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This post is part of the No More Frumpy Mommy Moms’ Night Out Challenge, happening now through May 22. YOU can join, too! You might win $200 or tickets to see Moms’ Night Out if you participate! Are you participating and want to leave your link to today’s challenge? Read through this post, then link up at the bottom! Here are the other challenges:
- Easy Hair by Tricia Goyer — What’s your secret to easy, no-fuss hair?
- How to Get to Church on Time (with Kids) by Tricia Goyer — What tips do you have for getting your family to church on time?
- A Fast Recipe that Doesn’t Include Chicken Nuggets by Kerri Pomarolli — What’s your go-to, easy recipe?
- Fun Ways to Exercise with Your Kids by Tricia Goyer — How do you involve your kids in your exercise routine?
- Take Time for Mom-Friends by Kerri Pomarolli — What’s your favorite way to spend time with your mom-friends?
- Simple Makeup for Busy Moms by Tricia Goyer — What are your favorite tips for no-fuss makeup?
- A Fast Recipe that Doesn’t Involve Fish Sticks by Tricia Goyer — Share your easy, go-to recipe for your family!
- Quick Cleaning Tips by Kerri Pomarolli — What are your quick cleaning tips for busy moms?
- Finding Time to Follow Your Dreams by Tricia Goyer — How do you make time to follow your dreams?
Fun Ways to Exercise with Your Kids
Since moving to Little Rock one of our favorite things for John and me to do is bike. There are amazing bicycle trails and beautiful scenery. We biked often when Alyssa was little. She loved riding along on the back of Daddy’s bike.
Then we adopted Bella and Casey, and we couldn’t figure out how to make biking work. They were too big for a bike trailer and too small to ride beside us. (Or so we thought!)
Then, just last month, our little neighbor Presley learned to ride her bike. Not wanting to be outdone, Bella (six) learned to ride without training wheels the next day.
Not wanting to be outdone, Casey (three) learned to ride the day after that.
Not wanting to be outdone (do you see the pattern?), Alyssa (four) learned to ride without training wheels. She’s the most timid of the group, and it took her a week. But amazingly in the course of three weeks, we had three kids who were able to ride the bike trail with us!
The only problem was they needed help to “start.” The couldn’t figure out how to push off without falling. So Daddy gave them some incentive. We took them to one of our favorite bike trails to walk around.
“Once you learn to start by yourselves, we’ll bring you back here to ride,” he told them.
They were motivated!
The kids practiced and it took a few weeks for them to get they hang of it, but they were soon starting on their own. So the next Saturday we headed off to the bike trail. I love the smug look on Alyssa’s face as we prepared to head off. She felt so big!
It was so fun seeing them ride alongside Daddy. We only had a few instances where Casey rode off the trail—mostly because he was watching the other bikers who passed us instead of watching the trail!
Here is a photo of the happy kids! It’s amazing how they turned into bikers overnight!
For our family, biking is our favorite way to exercise. I asked some of my friends for their ideas for fun ways to exercise, too. Here are their ideas!
- Play tennis on the Wii. —Diane
- We run and bike together. —Tami
- In whatever way they enjoy. If it’s a bike, great! If it’s Wii tennis, great! If it’s hiking, great! —Michael
- Dancing! Turn on the tunes and boogie! Downhill skiing, scuba diving, surfing, snow shoeing, hiking, rock climbing, skateboarding, swimming, biking, JUMPROPE! —Holly
- Elmo has an exercise video. We did it all the time (nine years ago . . . yikes!). —Loretta
- Most of my exercise comes from activities with the kids, Just Dance on the Wii, the trampoline, wrestling, walks, and playing on the playground equipment WITH them! —April
- My daughter has been participating in the Mighty Milers club at school. She has made us punch cards to run once summer vacation starts. She says when we get 40 miles in—the goal for Mighty Milers—we get an ice cream cone. She is hardcore for a kindergartner! —Alyson
- Trampolining. —Catherine
- We take them hiking. We wear or push the smaller ones. Or I have put them on bikes and walked fast along side them. —Martha
- There are tons of videos I came across on YouTube for baby wearers. Awesome stuff. —Kristen
- I meet up with a friend, and we do “gym class”-style workouts (jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups) while our kids play on the playground. Between us there are four kids between five and nine. Sometimes they exercise with us. At most we use a yoga mat and light weights. —Gretchen
- The Family Time Fitness program is fun. Plus counts as PE for homeschoolers! —Teisha
- Swimming is fun. They like to ride bikes or scooters while the parents walk. Skating is fun too. —Cheryl
- We go biking ALL the time. We also do homeschool at the park; we’ll do a bit of school, then do something crazy like run three times around the playground or jump 100 times, then a bit of school, then lunges. It’s fun. —Erin
- Play tag and then do a seven-minute dance party in the morning to Mandisa’s “Good Morning” and “Beautiful Day” by Jamie Grace. —Molly
- Pick up the yard like a scavenger hunt. We see who fills their pail. It’s easy on the farm, with broken scrap pails, bits of paper, broken sandbox toys, flyaway bags, doggy shreds, sticks and branches to put over to the fire pit area, wayward toys, etc. Then a good ole game of tag. —Natalie
- Geocaching. We’ve done this with our children since they were infants. They call it “treasure hunting,” and they love it! —Amanda
- I found a fun way to exercise with my grandchildren when they were younger. I would play “March” music, give each if them a shaker, a bongo drum, or a tambourine, and we would line up and march around the house letting them take turns leading. They wore me out because they never wanted to stop! —Loretta
What about you? What is your favorite way to exercise with kids?
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Aw, I love these sweet pictures. Looks fun!
It’s very fun!
We love sports at my house, so I am always out practicing with the kids. We enjoy taking walks also!
That’s wonderful, Valerie!
A group of young parents in our little town have turned the city park’s walking track into a workout center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings for an hour. They bring hand weights, stretch bands, workout mats for stations that are posted around the track. They walk and jog, then do the cross-training exercises at the stations. Many of the kids are doing the exercise, too, and others simply play on the play equipment. The group is growing quickly into 20-30 adults, plus bunches of kids.
What a great idea! I love that!
once you’ve a great likeness in pencil, there are many steps you must do.
I love to begin with the “white” of this attention first.
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