It's important for your child to participate in three kinds of physical activity: aerobic, bone strengthening and muscle strengthening, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This can be accomplished by providing children with a wide variety of options for physical activity. Luckily, with the right equipment, physical activity is an enjoyable activity, like playing. The more enjoyable the activity, the easier it will be to get your kids healthy and active.
Bikes
Bikes are a great way for children to get in their cardio. Peddling helps build muscle strength and keeping the bike upright teaches balance. Biking is a great physical activity kids can do solo or in groups. It provides both physical activity and an opportunity to teach children about road safety and bike maintenance.
Sports Equipment
There's no limit to the amount of physical activity a child can get from a simple ball. Teachers and coaches can call upon standard games like kickball, basketball or soccer, or they can get creative and come up with new games. Adding to the sports equipment arsenal by providing bats, gloves, footballs, nets, cones and basic protective gear will increase the amount of physical activities the children have access to.
Playground Equipment
Playground equipment engages children's bodies and imaginations. Running up stairs to go down their favorite slide, climbing monkey bars and pumping their legs on a swing are all good forms of physical activity. If your organization has money to spend on equipment, choose the most interactive pieces you can afford. The more work the child has to do to use the equipment, such as climbing, the more physical activity she will get.
Video Games
Interactive toys are a departure from traditional physical activity equipment, but they could be popular enough to engage even the most inactive kids. For example, Nintendo Wii has several Wii Fitness games that challenge kids to interact physically with the game and with each other. These sessions can get the hear rate up and bring out a good sweat. Other video game consoles have workout programs or games that require activities like long sequences of complicated dance moves.
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