3 Ways to Make Fitness Fun for Your Kids

The secret to getting your kids moving? Make it fun. In this article, you'll learn three different ways in which you can amp up the fun factor to get your kids—big or small—up and moving.

No one needs to tell you that to get children excited about something (chores, doctor's appointments, long car rides), fun must be involved. Exercise is no exception. "If you don't frame physical activity as a source of entertainment, to some degree, kids are unlikely to stay interested in it", says Karen Santesson, a supervisor at Nike's Child Development Center who runs the Everybody Moves activity programme, in accordance with the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America). Not sure where to start? Try these ideas for making moving together fun.

01. Turn it into a game.
The easiest (and to be fair, most obvious) way to make exercise more entertaining is to make a game of it, because games disguise physical work as play. Basic garden games like tag, Grandmother's Footsteps and football typically keep younger kids (aged 3 to 5) engaged, while older kids and pre-teens often like obstacle courses, which are more dynamic and suit their relatively low attention spans, says Santesson. To create a course of your own, set up five or six "obstacles" around your garden or house, like a stack of pillows they have to jump over or two trees they have to crab-walk between. Set a timer and challenge them to finish in a certain time, cheering them on along the way.

02. Give them some control.
"Children usually like to feel as though they're making their own decisions, as it gives them a sense of control", says Santesson. Try giving little ones (aged 3- to 6-ish years) a job to do. Let your child know that they're your designated workout buddy and their job is to follow along as much as they can with your yoga routine, or to throw you a light medicine ball in between your sit-ups. For older kids, let them pick out a workout or create their own for you to do together, stringing together five or six exercises that interest them. "It's exciting for kids to tell their parents what to do for once, and when they see you moving and enjoying it, they're more likely to want to join in", adds Santesson. Help them find new routines and exercises to try by searching in the 'For the Whole Family' Collection or 'Learn the Basics of Training' Collection, both on the NTC App.

03. Encourage their imagination.
Whether you're playing a cardio-intensive game or having your child join you in your own workout, the more you can take them out of the real world, the better. "Imaginary ideas get their brains more involved, which makes interacting throughout the activity easier, lowering the chance of distraction", says Santesson.

For example: Your daughter isn't a 3-year-old girl, she's a butterfly flying from one end of the garden to the other. "What colour are your wings?" you could ask her. Your 10-year-old son isn't doing lunges across the living room, he's stepping from one stone to the other to cross a stream of hot lava. Ask him: "How quickly can you escape the sofa volcano? Show me!" Most kids will get excited about something if you show genuine excitement about it, and creating an imaginary scene is a solid way to do that. To grab their attention from the get-go, try revolving the scene around one of their current interests, such as ballet, dinosaurs or an athlete, suggests Santesson.

If all else fails and you're still struggling to get them excited to move, Santesson says to consider offering a prize incentive with the activity, such as their choice of afternoon snack or board game. Hopefully, after a few consecutive days or weeks of having fun with fitness, they'll start to choose physical play over sofa time … on their own.