Being a parent often means fighting your kids to get them to do all of the things they don’t want to do but are good for them. Some of the most common “But, mom, do I have to?” moments include getting your little ones to go to bed on time so they get enough sleep and brushing their teeth so they have fewer cavities and healthier gums.
Another all-too-familiar fight involves asking your kids to step away from the TV, computer, smartphone, or other electronic device they’re engrossed with and become more physically active. You’d think you asked them to walk to the moon. And back.
While it may be tempting to let this one go (after all, a happy kid makes life easier), the reality is that learning positive health behaviors when they’re young can help kids create more positive health habits when they’re older. This means a lower risk of disease and greater levels of health. It also means better grades as higher physical activity levels have been connected to higher academic performance.
So how can you achieve this goal, helping your child begin a good health journey through physical activity, without making home an all-out battle field? There are a few different options to consider.
#1: Make Fitness Fun
It’s hard enough to get adults to engage in physical activity, so to expect your kids to want to do it just because it’s good for their health doesn’t make any sense. However, if you want to make increasing physical activity fight-free, find ways to make exercise fun. Pick things they enjoy doing—like maybe swimming or karate—and get them involved in those. Regularly. The more they like what they’re doing, the more they’ll beg to go versus you forcing them.
#2: Make It Easy
The second way to get kids to want to be more active without feeling as if you always have to fight them every step of the way involves making it super-easy for them. For instance, if you know your child likes to ride his or her bike, make it so the bike is accessible without having to ask for help. This may mean that it sits on your garage floor versus being hung up and out of the way, but the payoff in their health will more than make up for any space that’s lost.
#3: Model Active Behavior
You know the old adage, “Do as I say, not as I do”? Well, it doesn’t work in most any other situation with kids and this is no different. If your child doesn’t see you being more active, even though that’s what you’re asking them to do, then the fight will likely be on. Instead, get more active yourself and this way of living will likely rub off on them. They’ll see you doing it, so it won’t seem like such an unrealistic (and fight-worthy) request.
#4: Do Physical Activities With Them
Have you ever asked your child to do something and been faced with resistance, only to see them change their mind once you started doing it yourself? This is because, contrary to how it sometimes feels, your kids do like to spend time with you. Therefore, what better way to bond than to be more active together? Maybe you take walks together or go for a bicycle ride. On days when the weather isn’t too nice, you can engage in fun physical activities indoors by dancing to music or sending them to kids workout programs after school.
Getting your kids more active doesn’t have to be a fight. Follow these suggestions and it shouldn’t be. Who knows? They may actually start to like it.