Many parents and guardians worry about whether their children are active enough. Kids certainly have more indoor activities than ever before, and many children switch from playing sports to playing games on consoles.
7 Ways to Motivate Children to Be More Active
While there’s nothing wrong with indoor activities in moderation, there are children out there who aren’t active enough, which could even damage their health. So, in this guide, we’ve explored seven different ways to help motivate children to be more active.
Become a role model to the child
Children tend to look up to the older generations and trust adults and their way of life. When we grow up, we look to the elderly in our lives for guidance, including the habits they have in their own lives.
So, the best way for you to get to the point where you are encouraging your child to exercise is to be active yourself. If you go on bike rides or play a sport, there is every chance that your child might want to get involved and join in with you. If you sit in the house all day watching movies and playing games, this behavior may also rub off on your child.
Choose a developmentally appropriate activity.
Kids’ bodies are still developing. Please don’t get your child to start weightlifting or doing too much intense training at a young age, as it can do much more harm than good and may even be irresponsible.
Instead, work out what is suitable for your child based on age. Things like biking can be relatively low-impact.
Organize a kids’ charity run
This is a way to raise funds and do something for a good cause, which can also help to motivate your children. Why not host a charity event like a fun run? Your family may even have a cause close to your heart, and you may do this to raise money for that cause or even to raise awareness of an illness or disease you care about.
Children are likely to understand the importance of this, and it can help to motivate and encourage them to complete the run. On top of this, you can even choose to make it a regular, annual thing if you wish.
Limit screen time
This is one of the main ways that children get tempted away from doing things in the great outdoors and getting more exercise.
Don’t deprive your children of screen time, as it can be positive. You probably use a screen yourself for a lot of the day. However, you can make a point of having “time out” periods where you put down the devices, stop watching Netflix, and head outside to play some catch or get exercise in other ways.
Encourage them to attend sports classes that their peers are participating in
If your child’s peers are already getting involved in sports, it can be good to encourage your children to join in as well. They might be nervous about doing so, especially if their peers are better than them, but if they can overcome this and try to play sports with their age group, it can be an excellent social activity. On top of that, it is a brilliant way to stay active.
Do not overdo the activity.
This is a sure way to put your children off. If you force or overdo physical activity, they are less likely to be excited about getting involved next time. Children need to find out that exercise can be fun on their own, so don’t push too hard and don’t let them overdo it, as this can also cause injuries.
Give gifts that promote physical activity.
When it is time to buy your child a gift, why not get them something that can help them to stay active and promote their physical activity? Even if your child has asked for the latest Xbox game, you could always get them this along with a bicycle, scooter, or even something as simple as a bat and a ball to encourage more physical activity.