Parents, I’m sure you’ll agree with this…

We had a more ‘active’ childhood than the current digital generation does!

As a parent, I’m sure that at some point or the other you’ve found yourself wondering whether your kid is getting enough exercise or not.

But don’t worry! We’ll help you with ingenious exercise game ideas to try at home!

With the advent of screens, it’s a huge task to get children off digital gadgets – let alone get them to go out and play actively.

RELATED: Quick & Easy Ways To Reduce Your Child’s Time On TV / Mobile Phones

And with so many attention-grabbing digital games and activities, we really can’t blame the kids, can we!

So what now? Put a ban on digital devices for your child?

Well, we’re pretty sure that may backfire! In fact, all that does is increases the rebellious behaviour in your child, and hence, they will specifically not do exactly what you ask of them.

At the same time, we can’t let our children grow up unfit and unhealthy!

What we can do is make physical activity more fun than it’s ever been before.

Make physical activity (exercise games) as exciting as a video game would be with the added benefit of endorphins being released into your children’s brains because of the exercise. This hormone makes them feel positive, happy, and good in a way that digital activities never could!

It’s vital for us to prevent health problems such as being under/overweight in our kids from a young age.

“In our days the only options we had was to play these exercise games with our friends. They are not only good for the physical health but for one’s mental well being as well.

It teaches children to be more social, how to be a team player and also instils important leadership skills.” – says Priyadarshini from Rabble Babble Battle.

Let’s look at a few fun activities and games that you can easily involve your child in to keep their physical fitness in check.

We have exercise games ideas for both indoor and outdoor fun, so take a look!

9 Exercise Activities To Get Your Child Fit & Healthy:

1. Races

This is an extremely obvious kind of physical activity. You can organize races with a small prize for your child and their friends in a yard or area around your house.

Get creative with the type of race. You can have a three-legged race, a one-legged race, a crab walk race, etc.

Also, let’s not forget the classic race of deciding on a finish point that’s a bit far off and any route can be used to get there to see who wins. Jump rope (skipping rope) races are great, too, as it’s maximum leg exercise combined with a cardio workout!

2. Sports

Your child will almost always show a natural inclination towards a sport. You can tell by paying attention to what they watch and what sport they play video games of.

Have a game of this particular sport with them often. Even enrol them in a class and ask them to try out for their school team.

There are also some sports like swimming that you definitely should encourage your child to practise often.

Besides, swimming is fun! Make a sunny summer fun day out of it and your kids are sure to be excited about it. You can also find an indoor pool at a hotel if it’s winter.

3. Obstacle course

It’s an exciting way to exercise!

If you’ve watched any television reality game shows, you know what I’m talking about.

Use some furniture, and also some chalk to draw out a course ranging from the inside of your house to the garden or corridor outside.

Add challenges to the course. You can add a puzzle to be solved, a vast area to be crossed without touching the ground, etc.

4. Hunt!

This can be either indoor or outdoor!

Organize a hunt that spreads across a large area, or even just inside your house.

Just place toys or treats hidden in different places and start your kid off with the first place.

Each place should have a puzzle written for the next. If you make sure the places are far apart, your kids will get a good run out of it.

5. Gardening

Simple activities like gardening are a great source of exercise for kids. If you don’t have your own garden, just get some pots, some mud, and some saplings and ask your kids to fill the pots up themselves!

6. Dance!

By far the simplest and the most fun-filled activity to do to get that daily cardio workout.

Just put on some music, get some preferably healthy snacks and gather up your child’s friends!

You now have your very own dance party. You could also just do this during family time with your children.

7. Walk

If you have a dog, divide daily responsibilities of walking it. If you don’t, practise going for strolls in the park or walking to the grocery store instead of taking a vehicle. Walk as much as you can with your kids.

8. Hula Hooping

For some reason, children love hula hoops!

Get your children some hula hoops and start hooping with them. Just teach them how to do it and we promise you that they won’t be able to get enough.

9. Blow off that steam!

We’re used to the tantrums our kids throw, right? What if I told you that you asking them to throw these temper tantrums on purpose when they’re in a good mood will actually help them both psychologically and physically?

