Physical activities for kids are as important as eating right and studying. Today’s generation is exposed to umpteen gadgets that heavily contribute to limiting their outdoor time. Added to that, the overload of junk food often leads to childhood obesity issues. It hence becomes important that as parents we inculcate in them the right balanced approach of healthy eating and physical activity.
Tracking their progress to enhance their growing years
I’m a fitness enthusiast and a promoter of healthy lifestyle. I lead a disciplined life and rarely give in to temptation. While I would like my kids to absorb these qualities it would be unfair to curb their appetite and cravings. As a mother, I want them to enjoy carefree binging and screen time as long as they make fitness an integral part of their lives. Wouldn’t you like that too? Let us discuss how to make physical activity fun for kids in India to promote their right growth.
Physical activities for kids achieve a lot more than physical fitness. While I inculcate some fun activities in their routine (that I will elaborate further in this post), I also make it a point to track their growth using PediaSure’s Grow Right tracker. I get a detailed report that tells me how my kids are growing. This way I know that physical activities combined with appropriate nutrition has been helping them grow. With the report I get, I can make necessary changes in their routine and diet. It made me understand the importance of tracking growth. Keeping a check on it regularly helps me figure out on a deeper level what my children need. Before we get into the activities we follow, let me share with you my understanding of why physical activities are important for kids, based on the insights I got by tracking their growth.
Why physical activities for kids are important?
The benefits of physical activity are felt, not seen. Introducing kids to the happy high that comes with sweating it out at an early age will help them grow better and fitter. Additionally, it aids in their holistic development since it sharpens their focus and motor skills too.
- Strengthens heart and lungs – Are we talking about heart health of kids? Yes, and don’t be surprised. Heart is a muscle which performs better when challenged with regular exercise. Active kids have a healthy heart which can be a priceless asset growing up. They also have better lung capacity which facilitates good breathing. This leads to better retention of oxygen and expulsion of carbon dioxide.
- Controls weight – Kids have a high metabolism which often makes them reach out for junk food for a quick fix. They prefer tearing off a packet of banana chips over peeling a banana. Physical activity corresponding to their age and calorie intake will prevent unnatural weight gain. Offering them treats in lieu of some adrenaline pumping playtime is a good idea. Also, tired kids rest and sleep better.
- Better social skills – Remember our childhood days when we played carefree and formed long-standing friendships? Unstructured playtime is one of the best physical activities for kids. It teaches them crucial social skills like giving respect, sharing, acceptance and gender equality. Cricket, hide and seek or our traditional games like Pittu and Chirki evoke extreme sentiments but are great fun.
What are some fun physical activities for kids?
- Sports – Young age is perfect to get kids interested in sports and disciplining them in fitness. They’re quick at grasping and with proper guidance their skills can be developed and honed. Let them discover a sport of their choice and, if possible, get them professional coaching for it. Sportsmanship, healthy competition and acceptance of defeat are qualities that’ll sustain them throughout their life.
- Animal walks – This one is our favourite. Kids love fooling around over serious physical activity anytime. Frog jumps, snake pose, spider crawl, cow pose, dirty dog or donkey kicks are fun to perform and are quite effective. Obstacle course and mountain climbers are good too. The best part is that kids of all ages can try these out. You can bond over them and become the cool parent in no time!
- Dancing! – Do I need to elaborate? Invite their friends over, put on some foot-tapping music and let them dance like there’s no tomorrow. Quick tip: Keep some chilled lemonade ready since they might need it!
Proper growth tracking combined with fun games has improved their emotional well-being as well as physical health. It has also made them smart and confident. Their overall development is after all our biggest aim, isn’t it? How do you track your children’s growth and use it to nurture their development? I hope you give the Grow Right Tracker a try and let me know how it works for you!
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not reflect the views of any brand. Any omissions or errors at the author’s end does not assume any liability or responsibility on any party mentioned in the blog.
Oh yes we love doing animal walks as well as taking our dogs for a walk. My son especially enjoys it. The tracker is really helpful.
Being physically active is very important for kids, as it does helps in improving their appetite and thus a better and nutritional intake. This growth tracker is quite useful
Physical activity is very important for kids growth, not only it makes them physically fit but also mentally healthy. I am glad you shared this !!
Physical activity plays such an important role in child’s growth. SO happy to be reading this post
Yes physical activities are important for children. I realized how dull and bored kids are since they miss physical school and games.
Being physically active makes a lot of difference in a child’s physical development and their appetite. The growth tracker is very helpful for parents.
Physical activities is very important for all ages. It has several benefits. You are a great inspiration for your kids. Having a tracker always help.
yes like you, I also believe in following a healthy lifestyle routine for me and my family. biking and walking are our most favorite activities to enjoy fitness as a family. pediasure’s growth tracker is really useful, I am hearing a lot about it, nowadays.
Exercise and outdoor activities are very important for kids, especially now when they ave to be of robust health due to the corona virus. A good diet with a trusted supplement goes in tandem with exercise. Great ideas. Varsha
Yes of lately I have started giving physical activity for my son more stress. As of last year already kids were inside home mostly. Thanks for sharing these practical tips. I am also using this growth tracker.
This article gains so much more importance after lockdown when the children have been forced to stay home and have been less physically active than they wish to be.
Being physically fit and active is very crucial for kids. From playing in park to swimming, everything helps them in their overall development and should not be missed. Also I use the Pediasure growth tracker to keep a track on their development and growth.
Physical activity is so very important for the right growth of children. It was disheartening to see my little one locked up inside the house and nowhere to go during the lockdown. We tried our best to keep him active and happy by involving him in some fun activities. I am also using the Grow right tracker to monitor my son’s growth and it’s really helpful.
Physical activities are very important, dance activity fills home with joy and burns many calories too. And tracking growth is so vital in growing children and keeping check on their eating and activities in balance.
It’s really important to involve physical activities in kids routine. Due to pandemic kids activities was limited in homes hoping all goes back to normal now
“Physical activities for kids achieve a lot more than physical fitness” – This! I hope parents understand that there’s more to physical activities then just stamina. Great article, Varsha.
Physical activity is definitely important for the Childs growth and development. growth tracking is one way of knowing about the Childs growth.
The tracker is super helpful. Physical activities help in boosting metabolic rate and make sthem have a good meal.
It is indeed very important to pay attention to the physical activities of our kids. I try to include different kind of physical activities in my daughters daily routine to utilize her energies properly. Loved reading this post 🙂
Lifestyle definitely plays an important role in our wellbeing. Involving kids in different activities boosts their metabolism. Also, like you said, growth tracker definitely helps us in monitoring our child’s growth.
Physical activities play a very important role in the overall growth and development of a child. We too are using Growth tracker.
Outdoor games, physical activities are so imp for kid’s growth.