When do your children exercise?

[Kidlit]

We're finally coming to the end of a long hot streak here in the Deep South, so my children have been housebound for a while. Exercise for them (& me, too, honestly) has been nonexistent for too long. Neither girl is participating in a sport currently, either. I'd like some ideas on how to add a bit of movement into our already full days. Anyone? :)

[sewingmama]

Trampoline here. The end to all our excercise worries.

 

Kids do karate once a week.

 

In summer we go indoor swimming a lot.

 

Wii...don't think that really counts but my kids don't sit to use it....they jump around on it even when they don't have too lol.

 

My kids are super active on their own though...my issue is usually to get them to stop exercising. We have very hot summers too and live in the country so not much outside. They tend to wreak havoc on their own indoors.... jumping on beds, running through the house, climbing the bunks, flying leaps across the lounge lol.

[My3girls]

My girls play outside a lot, but for the past few weeks this has been restricted to the evenings because of heat. 2 of the 3 are participating in cross country, too. We try to do a sport of some type each semester. They have voted for swimming next semester. I guess I'm lucky in that they are naturally active. I don't have to get creative to get them outside and moving. Usually, I have to be the meanie and make them come in.

[maize]

We have a six foot trampoline in the basement, I think I got it from overstock.com

jump ropes are also good for indoors, learn some rhymes or look up videos of jump rope routines.

[Arcadia]

We go to the park's playground at around 6pm on a fair weather day.  If its raining, my kids just do gym at home. Sometimes we walk to the golf course in the late afternoon. If hubby comes home by dinner, we go and swim at the condo pool.

[bbcooker]

A Mon swim/gym class,

a Wed church club with active games,

and a Fri soccer class.

[mommymonster]

Both boys do swimming lessons twice a week for 30 minutes. We also do a nature walk (that conveniently ends at the park about 0.5 miles away) three or four times per week in the morning. My kids also spend a lot of time outdoors. They have a lot of energy.  :willy_nilly:

[ByGrace3]

Dd's participate in gymnastics. Lots and lots of gymnastics. ;) ds does tennis two days a week. Also, we swim a ton.

[Kidlit]

For those of you whose children are not participating in organized sports, so you intentionally put exercise on your schedule?

[Kidlit]

For those of you whose children are not participating in organized sports, do you intentionally put exercise on your schedule?

[sassenach]

Lots of swimming, bike riding, trampolining, gymnastics, baseball.....

 

I do live in a really mild climate, but when we lived in the south, summers were for swimming!

[sassenach]

For those of you whose children are not participating in organized sports, do you intentionally put exercise on your schedule?

Yes.  When we're not in a sports season, we hike, swim, bike ride, hit tennis balls around (I cannot claim that we actually play tennis), take walks, ect.  

 

Physical activity is directly linked with mom sanity around here.  Without it, the kids bounce off the walls.

[duckens]

We pay for a lot of lessons.  I am not naturally athletic, and I come from a long line of short, round, German women.  I also have "public school gym trauma."  I am hoping that my girls will have several sports they enjoy when they are adults.  They don't need to be the star of the team, but I hope that if someone invites them to go  [fill in the blank], they will say, "Sure! let me get my tennis racket!" or "Sure! Let me get my swim suit!" or "Sure! Let me get my hiking boots!"

Within the last year (but not all at the same time):

Swim & Gym (2x/week)

Taekwondo (2X/week)

Gymnastics (1-2X/week)

Swim Lessons

Golf Lessons

Tennis Lessons
Zumba

Nature Camp (lots of hiking)

 

Not organized:

Swim in the pool in summer

Play at the playground

Dad takes the kids for a walk up to the pond to play (a block away) EVERY NIGHT when the weather is good.

Dad takes the kids out in the yard to play (when the weather is not as good).

Family bike rides

Family weekend walks at parks or nature reserves

 

 

[Kidlit]

I'm getting the feeling that I need to perhaps bump something from our schedule to make this happen regularly, but I'm just not sure what. Pour schedule feels pretty tight already, especially when I figure in Benny's naps. We're out if the house two mornings and one mid-morning until afternoon a week already.

[Kidlit]

I'm getting the feeling that I need to perhaps bump something from our schedule to make this happen regularly, but I'm just not sure what. Our schedule feels pretty tight already, especially when I figure in Benny's naps. We're out of the house two mornings and one mid-morning until afternoon a week already.

[Soror]

We generally walk daily, at least on school mornings. We like to have at least 1 family activity a week as well, this could be hiking, biking, canoeing etc. Ds does TKD usually a couple of times a week and dd1 and dd2 have dance. The girls are always outside running around, riding bikes, exploring the woods etc. Ds doesn't play outside near as much but is a generally active kid. All of my kids are fit and trim, I don't worry about us lacking any activity.

