Fostering a love of exercise at a young age can have long-lasting effects for your child. Helping them understand the importance of fitness while making it fun will get them off the couch and into the fresh air. With that in mind, we’ve gathered some of the best ways you can get your kids exercising for a healthy lifestyle. If you’re looking for a fun and safe place that your little one can exercise in, look no further than Rebounderz Trampoline Park right here in Edison. Whether they want to jump around on our trampolines or they want to test their skills on the Ninja Warrior course, we have tons of ways to get your kids active. With that out of the way, let’s take a look at how you can get your child exercising.

-Walking The Dog

Kids love their pets, so it’s pretty easy to get them active when their dog is involved. Take your pup for a walk on a nice walking trail to get the whole family up and moving around. Not only will the walking help you and your kid stay healthy, your dog will appreciate it, too. Everyone needs exercise, dogs included. This is also a good opportunity to take in the sights and enjoy nature — something too often ignored in this always-online world.

-Scheduling

When working out is left as a nebulous “we’ll do it when we get to it” activity, it falls by the wayside more often than not. If you schedule a family workout for a time that has the highest probability of participation, you’re more likely to actually do it. After dinner is a great time to take a nice family walk or play a game together. For kids, after school is a perfect opportunity to get them active, as they’ve been sitting all day in class and have energy they could burn off.

-Keep It Fresh

Just because you’re exercising with your kids doesn’t mean you have to be going through a full CrossFit workout. Playing is exercise, too! If you go for a walk one day, take a family trip to the pool the next day. Even something like yard work counts as exercise. Don’t fall into a habit of just doing one exercise, as that will get boring for everyone. When you vary up the activities, you’re also able to create a more well-rounded level of fitness.

-Invite Friends

Kids love to play with their friends, so when you get them involved it makes the whole activity more fun for everyone. Exercising with friends can spur a sense of competition or a feeling of camaraderie as they working out together. When their friend is there, they will also have a level of accountability that may not be present when they work out with you. You don’t have to stop at just the friend — invite their whole family and make an event out of it!

-Track Progress

No matter how old you get, it’s incredibly motivating to see how far you’ve come since you’ve started an activity. By placing a chart in a prominent area of your home where you track everyone’s progress, you give actual numbers to what has been accomplished. It also helps to make an exercise habit take hold. If your kid has a competitive streak, keep track of games everyone has won, best times, most push-ups or sit-ups, and other accomplishments to spur them on.

-Be Spontaneous

While scheduling workouts are absolutely helpful to fostering a fit lifestyle, it’s important to not be restricted to that schedule. Take advantage of exercise opportunities wherever you can. Whether that means doing push-ups during a commercial break, racing from the car to the house, doing jumping jacks while waiting in a long line, or playing a quick game of basketball — there’s a wide range of exercise you can do at the drop of a hat.

-Go Outside

With Spring right around the corner, this will be a lot easier than it was through the chilly Winter months. Making outdoor exercise a habit gets everyone out in the fresh air and helps your family reconnect with nature. Playing in the backyard or going to the school playground are easy ways to get active and outside. This helps keep the exercises fresh and fun, as it won’t get as old when you change locations. However, just because it’s Winter doesn’t mean you have to hibernate. Skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing are all fun exercises to do when it’s cold out.

-Start Off Short

If your little one is struggling to commit to the exercise, start off with a short five-minute activity. That’s long enough to break a sweat and will often spur them on to do more. A five-minute jog or bike ride is easy for everyone and will more likely turn into ten minutes or more. This gives your kid the confidence that they can accomplish a short-term goal that pushes them to try more.

-Get Involved In Charity

There are many opportunities to exercise for a good cause. Check around for local organizations that are putting on fundraising walks. Ask your friends and relatives to sponsor your family in your walk. This is a great way to get your child involved, foster their empathy, and let them give back to the community at large. If you can’t find one in your area, organize your own fundraising walk to support your child’s PTA or little league.

-Let Your Kid Pick

When kids are given an opportunity to exercise their own way, it gives them more investment in the activity. Let your kids plan out the family exercise schedule for a week and prepare to be surprised by the creative ideas they come up with. Try rotating who puts together the workout schedule every week to help keep everything fresh while giving everyone an opportunity to do things they care about with the family.

-Put It In Writing

When you make an agreement as a family to pursue fitness, it helps to have it in writing. If weight loss is the goal, make it reasonable (no more than six pounds lost a month). If your family goal is to complete a 5K together, put that down, with milestones laid out that will help everyone get there. Start off small, with everyone aiming to first complete a half-mile, then a full mile, and so on until you all feel comfortable with shooting for your goal. Have the whole family sign this agreement and place it in a prominent place, such as next to your progress chart.

Getting your kid active at an early age can foster a lifelong love of exercise. Not only does that make for a healthier life physically, it will help for greater emotional health as well. Hopefully, these tips help you and your family get active together. A family that pursues fitness together stays healthy together!
If you’re looking for a great place to exercise, no matter what the weather outside is like, come on into Rebounderz here in Edison. Our trampoline park, Ninja Warrior course, SlamBall court, and JumpXtreme Tower are the perfect attractions for your whole family to have fun with. We hope to see you soon!