How to Get Kids to Exercise Without Them Knowing

These kids are exercising, but they think it's just a good time at the park!

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With kids spending more and more time indoors playing video games and watching television, it’s no wonder childhood obesity is on the rise. It’s important to get your kids to move around and be healthy, but forcing exercise on kids will likely result in them feel self-conscious about their weight at an early age. Here’s how to get kids to exercise, without them knowing you tricked them into it!

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Jump rope
Yard or park
Kid-sized laundry basket for helping with chores

Step1

Teach your kids to jump rope. Jumping rope is an amazing cardiovascular exercise, and your kids will enjoy singing the rhymes as they get better.

Step2

Play tag, hide-and seek, kick-ball and other active running games. Getting kids to exercise without them knowing relies on their sense of play. Teaching games like hide-and-seek to little ones has the added benefit of helping them develop cognitive skills.

Step3

Get your kids outside. Take them to the park or make them play in the yard. Kids have a tendency to be more active outdoors, even when they’re not playing an organized game.

Step4

Walking through snow or sand burns more calories than walking on level ground. Take the kids sledding or swimming, and they’ll have no idea they’re exercising, too

Step5

Help your children plant a garden. Gardening is a low-impact, light exercise that anyone can do. Plus, your kids will love eating the vegetables they grew themselves.

Step6

If you have the money and they express an interest, sign your kids up for lessons. Most kids want to learn karate, soccer or horseback riding at some point.

Step7

Engage your kids in helping out around the house. Think about the chores you do and how tired you feel afterward. Why not have older kids do some of the laundry or dishes? Even young children can help “straighten up” by picking up toys.

Tips & Warnings

Don’t forget to be a positive roll model. If they see you engaging in healthy activities, they’re likely to follow your lead.
Don’t push your kids into exercising too hard. If your child is obese, take it slow so to keep from putting added strain on her heart.