How Do You Keep Your Kids Fit?

Updated on September 13, 2011
R.R. asks from Carpentersville, IL
25 answers

I am a firm believer in getting these kids up and active. My boys are in Martial Arts twice a week and my middle child is also in football. What are you doing to get your kids fit?

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J.G.

answers from Rockford on

I mostly just let my kids be kids. Ha! ha! That does involve a lot of outside running around time or walking to the playground and general play. Although I did just put my daughter in Ballet, but that's only once a week.

1 mom found this helpful
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T.P.

answers from Indianapolis on

My daughter is in swimming and I am proud to say she swam on her own this weekend. She takes piano and wants to take gymnastics. Unfortunately Mommy's money tree in the backyard died so she can't do it all. :) She now wants to take karate so we will see.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Well my kids are not bump on a log slugs.
They are very active.... on their own. Always running around etc.
We also play tennis, and go hiking etc.
My daughter takes Marital arts.
They are very fit/lean kids. Solid built. Strong.
And we eat healthy. So whatever they put in their mouths, I have no problem with that, because, we don't have junk nor do I cook junk foods.

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E.D.

answers from Seattle on

In my house, the more relevant question would be "How do you get your kids to sit still / be inactive / take quiet time." *Sigh*.

How do I keep my kids fit? I don't really. We just eat good food, let them be their charming-mischievous-curious-non stop-busy, busy, busy selves. That and we go outside / to OTHER places besides our house to play a LOT (for my sanity as well as theirs ;-). They are...ALWAYS moving and shakin'.

Which is one reason my diet consists of coffee and coffee.

4 moms found this helpful

A.G.

answers from Dallas on

We live on a small farm, so we're always doing chores of some sort. Our boys are outside all the time either helping with chores or exploring. Our oldest (13) also runs cross-country, and plays tennis, and our youngest (7) plays golf and basketball.

3 moms found this helpful
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C.K.

answers from Minneapolis on

Just playing outside with them and exploring. Organized sports are not necessarily the answer. We really limit the TV watching. A really good book that I'm reading is called The Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. As parents around the country have become more fit and active, children have become more fat and inactive. The same thing has happened with children being signed up for so many activities. They need to play. Running around comes naturally to a child, they learn to sit around from us (as I sit on my computer!). Ever notice that your 2-year-old runs everywhere? If I ask mine to get something, he runs there. At what point do we start to walk not run? I think we need to keep the curiosity and excitement alive in our kids so they still want to run places. Everywhere you go, you see adults telling children not to run. It's too dangerous! Really? Not running is more dangerous.

Just want to add that my kids are both at school right now, so I can sit on the computer for a little while ;)

2 moms found this helpful
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T.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

Kid stuff :) Playground, bikes, rollerblades.... (no soda or tons of junk)

1 mom found this helpful
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A.L.

answers from Las Vegas on

My 9 yr old isn't too into sports, therefore, we walk just about most places we go. In fact, on Saturday, we walked ten miles. No, I am not torturing him. :) we've been walking a lot since he was really young, so he is used to it... The walking, while subtle , does make a difference. I know this because when we don't walk a lot, I see the difference in both my son and me.. I also wear a pedometer and measure how far we go each time.

best of luck

1 mom found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Boston on

I'm lucky that my crew has always been thin (how that happened I'll never know because DH and I are overweight) so we don't have to really think about it, but they're just active anyway. We finished half of our basement and made it a giant playroom so there is no excuse for them to not be active even in the winter, and in the good weather we throw them outside. We live in a walkable/bike-able neighborhood and the kids walk to and from school almost every day.

For formal programs, my oldest son plays hockey 6 days a week from September - April and plays Lacrosse from February - June. My daughter does kickboxing and karate 3-4 days a week (she has her black belt). My 7 year old does hockey once a week for 4-6 months a year plus whatever else he wants (basketball, baseball) and my 5 year old skates and plays soccer and t-ball.

