A sedentary lifestyle leads to excessive weight and poor cardiovascular health according to James M. Pivarnik, Ph.D of the Michigan Governor's Council of Physical Fitness, Health and Sports. Help your kids develop healthy fitness habits early on by encouraging exercise drills. When exercise is fun, kids want to participate and stay active.
Obstacle Course
An obstacle course can be created anywhere with very few things needed. A field with some soccer balls, jump ropes and sport cones is a simple design for an obstacle. A jungle gym adds challenges to the exercises with different coordination and strength exercises. Kids can dribble a soccer ball through cones, do push-ups, go across the monkey bars and then do chin-ups. The goal of the obstacle course is to create a series of exercises done continuously. Create two teams and use the course combined with a relay race for friendly competition.
Tag
Tag is a simple game most kids play. The game requires someone to be "it", then the kid who is "it" chases the other kids to tag someone who then becomes "it". There are many variations to this game used by coaches, physical education teachers and parents that increase the challenge, like freeze tag or flash light tag. Tag helps kids develop stamina and gain speed and agility by running.
Tie Your Shoes Drill
Tying your shoes may not seem like an exercise drill, but it can be a good tool for fitness teachers to use to challenge kids, while teaching them flexibility. Bending over to tie your shoes requires mobility in the spine and flexibility in the leg muscles. Kids might find this funny at first. Children can race to see who can do it first by developing a relay setting for a competitive environment.
Benefits
It is important to teach kids about strength, endurance and flexibility exercises. Being fit requires aptitude in all three areas. Kids should warm up with stretches or a moderate activity to get muscles ready for strength and endurance training. This reduces the chance of injury and improves the overall effects of the workout. If your child suffers from any medical conditions, such as asthma, speak with your pediatrician before starting any new exercise program.
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