Staying active as a family

By: Katherine Tredinnick, Research and Content at Devie

During self-isolation, there are lots of challenges with keeping your family active- adults are tempted to be couch potatoes, and little ones can get antsy without time to be active! We know it’s important to find ways to get your family moving together to keep all of your mental and physical health boosted. We’ve put together some ways that may make it easier and more enjoyable to keep your little ones moving, and stay active as a family.

Babies on the move!

According to the NHS, babies, under 1, should be encouraged to engage in little activities throughout the day, all while being supervised. This could include:

• Crawling
• Reaching & grasping
• Pulling & pushing
• Spend time on their tummies to strengthen neck & shoulder muscles

One of our favourite games for babies is the roll toy game. This activity helps babies to look after themselves, for example, by being able to reach for their cup when they are thirsty or perform daily tasks like sitting up and reaching for their toy. It will also encourage them to explore and make sense of the world around them.

To play this game, pick a moment when your baby seems wide awake and relaxed. Sit next to them and gently roll their toy (or any small and safe household object for that matter) away from them. Encourage them to reach out and get the toy. You may have to roll and grab the toy a few times before your little one gets the hang of it. Make sure to be really enthusiastic about the game to keep your baby engaged!

Wriggly Wiggly Toddlers

According to the NHS, toddlers, of 1 or 2 years of age, should be active every day for at least three hours, though the more active time, the better. These activities could include, but are not limited to:

• Standing up
• Rolling
• Skipping
• Hopping
• Jumping
• Running
• Ball games

A ball-throwing game is a great way to keep toddlers active! Throwing a ball is an amazing way for toddlers to enhance their hand-eye coordination and develop other important motor skills. You can try to encourage your toddler to catch the ball too, but no worries if they are unable to, this is a skill that usually develops at a slightly later stage.

Active Play with Preschoolers

According to the NHS, preschool aged children, between 3 and 5 years of age, should also be active for at least three hours a day. Again, the more active time, the better! Of these three active hours, at least one hour should be moderate-to-vigorous in intensity! Preschool aged children should not be inactive for long periods of time, except when sleeping. Activities for preschool aged children could include:

• Jumping
• Walking
• Running
• Dancing
• Hopping
• Skipping
• Throwing & catching

We love the ‘move like an animal game’ to keep preschoolers active! Encourage your child to gallop like a horse, jump like a frog or waddle like a duck. Why not join in and get your heart rate up too?!

For some more ideas on how to keep your little ones active during the lockdown, download the Devie app for free on iOS or Android and stay tuned for the Home Learning Programme releasing this week!

In these unprecedented and immensely difficult times, we know that parenting can feel tougher than ever before! There have been a few common questions on the minds of parents in our community, including:

• How much screen time is appropriate for my little ones?
• Should my family be trying to stick to some sort of routine?
• How do I, as a parent, stay calm and present in these tough times?
• How do I keep my family active during the lockdown?
• How do I get my work done with my little one at home all day?

In response to these questions, we created the Home Learning Programme to keep your little ones happy and learning at home during the lockdown. Through this programme, Devie sends you daily learning activities designed to support your little one’s social emotional, language, health, early literacy, and early math development, and your own wellbeing. Download Devie for free on iOS or Android to try the programme when it launches this week.

We’re also blogging about each of these topics this week to provide research-based, non-judgmental recommendations to help during these tough times.

Remember awesome parents, we are all in this together ❤

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