Exercise and Physical Activity

Ideas for keeping active

Doing sport is not only healthy for the body, it can have a great impact on confidence and well being. Above all it can be a lot of fun! It is important to support your child in trying out different sports and be encouraging whenever they start playing. Try and promote the feel good factor as much as possible.

10 Minute Shake Up Games: Change4Life and Disney have teamed up to bring you play along games inspired by your favourite Disney and Pixar characters. These 10 minute bursts of fun will really get your kids moving and count towards the 60 active minutes they need every day.

Jump at home: Play with these fun, simple indoor activities to keep your children entertained. If you have a garden you can set up fun activities outside which children will enjoy as well.

50 Things to do Before You're 5: Provides inspiration for parents and carers to connect with children through a range of activities, all designed to have a positive impact on learning and health.

Fun activities for indoors or outdoors

• Play 'keep it up' with a balloon
• Have a dance
• Play catch with a bean bag
• Plan an indoor or outdoor treasure hunt
• Play musical statues
• Play hide and seek
• Read stories and sing songs that require actions in time with the words
• Dance or jump to music
• Make a den
• Rough and tumble play is also fun, so only stop it if it seems unsafe. Physically active toddlers should be in a safe environment and supervised at all times

PE

PE sessions will offer different sport types so listen to what your child has done each session and what they have particularly enjoyed. You can see if they would like to continue some of their favourite sports outside of school or you can find out if your school offers after school activities.  

Walking

Are you focused on getting your child to school as quickly as possible, for example by car? The walk to and from school is a simple form of exercise which can help your child (and you!) reach your 60 minutes of activity a day. Walking is a great form of exercise.

Using the community (Parks and green spaces)

Try and engage with other families in your neighbourhood and find out what activities they do. This could be a useful way to gain ideas whilst giving your children opportunities to make friends and partake in shared activities. Local authority websites have parks and free activities that are available. Through these links you can find parks and green spaces in your area search on this link: Healthy Hubs in Hertfordshire and Active Essex.