How to Encourage Your Child to Be Physically Active

1st April 2023

Exercise has amazing benefits, but unfortunately, we don’t get enough of it. It can help children develop their gross motor skills, and improve their mental health and general well-being. To help parents, an independent school in Surrey recommends these four things.

Live By the Same Rules

Part of being a parent is being a good role model so you will also need to live by the rules you set and demonstrate how important it is to be physically active. You can do this by making it a team effort and going for walks (or runs depending on the pace you want to go at) together as a family.

Walk to School

An easy way to fit exercise into your routine is to walk to school. The journey is something that you do every day as a part of the school run and after-school pick-up. If you’re running late and have no time to walk, try parking a little further away. It will give you all a little walk time while still making it to the gates on time.

Try Going Screen Free

Screen time is quite literally an addiction for children. It can be hard to pull them away but is necessary if you want to get them outdoors and exercising. To cut down on it, you can enforce screen time restrictions on their devices so that they must look for other means of having fun. If all else fails, use technology to your own advantage. There are lots of games designed to get children exercising, like “Fitness Boxing” and “Ring Fit Adventure” that are available on the Nintendo Switch.