READY… SET… MOVE!

 

            Sharing physical activities with your child isn't just a way to get your heart pumping and burn calories. It's also a great way to build family bonds. When you play catch, toss a Frisbee, play tag or have a family dance party, you're creating memories that your child will treasure - memories of the laughter you've shared and simply enjoying each other's company. The fact that you are giving your body a gift is a BONUS! Our goal is to have the children train with any member(s) of their family 3 times a week for 15 minutes.

 

          I have asked the children to become their "Family Trainer". Most of them are very excited to begin the challenge! We began this plan by brainstorming ideas of safe activities that we can perform indoors (due to our winter weather) with equipment that can be found in any home. Together, the children and I have created the following list of activities that can be done in any home, garage or basement. Please modify the exercises if you have any medical issues such as back problems, knee problems, etc...

1. Wall Sit - Stand with your back to the wall and slide down to a seated  

    position with knees bent at a 90 degree angle and thighs parallel to the 

    floor then hold it for as long as you can.

 

2. Wall Pushups - Standing approximately 12 - 18 inches from the wall, face the

    wall and do pushups with your hands on the wall.

 

3. Walk up and down your stairs while holding the railing

4. Jumprope in your basement or garage

5. Chair Push ups- facing a sturdy chair and holding the seat of the chair.

6. Step ups and Step downs - stand on the floor with the stairs in front of you,

     step up on the first step with the right and left foot then back down with the

     right and left foot. UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN...

 

7. Put music on and have a dance party.dance like nobody’s watching!

 

8. Run sprints up and down your driveway when it is free of snow and ice!

 

9. Toss the sugar or flour - Take a 5 lb bag of sugar and place it in a

    plastic grocery bag. Tie the bag closed at the top. Repeat this step three

    more times facing the knot in a different direction each time until you

    have the sugar or flour secured in at least four plastic bags. This creates 

    a great medicine ball and it is a perfect weight for tossing to a partner

    (keep it low, waist height, underhand). If you find that it is getting dropped, get closer together.

10. Using the homemade medicine ball described above, stand back to

      back with a partner and pass the medicine ball around your waist to   

      your partner. Keep passing the ball around to the right, then switch       

      things up and pass to the left.

 

11. Over, under - using the homemade medicine ball- stand back to back

      with a partner and pass the ball overhead to your partner then under 

      (between your legs) then repeat...over, under, over, under..

 

12. Get tricky with masking tape or painters tape

 

13. You may use fitness signs to hang up on basement walls to complete a circuit of fitness stations.

Other exercises that work well as stations are:

Squat Thrusts

Mountain Climbers

Foot Fire

Roman Soldiers

 

15. If you are fortunate enough to own a treadmill, exercise bike, Wii Fit or Wii Sport, Yoga or exercise videos, these are also

excellent forms of exercise.

 

Our goal is for each child to have a family member or friend to exercise with a minimum of three times a week for 15 minutes each session. All minutes will be logged on the sheet provided. The minutes for the student and his or her partner(s) will all be counted towards our total minutes of fitness. Children who exercise alone will count only their minutes. Every minute counts! It will be interesting to see how many minutes our school family can tally!

Good Luck and Keep Moving!