drawing. Or a new exercise must be assigned before being able to draw again.
11. Every the marker is picked up, the player must line up again.
12. A new exercise must be assigned for the next set of players.
13. Repeat until the drawing is complete.
14. Choose the best drawing based on votes.
15. You may replace the drawing with making up sentences by having each player write a word after completing the exercise until a sentence is created.

Benefit: Strengthens the heart, builds strength and endurance, and improves balance and coordination.

Obstacle Course

Materials:

1. Boxes
2. Jump Rope
3. Pillows
4. Balls
5. Bucket
6. Tape
7. Any available items at home that can be used as an obstacle.

Steps:

1. Create an course that has obstacles according to the child’s age.
2. Boxes can be used as tunnels.
3. Jump ropes can be set along the course. At this obstacle the player must jump a certain number of times before being able to continue.
4. Pillows can be used to create a mountain that the player must jump over.
5. Tape can be taped across a hall in order for the player to have crawl through it.
6. A certain number of balls can be set up to be shot into a bucket in order to move on.
7. Always make sure every obstacle is safe and appropriate for the child.
8. The player may be timed in order to make it more engaging in a challenging way.

Benefit: Strengthens the heart, builds strength and endurance, and improves balance and coordination.

Yoga

Caught off guard with rainy or hot day? No problem! Here is a link to fun YouTube videos that both you and your child can follow without requiring any materials: https://www.youtube.com/watch=YFe0I8kkFOg&list=RDYFe0I8kkFOg#t=47

Benefit: Increased flexibility, increased muscle strength and tone, improved respiration, energy and vitality, and cardio and circulatory health.

Too many rainy or hot days that you are running out of ideas? Simply follow this link to keep you child active in a fun way for both of you or even the entire family:

25 Indoor Exercise Games to Get Kids Moving

Sport-Like Activities

Source: woodleywonderowkrs, “soccer cone race”, via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Sports are an excellent way to build strength, cardiovascular health, build stronger immune systems, and help bring the family together for fun under the sun. Activities such as soccer, baseball, tennis, swim, etc., help increase energy level and boost self-esteem. It also helps achieve goals and gain discipline academically and at home.

Baseball

1. Involving 8–10 players
2. 5 players infield (1st, 2nd, 3rd, Home and Pitcher)
3. Pitcher throws the ball to batter and batter needs to hit strike zone (neck-to knee area).
4. Pitches throw the ball either underhand or overthrow to catcher, behind home plate, in striking zone area.

Soccer

1. Two Goals on either side of the field
2. Object of the game is to put ball into the net
3. Involving 11 players per team
4. One team could wear one color & other team wears different color

Tennis

1. Either One-on-One or Double team player
2. Preferably yellow tennis balls (4 pack).
3. Teams on either side of the net
4. Rackets to hit the tennis ball over the net
5. Object of the game is to hit ball until other team misses

Volleyball

1. Groups up to 6 on each team
2. Volleyball of medium size, any color-particularly soft
3. Object of the game is to put ball over the net. If ball is missed, other team will score
4. Whoever team scores the highest, they gain points. Depending on how many games are continuously played, each team must switch sides to challenge each other.

Not disability- Accessibility!

Children with physical disabilities are children too and like all children have the desire to play and get physically active to let out their wiggles! Children with physical disabilities are at a higher risk of being overweight and developing obesity. It is important them with opportunities to get active within their ability level. There are many ways to get children with physical disabilities active, it is only a matter of making games and activities accessible to them and their specific condition. Here you will find several helpful ideas to get your child active as well as helpful links to more ideas!

Twister!: Group/solo game

Materials:

1. Spots or other flat “markers”
2. Facilitators (if child requires)
3. Music (via CD player, phone, etc.)

Steps:

1. Arrange chosen markers on the floor within reach of your child/children
2. Turn on music
3. Children roll/wiggle/crawl to a marker so that their bodies touch a marker
4. Music stops

Who can touch the most spots before the music stops?