 

eta- Physical activity is important to me, I prefer my kids have an active lifestyle and realize that you don't have to do an organized sport to be active but there are lots of things out there we can try.

[maize]

For those of you whose children are not participating in organized sports, do you intentionally put exercise on your schedule?

Yes, we like to schedule physical activity in between academically intensive subjects.

[VeritasMama]

My kids go to a physical education class for homeschoolers, just like at school only at the YMCA.

[Tanaqui]

Does doing handstands while you do your math count? I'm not actually sure how she writes that way....

 

Seriously, though, they take swimming twice a week (no choice, it's a life skill), and we're trying to organize financial aid for one other class, not sure which one. (They're pumping for rock climbing, but archery is much closer to the house.) And my plan for weeks that aren't eaten up with migraines, asthma, and doctor's visits is to head to the park, which will at least get us all walking around and out of the house.

 

[Hedgehogs4]

My kids do CrossFit 3 x a week. They love it and they are actually building their fitness levels and learning a lifestyle of exercise and fitness. In the meantime they are very active on our trampoline, play set, etc. 

 

 

[Justmeandyou]

For those of you whose children are not participating in organized sports, do you intentionally put exercise on your schedule?

 

Nope.  Mine just run around outside.  The 12 year walks the dog a mile everyday.

[Maela]

Trampoline almost daily

Park visits 1-2 times a week

1-2 mile Bike rides/walks 1-2 times a week

A weekly homeschool PE class

A weekly dance class

And just regular playing outside (which they don't do as much as I would like)

 

Edited for spelling error

[LibraryLover]

Can you walk anywhere? Walking to errands, library etc gives moving a purpose. What about swimming/community pools when it is hot? Yard work or gardening?  Bikes? Do you have a dog?  I made myself walk everyday for 10 days this summer while I visited family in FL. It was a bi*ch, but walking is how I manage stress. I brought a water bottle with me. With ice! And a hat! Sunscreen. Wow it was hot.(I brought a relative's baby with me in either the Ergo or the stroller. Baby didn't mind a bit, and was covered.)

 

[SemiSweet]

We walk a few miles every morning, they ride bikes, take golf lessons, and play hard in general. I am thinking about doing a monthly homeschool trampoline class too. We live in the tropics so we try to swim at the pool or beach regularly too.

[wintermom]

I place physical education at equal value to academic education. It's always been a part of the dc's lives. I have put a priority on scheduling what needs outside facilities, budgeting to pay for lessons, and getting involved myself to increase greatly the chance that being physically active will be part of my dc's lives through adulthood.

 

I've also tried to introduce a large variety of sports and leisure activities to the dc over the years. On any given week, we do physical activity (structured or unstructured) for at least 1 hour/day.

 

Here are some of the activities we do. All of these are recreational levels. We've not pursued competitive sports yet - this is totally intentional. The dc are in the skill building ages and there is no need for too early organized, competitive sport. The dc's ages currently are 8, 10, 12 and 14.

 

- swimming lessons very early in life are required due to our backyard pool and personal safety

- Taekwon-Do

- Basketball

- Soccer

- Tennis

- Cycling

- Cross-country running

- Cross-country skiing

- Ice skating

- Snowshoeing

- Gymnastics

- Track and field

- Hiking

- Kayaking

- Baseball

- Ultimate Frisbee

- Golf

- Archery

- Trampoline

- Horseback riding

 

 

Somewhere in this broad range of physical activities, everyone will find something that they enjoy and feel some success doing as long as it's introduced in an enjoyable way. And this list is only a start. There are still so many more activities to add to it.

[Wheres Toto]

For the summer they were swimming a lot.  Younger dd would spend hours in the pool every chance she got.  Ds would go in for an hour or so.  They would also take walks early in the day before it got too hot, ride bikes at the park, and play active video games.  They also bowled quite a bit.

 

Starting in the next few weeks they will start swimming lessons once a week, Zumba once or twice a week, bowling once a week, ice skating once a week, fencing once a week, and still take walks, ride bikes and active video games.

 

[Kidlit]

We do swim a good bit in the summer but don't own a pool. We do have open access to relatives', but it's a production (20 minute drive, plus schlepping all our stuff) so not feasible of we want to make progress on any other front that day.

 

My girls were on a swim team last year but it is at a terribly inconvenient time for my boys' schedules, plus it really cramps our school day.

 

They have done soccer and basketball in the past, too.

 

I think the real problem is that I have a hard time managing it all, and the only time dh can help is late afternoon and night (unless he's traveling, which is semi-frequently).