I also walk my own talk (literally). Even though I'm overweight, I just did my first triathlon this weekend so the kids saw me swimming or lacing up my shoes to go for a bike ride or jog on a regular basis for the past few months. I am not an athlete but learned the basics of the sports they play, get them to practices, cheer them on at games, etc. I walk or bike to and from school with my younger kids, and we walk or bike on errands, to the playground, etc. It doesn't make sense to me to bark at them to shut off the TV and go outside if they just see me sitting at the computer all day not moving either. I really hope they stay active forever and don't end up fighting the weight battle like my husband and I do.

1 mom found this helpful

R.A.

answers from Providence on

I get my son outside and have him play in the yard every day. He also loves to go on walks around our neighborhood, and play frisbee. So many kids just sit around and play video games nowadays. It is so important for them to get some fresh air and stay active. These are helpful tools for them, especially for when they get older.

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P.S.

answers from Houston on

I keep the TV off and involve my kid in the "cooler" sports like karate and swimming.

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C.D.

answers from Chicago on

Screen time seems to be the biggest thing pulling kids away from being fit. Not only do things that involve a screen encourage being sedentary and lack full moving engagement in an activity, but the commercials on tv in particular encourage unhealthy eating and materialism. And while they are still little and brain still developing, screen watching can physically effect the structure of brain development causing shortened attention span and more impulsivity, etc. I am not completely anti-screens for kids even beginning in preschool a little bit, but all these reasons are why I have never allowed it to be in daily routine. They could go a week and not miss it so long as they are busy doing other things. They've been building and climbing trees outside lately with the gorgeous weather. Given some time to explore outside can get the creative juice goin and cause them to create their own exercise/work. :) Winter gets harder to keep them fit, but between the child center gym & tubes they have to play in while I workout and organized sports and obstacle courses and such they make in the house, it works. :)

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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

My son does at least O. sport, each season all year, we eat healthy and I often tell him these (disappearing) words from the American vocabulary "Go out and PLAY!"

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K.U.

answers from Detroit on

DD just turned 4 last month - she did a once-a-week preschooler gymnastics class last year and she is going to be doing it again this year. Now that she is 4, I was able to get he signed up for preschooler pee-wee soccer through our local parks and rec office and she'll be doing that once a week too. Then, she loves swimming so I try to take her swimming as often as possible and finally got around to getting her signed up for swimming lessons (she will swim independently with a float vest but I want to get her swimming without it). And I try to just get her outside every day if I can, riding her bike or going for a walk. We have a school with a playground that is close enough to walk to and we can go over there on the weekends. If she has a friend come over to play, they will spend at least some of the time outside playing tag or just running around. If the weather is bad, sometimes I will take her to an indoor playground where she can climb and run around to help burn off some energy. She naturally has a LOT of energy and I have to make it a point every day to wear her out!

L.U.

answers from Seattle on

I am always saying, "Turn the TV OFF!" If it's not raining hard then they are outside. My boys are both involved in soccer with practice twice a week and games on the weekends. We walk around the neighborhood, take "good morning or good night" walks. On the walks we take our scooters or bikes. When the soccer season is over we will be trying out basketball for the first time! yikes! Also going to be signing them up for swimming lessons.
I believe in the being active too, AND eating well. So, I make sure to have tons of fruit and healthy choices for them to eat or snack on. I don't want them to be fat like their mama.
L.

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B.F.

answers from Chicago on

We bike or walk to school. I let them play on the school playground after school. We usually stay there for an hour after school. They also do gymnastics.

A.R.

answers from St. Louis on

We go as a family to the track 3 times a week (running, jogging). Besides that our older kid is in Martial Arts, swimming and P.E. The little one swims and participates in P.E. also. We like sports, so we encourage our kids to practice whatever they enjoy to be healthy and fit.

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P.K.

answers from Chicago on

Our 5 year old plays hockey several times a week. Our family loves outdoor activities too so he also plays outside at the playground everyday (weather permitting), rides his bike, we walk our dog, etc. It's hard to keep a 5 year old still!

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B.A.

answers from Chicago on

My daughter does dance 5 hours a week, the other an hour. We let them play outside everyday after school for several hours. We walk to and from school. We do the free community running club 4-5 times a week. We play hard inside as well, chase, hide and seek, challenges like sit ups, push ups. I have never been able to just sit still and my kids really can't either I guess some would call it attention deficit disorder or a hyperactivity disorder I call it living.