Benefit: Strengthen their core!

Toss!: Group/solo game

Materials:

1. Target
2. Facilitators for children if needed
3. Bean bags or soft toys
4. Small light balls

Steps:

1. Children are arranged in teams that are evenly matched by ability
2. Children can roll, or throw objects onto the target
3. Each team has their turn, gets one throw/roll each

Scoring:Every hit on a target scores 1 point, on harder to reach targets 2 points. Which team can get the most points?

Benefits: Strengthens arms and shoulders, promotes hand-eye coordination

Pass and Throw!: Group game

Materials:

1. Bean bags, soft toys, or handheld balls
2. Target (basket, hoop, marker)
3. Means of playing music

Steps:

1. Form a circle (sitting, standing).
2. Play music.
3. Pass the toys around as fast as you can to the music.
4. When the music stops children must throw toy at the target.
5. Whoever hits the target wins!

Who can hit the target?

Benefit: Strengthens arms and shoulders, hand-eye coordination

For further information on physically active games to play with children with disabilities visit: http://www.scope.org.uk

www.muhealth.org/services/pediatrics/conditions/adolescent.../benefits-of-sports/

Developmental Disabilities

If your child faces developmental disabilities such as autism, it does not mean that they can not get active or that you can not do activities with them. There are certain activities that you can do with them that not only help them stay active and be healthy, but also strengthens the parent-child relationship as you get to learn more about how you can help your child. When it comes to children with developmental disabilities, it is also important to encourage their developmental growth as much as their physical health. Whether it takes tweaking some already known activities, or learning about whole new activities you can do. Here are some lists of activities you can do with your child.

Simon Says: Group

Materials:

1. Music
2. Your Voice (Speak loudly and clearly)

Steps:

1. Decide who will be “Simon”, could change it to “Mom Says”, “Dad Says” etc.
2. First, just do the movements and have participants follow.
3. Then say “Simon Says” and don’t move at all, this way the participants listen to your directions.
4. Call out any movements while modeling how to do them such as jumping up and down, wiggling arms, doing a dance move etc.

Benefit: Allows for clear direction and understanding. Shows children how to follow. Provides ways to be active, and also provides a learning opportunity.

Ninja: Group

Materials:

No materials needed

Steps:

1. To begin the game, everyone gets in a tight circle shoulder-to-shoulder, with their hands in the middle.
2. On the count of three, they jump into a “Ninja” pose and freeze holding the pose.
3. One-by-one and continuing counterclockwise, each person takes a turn being the attacker and tries to touch another person’s hand in a single “Ninja” move.
4. The attackee, to avoid being touched, reacts with a single Ninja move. Only the attacker and attackee may move; all others remain frozen. Whether missing, successfully hitting or avoiding, only a single Ninja move is permitted and both must stay frozen in that pose.
5. If your hand is touched, then you are out and the person to the right is next

Benefit: Aims to increase body coordination, body reaction, and focuses attention. It also promotes a family bonding experience.

Back to Nature Walks

Materials:

None Needed. All it takes is going outside, maybe a local park or hike trail.

Steps:

Ask your child the following questions:

1. Listen! How many sounds can you hear? Can you tell what’s making the sound.
2. Feel! How does the pine needle feel? Feel the brick. Feel the dirt. Does this leaf feel the same as that one?
3. Sniff! What do you smell? Where is the smell coming from? Smell this flower.
4. Look! Take a magnifying glass with you. Look at leaves, pine needles, flowers, bugs. Take along pictures of things to look for.
5. Sssh! Take a silent walk. Be as quiet as you can and you may see some shy animals

Benefit: Get to go outside and be active outdoors without having to spend any money. Teaches children about their senses while using them. It is something you already do, such as taking a walk to the store.

You can also watch this video example implementing cardiovascular fitness for children with autism: https://youtu.be/mhYB-QDfCeA

If you want to take a look at what other activities you can do check out this website:

Activities for Individuals with Developmental Disability