Online classes
Games to play at home to get kids active
- Indoor obstacle course
- Scavenger hunts – see here for some kid friendly scavenger hunts.
- The Lava Game
- Roll the Dice exercise
- Balloon Keepy Uppy
- Learn/practice how to catch a ball
- Book worm workout
- Movement scavenger hunt
Get outdoors
- Explore a local park
- Go on a bush walk
- Exercise at your local oval
- Draw a map of your local area and use it to go for a walk
- Go for a ride or a scoot
Build an indoor obstacle course
This is a great one for exercise and something the whole family can help with. Just ensure it’s safe! Here’s some inspiration.
The Lava game
Our kids love the lava game and it can be played inside or out. And you can pretty much sit still while they wear themselves out!!
The adult calls out the following: “Carpet is lava…….in 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1” or “Grass is lava……..in 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1” and the kids have to move to the place so they’re not standing on the place you called lava. They have 5 seconds to do so. And then repeat.
When you run out of ideas for that you can call out “Everything is lava except for XXX…….in 5 – 4 – 3 -2 -1”. You can really get them running and climbing in this one. We love the “Everything is lava except upstairs”, to get them running upstairs or “Everything is lava except your bedroom” to get them running to the other end of the house.
Roll the dice exercise
On a piece of paper assign each number from 1–6 a movement or action. Have your child roll a dice and perform the task assigned to the corresponding number. You can make it basic – roll a 5 and do 20 star jumps but we find if you make it active but silly you get the best results. It won’t be such a chore! A few fun ones to try:
- Jump like a kangaroo from one end of the house to the other
- Squat and waddle like a duck up the hallway
- Crab crawl backwards around the edge of your backyard or the room
- Commando crawl for 15 seconds
For extra fun, use 2 dice and assign movements to one die (running, jumping, etc), and animals to the other. Roll them both and your kids will be “slithering like a monkey”, “hopping like a fish” or “skipping like an elephant” amidst fits of laughter.
Balloon keepy uppy
Balloons can provide hours of entertainment and it’s a workout at the same time! Our favourite is “Keepy Uppy” and this will be a favourite of kids who love Bluey. How long can you keep a ballon up in the air for. You can use your hands to tap it up or your foot or a pool noodle or a wooden spoon. Anything really. Time how long you keep it up to challenge yourself.
Learn/practise how to catch a ball
Catching is actually quite hard and kids are often nervous about getting a ball in the nose! Once they get the hang of it you can challenge them. Can you catch and throw with your partner 10 times without dropping it? Can you catch and throw 10 times? What is your record? Another idea is to start in close then once you do 10 take one step back and repeat. How far apart can you get?
Book worm workout
Pick a book that has a word that is regularly repeated. For example, ‘bear’ from We’re Going on a Bear Hunt or ‘hat’ from The Cat in the Hat. Every time the word comes up get them to go for a run around the house.
Movement scavenger hunt
This one can be done indoors or outdoors. Once they have found the items/places to do these movements on get them to turn it into an obstacle course.
Explore a local park in your area
We have managed to find multiple new park spaces in our local area! Hidden gems. Check out Google Maps and look for green areas. Ask people in your neighbourhood where they have been exploring. We also have a list of places to exercise in the Hills if you can’t think of a place to explore. Just remember, you need to be exercising not having a picnic. Once you arrive at the park, keep on the move!
Bush walk
We are so lucky in the Hills to have a heap of bush walks in our area. You’ll probably have a favourite that you can head to. If not, here are 4 of our favourite kid friendly bush walks.
Exercise at your local oval
Local sports ovals have been a bit of a saviour for us. We kick a football, go for a ride, play tip, do running races……pretty much wear ourselves out! We saw a dad down at our local oval blow bubbles as his kids chased them!! This is a great way to keep your kids running.
Draw a map of your local area and use it to go for a walk
Our kids LOVE drawing a map. Where does your house fit in your neighbourhood? What key landmarks are around? What are the names of the streets? Inspire them by showing them a birdseye view of their neighbourhood using Google Maps. Once the map is drawn you can use it to go for a walk. Did you miss anything?
Go for a ride or scoot
Our kids have been loving riding their bikes! And based on our Facebook feeds, plenty of kids are learning to ride without training wheels now that their parents have the time. Here’s a list of great places to take your kids for a ride or scoot.