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A.C.

answers from Savannah on

In the morning, we take our dog for a walk. We play at home together, play with our dog (chase, fetch, etc). When I do my stretches/exercise thing, my oldest (4 yrs old) does them with me. I do mostly flexibility and balance stuff for him, to help him with his martial arts. All year long, 2 days a week, he goes to kung fu class, but we actually practice his routine and forms every day, sometimes a couple times a day. During spring season, he plays soccer. In fall, he does horseback riding. As a family for fun, we play Tball and kickball in our backyard or park. We go to the playground and swimming a couple evenings a week, and we go to the beach 3 days/week. I'm not in great shape, but in the evenings I'll walk the dog with my younger son (21 months) in tow while my 4 year old rides his bike up ahead. I push the stroller in case my little guy gets tired, but he walks as far as he can. Another thing we just started: 3 days a week I go to exercise classes at a indoor children's playground where the boys can play on bounce houses, with trains, slides, a kitchen, a castle playset, etc. I made a file on youtube for the kids (Justin Bieber, Laurie Berkner, etc) and I'll turn it on and we all dance (then I start cooking or whatever while they're occupied watching/dancing). They just "play" a lot. We still do other stuff (school stuff, art, reading, even TV, etc) but there's A LOT of active play. We don't really play video games though unless we're at someone else's house and that's what they do. That's very rare though. I'm not "against" games or anything else, but there's just more to do than just that.

A.G.

answers from Houston on

My oldest daughter and I roller blade together almost every day during the autumn and spring and most of the winter. The summer, not so much too hot, but we did go yesterday. I use a jogging stroller for my youngest but i plan on putting her in a training wheeled bike in about a year to catch up with me and the new baby(in the stroller) My oldest also rides her bike, and her scooter.....and we often walk (at least once a week).

Besides that she has recess (obviously) and sometimes she works out with me. She was doing that all the time but the girl is wayyyy too fit already.

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M.F.

answers from Youngstown on

Well they are not allowed to sit and watch tv all day even in winter. Although in winter we let them play the wii more than normal to burn some energy if it's too cold to go outside. They both play football. I am actually going sign them up for karate when football is done to give them something to do and get out of the house this winter and spring. They are outside every secound they can and argue when it's time to come in..they are naturally pretty active boys.

C.M.

answers from Washington DC on

when we lived in CA, my kids were at the pool swimming around 9 months out of the year. We would also walk to the beach and back (2 miles each way). We would bring the jogger just incase they got too tired, but they mostly liked to walk. If it was too cold for the pool or beach, then we would go to the park. We are in VA now and the pools are closed (sucks because we are used to swimming almost year round) and so my daughter has shown interest in gymnastic and dance, but we can't afford it right now, so I will have to see what I can do for her. My son has shown interest in baseball. He is only 4 and very little. So, I think when he turns 5 I will look into T ball or something for him. My husband does martial arts and so he teaches it to the kids too and they play and wrestle almost every day. It's hard because classes and programs cost so much and in CA you don't really need that, it's easy to just get outside year round and here you can't do that. Even I have gained some weight since moving here because I don't have anywhere to go running or walking that is close by. I guess we were spoiled in CA being so close to the beach.

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T.C.

answers from Colorado Springs on

We homeschool, we live on 5 acres full of trees, and we have a health club membership. However, we do not do organized sports as in we don't sign up for football, soccer, baseball, basketball, etc. But, we do play all of those with friends, along with ultimate frisbee, hockey, etc. I hate the idea of being a slave to someone else's schedule. We do what we do on our own timeline. :) Yeah, we're pretty independent thinkers. LOL
HAHA, I just saw Cara's reply. I think our kids stop running everywhere when we finally get through to them: Stop running in the house!! LOL

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

We homeschool.

Motto: Mens sana in copore sano : Healthy mind in a healthy body.

On average at least half of our time (6-10 hours a day) is spent doing highly active things.

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