It may sound a bit crazy, but when they kick and run and jump and scream, they’re getting tired out because of the energy they’re spending.

This also helps them get out all their pent up anger and emotion without them even realizing it.

7 Exercise Games For Kids That Are Absolute Fun

10. Follow the leader

When playing this game, you’ll be the leader and it’s the easiest way to get a good workout done by your kids. Make sure to include exercises like jumping jacks, kicks, running, jumps, etc.

11. Tag

A simple game of tag where you chase your children and when you catch someone, they then have to do the chasing, is a fun old-school option for a workout.

12. Capture The Flag

This is a classic game that is definitely sure to keep your kids busy and active for a long time. Gather up your kid’s friends and take them to a vast space with plenty of closed spaces to hide.

Divide them into two teams and give each team a flag that they would have to hide which the other team would have to find.

If anyone catches a member of the opposite team on their team’s land they’re put on a time-out until touched by one of their own team members. Read the complete set of rules here >

13. Hopscotch

Hopscotch is a good game that can be played both indoor (using floor tiles as markers) and outdoors (with chalk on a sidewalk or pavement). Keep making the hopscotch course bigger and bigger to keep your kids active and excited by all that jumping.

14. Twister

We’ve all seen the twister mat game in various toy stores and online websites. It’s the perfect indoor exercise game for kids so it’s an excellent idea to invest in it.

15. Table Tennis

It’s a great idea to also invest in a table tennis table for another great indoor exercise game option.

Any small, mostly empty room can be used to play table tennis and as it does involve quite a bit of running, it’s a great way to exercise.

You can even find a smaller sized table that your kid can use with their friends if your kid is very young.

16) Pop, pop, pop!

Inspired by some awfully simple birthday games, all you have to do for this is blow some bubbles out in your garden and ask your kid to run around popping all of them.

Another variation of this game is don’t let the balloon touch the ground (without holding it for more than a second at a time, of course.

Settle down with your child and choose from these exercise games to do!

Quick Tips

Here are a few tips you have to keep in mind while getting kids to exercise as it isn’t the easiest job.

Schedule it right

Make sure to pick a certain time in the day that is suitable to everyone’s moods as well as free time. Right before or right after lunch usually works best.

Track, chart, and reward progress

Keep a track of all the exercises completed and even chart out the exercise-related achievements made by the kids and have a small monthly reward for the kid or family member with the most achievements.

Enrol in exercise-related events

Be it a marathon or a boot camp for working out, get your kid enrolled in it! Events like these add a bit of surprise and difference to the exercise and get kids excited.

Even events such as a safety training session or a self-defence class promote exercise while building an important skill.

Try an activity box

Activity boxes such as Flintobox can help in both fine motor and gross motor exercise! Since the activities are play-based and hands-on, children enjoy a fun brain workout away from screens. To know more about Flintobox activities, visit this link >

Get your kid involved in planning

If there’s one thing kids love the most, it’s letting their creativity flow by planning something that other people would follow and enjoy.

Get them to plan the workouts and maybe even set goals for a week. Hand them the reins.

Spend more time in open nature

Whether it’s going for a picnic or simply to play and stroll in the park, it’s always good to spend time out in the open. If possible, plan a picnic once every couple of weeks and take along the ball, a frisbee, and a skipping rope to keep your kid both occupied and well-exercised.

One crucial point Neha from Growing with Nemit stresses on is that, “When outdoors, we should make sure to get involved in our child’s play, be it an obstacle race, hopscotch, leaf & stone collection for artwork, hunting the hidden objects, walking on a line, treasure hunt, ball throw and catch, or simply catch me if you can.”

Conclusion

If these tips are followed properly, soon enough, your kids are sure to enjoy taking part in physical exercise.

The trick really is to just make spending time doing these exercises as fun as possible. Your kids will automatically be enticed by these exercise games and will soon be enthusiastic about doing them.

Make sure that you’re enthusiastic about this if you want your kids to be. Whether it’s a workout at home or outdoors, it can always be turned into a fun way of spending time with your kids or even of your kids spending time with their friends.

It will also help to explain the importance of physical exercise at a young age, to your kids. They need to understand why it’s essential.

Missed out on any kids exercise games? Drop a comment below and tell us what you try at home!