We all know that physical activity is important, but having fun while on the move is even better and much easier if you lack motivation. What kind of physical activity do you prefer? What stretches and moves make you smile and keeps you busy for a long period of time? Answer these questions in your head and today’s activity will no doubt be super fun! Today let’s do a training exercise. Remember to be creative and have fun.

Step 1 : Preparation  

You will first need to create your game. To begin, you will need 26 pieces of paper of the same size, and crayons or markers. Make your cards the size you want. You can also take advantage of this step to be creative, decorate your cards and reuse them to play the game as often as you like.

Step 2 : Making the game

On each piece of paper, write 1 letter of the alphabet. Then turn your cards over and write down your favourite exercises, one per card. Here are a few ideas to help you: rope jump, push-ups, circles with arms, jump on one foot, planking, dance moves, etc. Click herefor more ideas and explanatory videos.

If you are missing ideas, you can add repetition, for example, 1 skip, 5 skips and so on. The game can be adapted to the participants’ ages, physical abilities, and interests. It’s up to you to create a game that best suits the group.

Step 3 : 3, 2, 1… Pla!  

There are many ways to play and you can even invent more! Here are several variations:

  1. Spell your names with the cards, doing the exercise that corresponds to each letter of the name. Have you finished too quickly? Continue with the names of your friends or family!
  2. Pick random words or ask someone else, and do the exercises matched to the letters
  3. Accept the big challenge and do the exercises of all the letters of the alphabet!  Challenge the adults too, it’s funnier when more people play.

Diary

On today’s logbook page, kids can document today’s activity. For example, by writing the exercises that spell their name or by drawing the exercises done. The possibilities are endless!

We invite parents to ask their kids questions about today’s activity to feed and improve on their journal entry as well as to engage them in a nice conversation. Here are some questions you can ask:

  • What would make the activity more fun? Have you thought of other variations to play?
  • What would make the activity more fun? Have you thought of other variations to play?
  • Was it difficult to complete all the exercises in your name?

Did you know... 

  • … Physical activity helps to clean up faster around the house. Believe me! Doing physical activity will make your daily tasks much easier.
  • … Physical activity makes you happy. Literally. And for good reason, the brain produces endorphins during physical activity. The so-called happiness hormone which provides, among other things, a feeling of self-confidence and a good dose of energy.
  • …Physical activity makes you stronger. The more you exercise the muscles in your body, the more you strengthen it, the more you reduce the risk of injuring yourself, for example, during heavy weight lifting or even shoveling snow.

For more interesting facts that will motivate you to exercise, click here. 

To take this activity further, you can create a small training board and train each day and give challenges to your family members to exercise altogether.

 

Activity by Van Bam Bam