There are many ways to keep kids occupied during half term, whether it’s an adventurous day out or organising fun activities at home. As we enter a new year, the February half term is also a fantastic opportunity to keep active as a family and get your kids involved with some exhilarating fitness challenges.
While some children may find the prospect of exercise rather daunting, there are many ways to make fitness for kids both enjoyable and engaging. Take a look at our list of kids’ fitness games to help your child stay healthy and active this half term.
Top 5 kids’ fitness challenges
The school holidays are the perfect time for children to get active and making exercise fun is easier than you might think. There are many fitness games for kids that can be presented in the form of a challenge to help keep them healthy and entertained during their time off from school.
The British weather is notoriously unpredictable so here are some of our favourite kids exercise games, covering both indoors and outdoors:
Create a dance routine
Challenge your child to create their own dance routine! They can pick their favourite song and choose to dance solo or work with their friends or siblings. Thinking of their own dance moves also promotes creativity, imagination and can boost their collaboration skills if they do choose to work in a group.
Encourage your child to incorporate a mix of moderate and dynamic moves for a more varied and well-balanced routine that will be both challenging and fun. When they are ready, they can perform the dance in front of the family. You could even present them with a little reward for their hard work.
Family cycling challenge
Getting out on the bikes as a family is a great way to spend time together over half term, keep active and enjoy the fresh air. On your family biking adventures, incorporating a bit of competition is a fantastic way to get the kids involved in a fitness challenge.
You could arrange a family bike race to see who the first person can be to reach a designated spot. It may be useful to research family cycling trails in your local area so you can review the route before you set off.
Cycling is known for its wide range of health benefits including boosting cardiovascular fitness, improved flexibility, and reduced stress levels. Using cycling as the basis for a kids exercise challenge is an ideal way to help kids build their fitness levels while also improving their overall wellbeing.
Create an obstacle course
An obstacle course is a great option for a kids’ fitness activity as it can be done either indoors or outdoors, depending on the weather. If opting for indoors, there are plenty of household items you could use as part of your course:
- A row of chairs to crawl under
- A washing basket or bucket to throw items in from a distance
- A skipping rope to skip on the spot
- Cushions or blankets to hop or jump between
- Books to create low walls for a maze
Obstacle courses are a chance to get creative with what’s around you and form a challenge where kids will feel engaged and have chance to release some energy.
Hiking scavenger hunt
A good hike is an excellent chance to be amongst the great outdoors and be at one with nature. Going to a local park or forest are great locations for kids to run around and let off some steam but adding a scavenger hunt element to the hike creates an extra challenge.
You could create printouts with images of things to look out for on the hike such as insects, mushrooms, flowers, and leaves. They can then tick off what they have seen, encouraging them to stay engaged whilst out on the hike.
Hiking is an excellent form of exercise as it can be as gentle or as challenging as you want it to be. It is also proven to improve overall wellbeing, reducing anxiety and stress.
Fitness bingo
Fitness bingo is a great way to mix up your child’s fitness activities. You could create a card with different exercises and each day your child can pick an activity from the sheet. It’s a good idea to have a mix of exercises on the bingo card to vary the difficulty.
Some examples of exercises to include in your fitness bingo challenge are:
- Jumping jacks
- Marching on the spot
- High knees
- Frog jumps
- Crab walks
- Squats
To help kids get the most out of their fitness activities, it can be useful to purchase a kids fitness tracker. Fitness trackers for kids often monitor number of steps, sleep levels and usually have reminders for 60 minutes of recommended daily activity to ensure they stay on track.
So, this half term, why not get active with the kids and help them stay happy and healthy. With a simple bit of planning, creating fitness challenges for kids can be a walk in the park.
