5 Fun Ways To Stay Active at Home
Article By Lizzie West
It’s on the news, social media, and friends/family are probably saying it, too: stay home, take care of yourself, and stay active. But how can you, with working from home, homeschooling, feeding everyone, and trying to order curbside? Here are a few fun ways you can incorporate activity into your daily life conveniently and with a little pizazz. These are a pretty fantastic way to get some pent up energy out of the kiddos, too!
1 – Scheduled dance parties
This is a great option to bring some rhythm into getting active. No judgment – you don’t have to be a great dancer (or even a good one). Just move to some fun or funky songs that you and your family love. You can look up dances online and try to learn a few steps. Maybe play some tunes while prepping lunch or dinner. If all else fails, just dance along with the music of the credits to Frozen II or whatever animated flick you’re watching.
2 – Don’t skip commercials – exercise! (for those Hulu/Youtube/Cable watchers)
Instead of skipping the commercials, let them play and choose an exercise to do during that time. Stepping in place, push-ups, crunches, jumping jacks – they are all great ways to get active. If you’re a real workout junkie, throw some burpees in! If you’re watching as a family, see who can do the most during the commercial break (safely)!
3 – Youtube exercise videos
There are a TON of channels devoted to different kinds of exercises. From yoga to cardio, the options are nearly endless. Another really stellar option is finding channels designed specifically for kids, like the Cosmic Kids Yoga channel (they even have a dance party video)! If you have older kids, you can search for dance tutorials for their favorite songs. There are so many channels aimed at getting teens active, I couldn’t pick just one!
4 – Yard Games (like portable frisbee golf, ladderball, washers, etc.)
These are some cool games you can order online and have shipped to your home! Playing regular frisbee or a nostalgic game of catch are easy ways to get active and spend some time outdoors. If that’s not an option, you can play Sock Dodgeball. You just need two or three pairs of socks per person. You roll each individual sock up in to a ball. Then, each person (or team) picks a home base and you try to tag the other team with your sockballs. There is no elimination, you just play until you’re tired, reloading as each team throws socks and going back to home base to keep tagging the other team with your sockballs.
There’s also Sock Basketball, where teams try to be the first team to XX points by throwing sockballs into a container, like a laundry basket or cardboard box. Make sure you choose a place in your home without breakables and where there are soft areas so no one gets hurt. These are fun to do when it’s rainy or too hot outside.
5 – Activate your brain with something like a new board game or puzzle
There are many fun tabletop games available that are great for all ages! If you just have a deck of cards you can play games like Memory, Go Fish, Crazy 8s, War – there are many options you can search for. Mix mind and body with a game of Charades. Though a new puzzle may be hard to come by right now, you can always download and create your own. Everyone can make their own puzzle, OR you can make them for each other and cut them out. Then, it’s not just about activating your body, but also your mind doing something other than what we are required to do for work or school.
Hopefully this inspires you to add a few fun daily activities to your routine, or reminds you of things you used to do as a family, or back in your childhood. It’s a good way to break up the monotony of what we are all going through and maybe teach your kids/family about things you did growing up. Remember, try to make it less about getting competitive and more about just having fun and making new memories that make you smile!