How to Keep Your Kids Physically Active During the School Year

Keeping kids physically active is exceedingly difficult today. Not only may they be overwhelmed by academic obligations, but they’re also focused on their social lives and things like television and video games. It’s recommended that children get 60 minutes of exercise per day.^{[1]XTrustworthy SourceCenters for Disease Control and PreventionMain public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. of Health and Human ServicesGo to source} Thus, it takes substantial work to keep kids physically active during the school year. However, by creating a balanced routine, promoting extracurricular activities, and leading by example, you’ll get your kids to be much more physically active.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Promoting Play

1
Encourage your kids to play outside. Playtime outside should be the cornerstone of your kids' activity during the course of the year. Ultimately, getting your kids to play outside will not only encourage them to be physically active, but it will also help socialize them.
- Recommend that your kids make friends with other kids in your neighborhood. Take it upon yourself to meet your neighbors and their children.
- Suggest that your kids play hide and seek, capture the flag, or tag.
- See if your kids are interested in playing basketball, softball, or football with kids in the neighborhood.^{[2]XResearch source}
2
Motivate your kids to exercise regularly. Ultimately, the best way to get your kids to exercise is to keep them active all the time. You can keep them active doing a variety of simple things.
- Have your kids walk to their friends' homes instead of you driving them.
- Encourage your kids to run around the neighborhood.
- Suggest that your kids swim in your pool or a pool in your community.
- Buy your kids bicycles so they can travel around the neighborhood.^{[3]XResearch source}
3
Have your kids play indoors. While outdoor play is the cornerstone of keeping your kids active, there are also many opportunities for your kids to exercise indoors.
- Construct an obstacle course for your kids indoors. This might be best for younger children, between the ages of 4 and 8.
- Have your kids play freeze dance. In this game, everybody dances until the music stops, when they freeze. If someone continues to move, they're out.
- Encourage younger children to play beanbag toss or a similar game.
- Take your kids ice skating or roller skating.
- Have your kids play video games that keep them active, like baseball or Guitar Hero-like games on the Nintendo Wii.^{[4]XResearch source}
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Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Participating in Extracurricular Activities

1
Encourage your kids to play sports at school. Perhaps the best way to get your kids to be physically active is to have them sign up for sports at school. These sports will not only keep your kids active, but engaged and social. Allow your child to choose a sport or team to join. Consider:
- Team sports. Traditional team sports like softball, football, and volleyball will keep your kids busy and active.
- Individual sports. Activities like swimming, tennis, or track and field will keep your kids physically active.
- Alternative activities. Even activities like debate club, Model United Nations, or chess club will get your kids to be more physically active than going home and playing video games.^{[5]XResearch source}
2
Sign your kids up for non-school related sports and other competitive activities. While some kids might be perfectly happy playing softball, soccer, or even swimming for their school, others may be more interested in non-school affiliated activities. Consider:
- Traditional sports activities like Little League baseball.
- Activities like dance, ballet, and more.
3
Have your kids join organizations that keep them busy. There are a wide variety of non-school related and non-sport organizations that will occupy your kids and keep them active both physically and socially. Consider:
- Outdoors-oriented groups like Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts. Through organizations like these your kids will engage in activities like hiking, camping, and canoeing.
- Religious youth groups. Religious youth groups, whether organized through your church or synagogue, will keep your kids busy with a wide variety of activities – many of them physical in nature.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Serving as a Role Model

