Regular exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle for children as it lays the foundation for future healthy habits. It can also decrease the risk of becoming overweight in adulthood or developing type 2 diabetes.
Targeting certain muscle groups early can also prepare your child for more complex motor skills later on, like dribbling a basketball or riding a bike. Here is how much your child should be exercising based on their age:
|
Age |
Toddlers |
Preschoolers (3-6 years) |
Children and teens (6-17) |
|
Exercise Recommendations |
60 minutes of active play daily |
120 minutes of daily activity |
One hour of exercise daily and one hour of muscle-strengthening three times a week |
Those recommendations may seem daunting, but the good news is children can meet them through typical childhood games and imaginative play.
Here are eight easy and fun exercises for kids and tips to incorporate them into your child's day.
Running not only helps kids develop healthy hearts, lungs, and coordination, but it can also improve cognitive performance, mental health, and academic performance says Candice Taylor Lucas, MD, an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine.
A 2008 review found that aerobic physical activity, like running, improved academic performance.
How to do it: Young kids typically enjoy games like tag or freeze that encourage running by chasing each other, says Ryan Ingley AT, an athletic trainer with Nationwide Children's Hospital Sports Medicine. Older kids might enjoy games that require more strategy like capture the flag, which involves two competing teams trying to capture each other's flag and bring it back to their own home base.
Jumping is another fundamental skill that builds on bouncing, which children typically are able to do by 18 months, Lucas says. Like running, jumping also helps develop balance and coordination while strengthening leg and core muscles.
A small 2018 study of boys aged 10 to 12, had one group complete a jump rope training program three times a week, while the other completed a regular physical education program without jumping rope. The jump rope group gained more strength and endurance over a 10 week period than the group that did not complete a jump rope program.
How to do it: According to Lucas, here are some fun ideas to get your child to jump:
Skipping is a more coordinated movement that builds upon running and jumping skills, Lucas says. Skipping also improves balance and coordination as well as timing and proprioception skills, or the ability to sense your body's position and movements.
How to do it: Some ways you can encourage your kids to skip include:
Bear crawls are full-body movements that help increase strength and coordination, Ingley says. They target the following muscle groups:
You can encourage small children to do bear crawls by tapping into their imaginations, Lucas says. Have your children pretend to be bears, moving around in a forest looking for food or trying to catch another animal.
How to do it:
Crab walks are another muscle-strengthening exercise that can help improve coordination, Ingley says. Like bear crawls, crab walks target many muscle groups, including:
"These are great for kids who are sitting all day and for building upper body strength," Lucas says. "Like bear crawls, these also foster an active play opportunity that leans on a child's imagination."
Younger kids might enjoy pretending to be crabs walking along the sand on a beach while older kids might enjoy racing each other while doing crab walks.
How to do it:
Squats help improve strength and stability while targeting several lower body muscle groups, including:
How to do it: Here are some ideas to encourage squatting for kids:
Yoga is a great form of exercise to build strength, flexibility, and promote mindfulness and deep breathing, which can reduce stress, Lucas says.
A 2015 review found yoga may reduce anxiety in children and adolescents. Other benefits of yoga for kids include:
How to do it: There are many ways to encourage your child to do yoga, including:
A superman is a muscle-strengthening exercise that works your abdominal and back muscles, Ingley says. You can encourage your child to do a superman by pretending to be superheroes flying through the sky.
How to do it:
Kids and teens need at least an hour of aerobic exercise a day and an hour of muscle-strengthening exercises three times a week.
You can encourage different types of exercise by incorporating them into imaginative play or games.
While the exercises listed above are great for kids, finding what they already enjoy and encouraging them to explore their own interests will likely be more successful than trying to develop a specific exercise plan.
"Encouraging free play, outdoor exploration, and involvement in activities, games, or sports are the best ways to get kids physically active," Ingley says.
