DETROIT – Children need at least an hour of exercise a day and making sure they are getting that can be difficult right now, especially if they can’t get outside to play
ORIGINAL STORY: Fun ways to keep your kids active
Keeping kids active is easier if you can get outside for exercise, but what about when the weather is bad?
There are days where you are stuck in the house all day with the kids and it can be a very difficult time.
When you have limited space, it can be hard to get moving.
Certified personal trainer Laine Nakfoor is a mother of four and she has several go-to indoor activities -- starting with activity dice.
“This is something you can order on Amazon or you can even make your own, but what the kids do is they roll the dice and it’ll show them what exercise to do and how many reps they have to do,” Nakfoor said. “I love it. Ilove this because it’s that element of surprise. It’s that element of ‘What am I going to get?’ It makes exercise fun.”
She said her family can easily fill 45 minutes of exercise using the dice.
“Before you know it, you’ve been exercising for 45 minutes and they don’t even realize it’s true exercise because it’s fun,” Nakfoor said.
Another inexpensive option are activity cups you can make at home -- exercises go in one cup and the number of repetitions go in the other.
“Bodyweight exercises are great -- jumping jacks, sit ups, toe touches, arm circles, the plank -- bodyweight exercises are really good because they’re good for little kids," Nakfoor said.
She also likes using indoor activity cards.
“We’ll line up as a family and take turns picking a card and that’s the activity that you have to do for 30 seconds," Nakfoor said. “Whatever you pick, that’s the activity you have to do for 30 seconds, and then we just keep the game going. Before you know it, you’ve done it for 20 minutes.”
A favorite in their house on cold or rainy days is indoor ice skating.
“All you need are dryer sheets for the perfect material because they won’t scratch up your floors and they’re not slippery,” Nakfoor said. “Basically the kids just put them under their feet and they skate around the house.”
She said her sons play hockey and they like to pretend to be on the ice.
“It’s fun, so they’ll do it for a long time,” Nakfoor said.
Nakfoor said that’s the key -- if the children are having fun, they’ll stay active longer.