Visit your local park, pool or open spaces for facilities to help your family be active
Priya Cooper is a former paralympic swimmer and now a mother to young Olivia and Harrison. Priya knows the importance of being active for her health and for her family. She shows that with a little planning and flexibility, getting your children active means they'll be happy, and not bored or irritable from watching too much TV!
This programme is all about fitting activity in and around young kids.
The idea is to write yourself a programme for a whole month using the Activity Planner. Use the ideas in the programme as a base and add some of your own, depending on where you live and what you have nearby - like pools and parks.
| 1. Dance | 2. Hopscotch |
| Gather the kids and get to the beat! Put on their favourite DVD or CD and spend a good half hour moving. Make it fun for them and do it in dress ups! Close the curtains if you're worried about the neighbours. | You remember how to hop! Get the chalk out and get busy on the concrete creating Hopscotch. Along with chalk, all you need is a couple of pebbles and keen kids. |
| 3. Balloon volleyball | 4. Home circuit |
| Blow up a balloon and you can play volleyball anywhere! Outside, using a net curtain over a line, or inside, using a piece of string. | Set up activities in the backyard (or in your house, if it's wet). You can include lunges up and down the hall, push-ups, sit-ups, star jumps, arm lifts with baked bean cans (full!), running on the spot and skipping with a rope! Try them in sets of 10. |
| 5. Four-square | 6. Treasure hunt |
| Get the chalk out, draw a box with four squares in it and grab a ball. | Set out a treasure hunt over a wide area - through the local park if you can. Make sure you run with the kids all the way. |
| 7. TV workout | 8. Tag |
| It's time to get off the couch and do some sit-ups, push-ups and star jumps - the kids will love it. You can do it through the ad breaks. |
Just like the old days! You're 'it'. |
| 9. Hide and seek | 10. Kids soccer |
| Turn one child around and get them to count to 10 - and then they're off looking for their hidden playmates! If there's an older child, they could help the younger ones with the counting. |
Take them to the park for a bit of sport - like soccer or touch rugby. They'll improve their ball skills and you'll improve your fitness. |
| 11. Elastics | 12. Active housework |
| All you need is a length of elastic and three people (or you can use chairs for substitutes). Elastics is a fun, active game that can be played indoors and out. | Give each child an area of the car to wet, wash and hose off. Active housework, like energetic vacuuming and window washing, is a good way to be active. Kids can do it with you and learn valuable lessons. Time them, to see how fast they can tidy up their toys/room! |
| 13. Beach cricket | 14. Skipping |
| It's never too early to teach them this favourite, and you don't need much gear. | Get the ropes out, turn on some music and teach the kids to skip. Try criss crosses and double jumps. |
| 15. Stair climb | 16. Swimming |
| If you have stairs in the house, use them like the stepping machine at the gym. Time yourselves to see who can keep going the longest. | All kids love the pool. You can play chasing games with them or get them aqua jogging with you. |
| 17. Family bike ride | 18. Push walk |
| Head out with the kids on bikes to the local park or bush track. Enjoy! | Go for a good, strenuous 30-minute walk with the stroller. Remember - it can put strain on your upper back and neck muscles, so try to stand upright into the pram and don't have your arms stretched out in front of you. |
| 19. Parent tag | 20. Walk the kids to school |
| Take turns getting active in the morning: one of you goes off for a morning walk or run, while the other does the kids' breakfast. The next day - swap! |
Leave the car at home and walk the children to school. Make it a daily ritual; don't let the rain or cold days put you off - wrap up! You could also volunteer to lead a walking school bus. |
| 21. Take 30 minutes just for you | 22. Active supporter |
| Grab opportunities when they come. While the kids are in school, creche or at a friend's, do a few laps of the local pool or meet up with someone for a good walk. |
When your child is training for cricket or softball - or virtually any sport - it's your chance to give them the ultimate encouragement by practising with them. |
| 23. Yoga | |
| When the kids are safely away in bed, try an activity like yoga - it's a great wind down. You can get an instruction book or tape from the library. |