Physical Activity for The Winter

The winter season plays havoc with your family’s fitness routine.  Cold, short days promote hibernation and tempt you to pack on pounds- unwanted pounds.  Promote family fitness by playing together, having fun and exercising all winter, inside and out!

There are plenty of great ways to stay active even when its cold or snowy outside. All you have to do is think outside the box and not let a little cold weather scare you! Here are some easy and fun ideas for your whole family:

Build an indoor obstacle course.  For hurdles, place sofa cushions, baseball plates, towels or other objects on the floor.  Arrange tables or chairs under which everyone can crawl.  Set a timer and challenge each family member to navigate the course.  Be sure to use caution and be safe at all times! Allow the winner to choose the next movie on movie night!

Create a fitness challenge.  Establish exercise stations throughout the house- this will be beneficial to Mom, Dad and Kids!  You can draw hopscotch on the kitchen floor- (Only if you ok with this).  Place a jump rope in the dining room.  Put an exercise ball in the family room.  Here’s what you do: Post a chart at each station and challenge a each family member to visit each station every day. After completing a station be sure to mark it on the chart- children will enjoy putting a god star next to their name!  At the end of the week, the family members who meet the challenge receive a special reward.

Play in the snow.  Build a snowman, a family of snowmen or a fort.  Going sledding can be one of the best winter days for everyone! Find a local hill that allows sledding, put on the snowsuits and grab some sleds. If you don’t have any many chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, K- Mart and Walgreens sell them for a reasonable price. If you want to get really creative and not spend money, try sledding using the top to your garbage can! 

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Visit the park.  Bundle each family member in warm clothing, and enjoy playing on the swings, slides and monkey bars.  Most parks remain open during winter weather and give your family a free fitness outlet.

Meet your family’s fitness goals this winter with creative exercise activities.  Strive to move every day.  Play together to increase each family member’s fitness level and to make fitness fun all winter. Children will be more apt to play and be active if you join them!