Image blurred to protect the kids in it! And because I don’t know how to take pictures! 😉
Have you ever thought about doing a playtime workout? Playtime workouts can be a wonderful way to get a workout in for both you and your kids! There are so many things you can do and you don’t need anything but a playground and some running space! But if you want to get “fancy” you can add some things in to add to the workout; like jump ropes, balls, skateboards, scooters, pogo sticks, you name it you can add it to the park playtime workout! There really are no excuses as there are so many options available to play!
I know it’s Winter and a good part of the east coast of the USA is buried in snow and cold but you can even go to the park or a walk in the winter. Just make sure you wear your coat and gloves to avoid getting too cold before you warm up! 😉 Here in Texas the weather has been very bipolar and we can’t decide if it’s going to be winter or spring. This week we went to the park for our local homeschool park day because it was sunny and in the low 50’s and all of us moms were sitting at the picnic table trying to stay warm but our kids were running around complaining they were warm. This got me thinking and helped me figure out a topic for my Try It Thursday post! 😉
Here are some simple things we can all do to create a play time workout! I’m sure my son burned 1,000 calories while playing at the park. On the other hand, I burned ZERO while sitting there chatting with my friends! Next time we go to the park I’m going to run around some and try burning some calories, too!
- Play tag with the kids! I know I will be “IT” most of the time in the beginning BUT, it’s a great way to get moving! And if your kids are like mine they will volunteer to be “it” occasionally just so they can run around more! 😉
- Bring a ball and play “monkey in the middle” if you have three people. If you have more than three people you can play “keep away”. Both are great for hand-eye coordination and will cause you to run and jump and bounce around like a “monkey”!
- Play on the “monkey bars”. It’s a great strength and core workout!
- Swing!! I forgot how much I LOVE to swing and the higher the better! If you are brave you can show off your talents and jump out of the swing….and try to land on your feet!
Just be careful not to land crazy and break your leg! That would really put a damper on your playtime workouts! - Bring a couple of jump ropes and jump rope with the kids! Try to sing the alphabet or any number of jump rope songs like we did as kids! It’s an amazing cardio workout!!
- If you are really into this playtime workout you can bring a medicine ball and toss it back and forth! You are building muscle and coordination! Here’s a great book to use as a reference for the medicine ball playtime workouts!
- You can do lunges, squats, and jumping jacks as you run sprint races down the sidewalk in the neighborhood! You can do push ups or tricep dips from the side of a picnic table or the bumper of a car!
- Another great idea for a playtime workout is using these FitDeck cards! You can even get the Fit Deck mobile app so you can do this workout where you are anytime!!
- You can also play Wii or Xbox Kinect games with the kids if the weather is just too cold (or hot in the summer)! I LOVE the Wii Sports bowling game and it’s amazing the workout you can get by playing a video game!
- Trampolines! Trampolines are a great workout as well. A couple of my friends have the small ones and they are pretty inexpensive. Or go to one of the new Trampoline places that seem to be popping up everywhere and spend a couple of hours jumping around and playing and acting like a kid!
- Or my all time favorite play time workout with little kids
or by myself when no one is watching— crank up some music and dance, dance, dance!! I just got a Xbox Kinect Zumba game for Christmas and I love doing it! You can get a workout in and play some great music at the same time!
So…my challenge to you this week, my dear readers is to go play!! Yes, that’s right go outside, go to the living room or basement or wherever you need to go and PLAY and involve your kids or neighbor’s kids, or nieces and nephews or even the significant other and get sweaty by acting like a kid!! You will be surprised at how much fun it is to play again. Give it a TRY and see what happens. I can’t wait to hear how you got active playing this week!
Have a great week playing y’all!
xoxoxo,
Ann
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