5 Fun Ways to Keep Your Kids Active this Summer
Physical activities are an important part of children’s development. Children need to engage in activities that keep them physically active every day because exercise helps them improve coordination, flexibility, balance, and, in general, their gross motor skills, among many other benefits.
How much physical activity is recommended for kids?
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends “at least an average of 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous intensity, mostly aerobic, physical activity, across the week at least one hour of moderate physical exercise per day” for children between 5 and 17 years old.
For children under this age group, it is recommended that they be physically active for at least 3 hours a day. At this age, it’s more important the type of physical activity than the intensity of it; good activities include walking, cycling, or swimming.
Due to being locked down in our homes to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, such activities were impossible for a long time. However, as the world slowly opens up again and allows more outdoor activities, you can enjoy them once again.
How Our Little Roses keeps girls active
Most children are naturally active; still, including dedicated time in their routines to do some form of physical exercise is important to help their healthy development. There are many activities kids can do that are fun to do alone or with company to stay active; at Our Little Roses, we also love to do a lot of games and activities to keep our girls active and happy, which improves their physical and emotional health as well.
The girls in our San Pedro Sula home stay fit while learning teamwork and cooperation through organized sports such as soccer, yoga, Zumba, and more.
Five games and ideas to keep kids active
Playing is the best tool for children to learn in many ways and do some physical exercise without them even realizing it. That’s why we’ve put together ten games and ideas to keep toddlers active at home.
Whether you’re indoors or outside enjoying the summer, there are many fun activities to keep kids active during these months. Here’s a list of some of our favorite ones:
- Dancing
Music is the best ally to get kids moving to the rhythm of upbeat tunes, and YouTube is a good source to find music: From choreographed children’s songs to Zumba classes, kids of all ages can enjoy spending time dancing to popular songs.
Dancing is one of our favorite activities at OLR, and we have teamed up with teachers to include dance in our extracurricular activities for the girls. The “Centro Cultural Infantil” (Children’s Cultural Center), or CCI is an enrichment program in San Pedro Sula where many of our girls, traditional Honduran folk dancing, art, or drama classes. Other girls attend a local dance studio where they are learning jazz, tap, and modern dance.
- Yoga for kids
Practicing yoga is an activity that allows children to get to know their body, learn to control it, and get to learn a little meditation while playing.
Though it might sound intimidating at first to teach kids how to do yoga, there are tons of videos kids can follow along with that make the whole activity a fun exercise that keeps them engaged.
- Imitate the card
The game consists of drawing cards and performing the gesture/action indicated to us. To do this, we can draw a series of actions on several cards: jump five, clap ten times, go around three times, jump inside the circle, jump out of the circle, imitate a penguin, etc. Place the cards in the center, and participants will pick them up one at a time to do them.
You can make it a challenge by splitting into teams and seeing which team can do X amount of cards in the least amount of time.
- The game of ropes
The game consists of placing a series of ropes (or ribbons, strings, exercise bands, socks, etc. ) from wall-to-wall, sticking them with thumbtacks or adhesive tape and trying to pass through without touching them.
- Volleyballoon
An inflated balloon is an excellent incentive to encourage a small child to move. This game would consist of trying to pass the balloon between two or more people or between two teams while trying not to let it fall to the ground.
The benefits of physical activity
Being physically active means moving enough to get your heart pumping, your blood racing, and more air in your lungs. Exercise is vital to children’s health and well-being. Physical activity helps strengthen and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints. It can help them have a healthy body mass index and reduce the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems later in life. It can help children fall asleep faster and sleep better
Beyond the benefits to the body, physical activity also helps improve a child’s mental health and behavior. Physically active children are more likely to be motivated, focused and successful in school. Having good physical skills builds confidence at any age.
Physical activity increases enthusiasm and optimism and boosts self-esteem, school performance, attention, and behavior. It also reduces anxiety, tension/stress, and depression. It can help foster teamwork and friendships/relationships with others when part of an organized sport.
Moving for a good cause– Let’s Get moving event 2022
The OLR’s Get Moving fundraising event is an excellent way to encourage people to get active while helping raise money for a really great cause. . Participants choose from four categories: walking, cycling, swimming, or running, and supporters pledge an amount of money for every mile or lap they complete. It’s a fun way to get active, compete with other athlestes and help to break the chains of generational poverty for our girls. You can participate as an individual or as a family – it’s a great way to get the whole family out walking, running, cycling, or swimming.
Donations make up the foundation of Our Little Rose’s funding, so fundraisers like the Let’s Get Moving virtual event are integral to OLR’s ability to provide the core needs for girls in Honduras.
From healthcare and housing to educational opportunities and female empowerment, the impacts of Our Little Roses on the 60+ girls who live and are cared for at the Home are undeniable. With the primary goal of improving the quality of life that girls in Honduras can achieve, Our Little Roses incorporates the love of God and a core belief that girls deserve the chance to achieve anything they can dream of.
Let’s Get Moving runs the entire month of August and ends September 4th. While we show “Challenge” distances, there is no minimum distance. So pick a total distance that works for you, and have some fun! Check all the information here – it’s time to GET MOVING!