| | Young children enjoy outdoor activities like swinging in a park. |
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| | Outdoor play is one way children learn about the world around them. |
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| | Parents can help their children learn to enjoy the outdoors. |
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Television and video games increasingly vie for our children’s time. But they rarely allow children the luxury of burning some of their pent-up energy. Parents pay the price when their kids release that pent-up energy at bedtime or other inappropriate or inconvenient times.
Exercise relieves stress, reduces anxiety, builds muscles, increases concentration and helps children become less prone to injury. That doesn’t mean, however, that you have to prepare your kids for six weeks of basic training! You can help your children see that exercise can be fun. By walking, biking or otherwise exercising with your children, you reap the benefits of the activity, too. The activity allows you to spend some quality time with your kids.
Some parents enroll children in organized sports programs and hope that is enough. Sometimes it is. But pay attention. How much time do your children spend sitting on the sidelines? Do they seem energetic or lethargic when they’re on the playing field? Sometimes one game of tag helps children release more energy than an afternoon of Little League. Running, jumping and other such movements help children to develop large muscle groups - legs and arms, especially.
But other types of activity are also beneficial for young children. Drawing, stringing beads and working with clay help develop their small muscle groups, such as fingers. Both types of activities help children develop muscles and coordination. Many times, you may feel you just don’t have the energy to be active, either with or without your children. Regularly spending some exercise time with your kids could actually help you increase your energy level. And your actions could inspire your children to be physically active throughout their lives.
Try to increase your time spent exercising with your young child this summer as a summertime resolution. Your child will be healthier and so will you!