MAMA CHICK MONDAY – Get your kids active this fall

Hey Chicks,

It’s Mama Chick Monday and today we have a special guest blogger – the fab Christine R! Christine is not only a member of our FIT CHICKS Family as a kick butt Chick Sergeant from our Kitchener Bootcamp but is also a proud mama of 2.  We asked her to share with our chicks how she encourage her kids to stay fit and active leading into fall and back to school. Read on!

MAMA CHICKS TIPS TO GET YOUR KIDS MOVING THIS FALL

by Christine, Chick Sergeant – Kitchener / Waterloo

Well it’s back to school time. There are healthy lunches and dinners to make, homework to do and extracurricular activities. How do you add keeping your kids fit and active to the mix?

As a FIT CHICKS Chick Sergeant in Kitchener – Waterloo and working mom of two little chicklets, I understand how difficult this can be but it is possible.

Adam is 9, starting grade 4. He has been involved in karate since the age of 3. He has classes 3-4 times per week.

Healthy Kids

Strike a pose, Adam!

Alyssa is 5, starting SK. She is involved in gymnastics or “nastics” as she likes to call it since the age of 18months and has class once per week.

Healthy Kids

A FIT CHICK already - so cute!

CREATE A FAMILY FITNESS CALENDER

Not all families participate in organized activities and that is okay. There are many other ways to keep your kids active. The key is staying organized, portraying fitness as fun to your kids and making sure that fitness is scheduled into your week. Having a huge family calendar which includes scheduled fitness on my fridge helps with this!

MAKE BEING ACTIVE A FAMILY AFFAIR

My kids are pretty fortunate having both parents as personal trainers so they know that fitness is a priority and they even like to join us when we work out. We try to make it a fun activity. We walk and hike as a family several times per week and the kids spend a lot of time outside riding their bikes and running around playing games like tag with their friends. Adam LOVES playing video games, but we know how inactive this can make kids, so we purchased a timer and he has a time limit per day for TV and video games. Once the timer rings, he knows that he has reached his limit and it is time for other things. Alyssa does not really play video games and LOVES to play “boot camp” like Mommy and sets up obstacle courses and exercises in the house and back yard.

Our fit family

Our Fit Family!

BUY OR MAKE FITNESS AND NUTRITION GAMES FOR KIDS 

I recently attended the Can Fit Pro conference and found SUPERMAN FIT DECK cards which are exercise cards specially designed for kids. www.fitdeck.com They consist of safe body weight and cardio exercises for kids such as squats and jumping jacks. We choose a few cards 3-4 times per week and make a game of it and we all do the exercises together. This takes about 15 minutes and it is a fun family activity. Alyssa especially enjoys exercise. Adam needs a bit more coaxing, as he has other interests but he understands the importance of being active. To help him with this we recently have encouraged him to keep a daily journal including what exercises he has done, for how long and how long he has played video games. This gives him a visual of how he is spending his time and hopefully will help him make positive choices in the long run.

Don’t forget that you are the best role model for your kids by making fitness a priority in your life by attending FIT CHICKS Boot Camps (just saying :)! A health happy mom = healthy happy kids!

Have a fab day!

Christine xo

Thanks, Christine! And if you ahve any tips and tricks that work with your wee ones to keep them healthy and fit, please share! We would love to hear from you 🙂 FIT CHICKS XO