1
Play sports with your kids. By playing sports with your kids, you’ll keep yourself fit and teach them a specific sport or activity. In addition, you’ll have fun. Ultimately, there really is no substitute to playing sports with your children.
- Teach your kids to play your favorite sport, like baseball, football, or volleyball.
- Ask them what they want to play. Say “Hey Johnny, let’s play something outside. What are you interested in?”
- Don’t require your kids to play with you. Requiring them to play may have the opposite desired effect.
- Avoid insulting or being overly critical when you play with your kids. There is a fine line between constructive teaching and being an overbearing parent. For example, never say something like “You’re never going to learn how to throw a ball properly, are you?”^{[6]XResearch source}
2
Enter competitions together. There are a wide variety of competitions that parents can enter with their children. Ultimately, by competing together, you’ll bond and promote the idea that physical activity is beneficial.
- Enter marathons together. For instance, you can both enter a charity marathon in your community together.
- Join a parent-child sports league, like a tennis league.
- Take a leading role in your child’s competitive life by coaching a team they play on. For example, if your child plays baseball, find out if you can be an assistant coach.^{[7]XResearch source}
3
Lead by example. Ultimately, your kids are going to model the way they behave off the way you behave. By showing yourself to be a person who is physically fit and active, you’ll give them a model for how they should live.
- Exercise regularly. If your kids observe you running or working out on a regular basis, they’ll see that it’s a good habit.
- Talk to them about how important it is to be physically active. Sit them down and say something like “Jill, I know you’ve been watching TV a lot lately, but it is very important to be physically active.”
- Avoid watching a lot of TV or spending excessive non-work related time on the computer. For example, limit your screen time to less than an hour or two per night.
4
Schedule outside activities for your whole family. Family time is also a great way to keep your kids physically active. Thus, make sure to regularly schedule time that your whole family can be active together.
- Reserve time every week or every other week for an outdoor family activity.
- Have your family go hiking in a park or forest near you.
- Plan family camping or white water rafting trips together on the weekend. This is a great way to get the whole family to bond and to be physically active.^{[8]XTrustworthy SourceHealthyChildren.orgHealth information from the American Academy of Pediatrics.Go to source}
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Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Limiting Non-physical Activity

1
Put together a schedule. One of the greatest challenges of keeping kids active during the school year is balancing their many obligations. The best way to do this is to create a schedule for your kids, so they’ll be able to reserve time for everything they need to do.
- Divide up after school time between all their obligations. In addition, create a flexible schedule for weekends. For instance, your kids may have trips or sports events to attend that will take a lot of time.
- Plan homework time. Depending on what works best for them, you may want to reserve the first hour or two after school for completing homework. You may need to shift this if they have extracurricular activities they need to attend.
- Take extracurricular activities and non-school related obligations into account.
- Include time for playing outside or with friends.
- Include “free time.” During this time, kids should be able to do whatever they want.^{[9]XResearch source}
2
Establish limits on the time your kids spend playing video games. For many kids, video games take the place of playing outside in the neighborhood. By limiting the time your kids spend playing video games, you’ll compel them to be more physically active.
- Consider restricting video games to weekends and holidays.
- On days you do allow your kids to play video games, limit their time to less than 1 or 2 hours.
- Avoid purchasing new game consoles, video games, and paying for subscriptions like XBOX live.^{[10]XResearch source}
3
Restrict the amount of time they watch television. The television serves as one of the greatest time drains for kids today. However, by limiting the amount of time your kids watch TV, you’ll force them to find other uses for their time – like being physically active.
- Limit your kids to 1 to 2 hours of screen time per day, including TV and video games.
- Allow them to watch TV as a reward for completing their homework.
- Tell your kids they are only allowed to watch TV at night, when they can’t participate in organized sports or play in the neighborhood.^{[11]XResearch source}
4
Limit electronics in their bedrooms. While you may have a good plan for limiting your kids' time on the television or computer, they may be able to skirt your rules if they have electronics in their bedrooms. In the end, the only way to make sure your kids limit their time with electronics is to make sure they can only use them in public areas of the house.
- Make your kids use a computer that is in a public area of the house. This way, you’ll better be able to monitor their usage.
- Don’t purchase a TV for your kids' bedrooms.
- Instruct your kids to leave smartphones and tablets in public areas of the house.
- Set your wireless router to block your kid’s electronic devices during certain hours. For instance, block all usage after 9 PM, for teens. In addition, block all times (like the time between the end of the school day and dinner) that you want to encourage your kids to be physically active.^{[12]XResearch source}
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