 

Where's the whiney icon? ;)

[Kidlit]

Yep, I'm gonna just have to Just Do It. Lol

[jnaj]

We exercise every single morning before school. Well, my two girls ride in the bike trailer and we bike 5-15 miles in the morning, or the little on ride in the jogger while I run, etc. and then my son (who bikes with me) will do school and I will alternate the girls with active things to do while I work with each individually. It has to be a morning thing for us or it doesn't get done. This is in addition to whatever sports/activities they participate in during the evening time.

[Minerva]

We swim every day in the afternoon, but since I believe that sitting for too long is not good for us I do require that my kids run "the loop" between subjects. This means on school days, about every hour, we all get up and walk/run outside. We have a predetermined route we take through the neighborhood that takes us between ten to fifteen minutes. This gives us an extra 30 minutes to an hour of exercise a day without really having to add it to our schedule. My kids like to try and beat their time,  race each other and make it interesting in various ways. I like to go with them because it's fun and it makes me nicer.  I cannot recommend this enough. It's a very sneaky way to add a little bit of activity to your day.  

[redsquirrel]

Trying to exercise in the heat is the worst! I live in the NE, but my local area can get extremely humid in the heat. Once it hits 90 or above the local health dept starts telling people to stay inside.  Yuck!

 

During the heat is also when my kids don't have as much access to exercise because lots of their regular activities are on break. My boys are very active in dance and for 9 months are doing that all the time. In the summer, things quite down a bit.

 

My dh and I actually try to schedule exercise into our own lives and our kids have grown up seeing us carve out time to workout. My kids think nothing of walking through a room and seeing me on a yoga mat with my laptop playing an exercise DVD. This past summer, my dh asked my oldest to workout with him. They did some P90x and other stuff. We don't have air conditioning, so they did take some days off due to the heat. My youngest is naturally active enough that the idea of finding more for him to do is laughable. DH is a runner and he will take the boys out for an easy jog, but that doesn't happen in the heat.

 

I have a few DVDs, such as Ballet Beautiful, that are perfect for the heat. I can do those on a yoga mat with a fan blowing on my, lol.

 

We also have a chin up bar installed in a doorway and that gets used a few times a day, and in the dead of winter we have a mini-trampoline that gets used a lot. The kids just sort of walk past that and jump for a while and then go on with their day, lol.

[Kidlit]

We swim every day in the afternoon, but since I believe that sitting for too long is not good for us I do require that my kids run "the loop" between subjects. This means on school days, about every hour, we all get up and walk/run outside. We have a predetermined route we take through the neighborhood that takes us between ten to fifteen minutes. This gives us an extra 30 minutes to an hour of exercise a day without really having to add it to our schedule. My kids like to try and beat their time, race each other and make it interesting in various ways. I like to go with them because it's fun and it makes me nicer. I cannot recommend this enough. It's a very sneaky way to add a little bit of activity to your day.

I might try this! :). Thanks for sharing!

[...................]

Swim team. One of the best decisions I ever

Made. !!!

[Kidlit]

A return to swim team is a possibility for us in the future.

 

We did go out and briskly walk the block twice after a few lessons, so there is hope! :). (The heat's not as bad, but the humidity is killer right now.)

[HeWillSoar]

I just scheduled in 15 minutes of physical fitness (treadmill or his choice) after lunch because I noticed he gets silly and unfocused after lunch.  Hopefully that will help!  I was thinking about installing a punching bag to give him more options, plus I would like to do that too!

[Teneo]

Middle of the morning. AAfter recitation, English studies, and arithmetic he's needing a break so we have "gym" where he exercises.

[idnib]

They do marital arts 2x/week.

 

They go to a community pool May-October.

 

We joined a "trails challenge" to hike certain trails and get a t-shirt/pin. Still need to finish this before the weather turns.

 

We walk around town a fair amount. We can walk to the grocery, beach, library, etc. Our family buys gas once/month unless we go on a trip.

 

The kids cycle and scooter with their friends around the block or at the park.

 

 

[happypamama]

Weekly martial arts class plus practicing at home.

Running around, climbing trees, play equipment at home.

Bike rides, family hikes.

Swimming in the summer, and a couple did tennis over the summer.

DH is teaching some of them weight lifting.

A couple of them are doing a gym class at co-op.

They do calisthenics and stretching here and there too, usually as part of their martial arts practicing.

 

Honestly, my kids are pretty active. It's not organized team sports, but it's a lot of "life fitness" sorts of stuff,,and I'm pretty happy with that.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

We go hiking and go to the playground several times a week. They both attend PE 1-2x/week at our public school and a homeschool gym co-op 1x/week. They also both play a sport in the fall. Winter will be more difficult for us to get outside, but we're getting out quite a bit now.