Fun games and exercises for children at home
It’s always a challenge to keep kids active, but there are many games and exercises for children at home that can help them channel their endless energy in positive ways.
They can be so helpful, whether your child is in homeschool, virtual school or back in physical classrooms. During all of this pandemic madness, one type of education is taking the back seat, and that’s physical education. Kids need to be physically active and reestablish exercise into their routine. It’s been a tough couple of seasons being all cooped up in the home, so introducing some active fun and games can help improve children’s moods and make them feel more physically fit. It also helps them expend excess energy. Maybe I should have mentioned that part first!
Fun games and exercises for kids at home
Red Light, Green Light
This is a classic game that you can do in virtually any room as long as the floor is clear. Line kids up against a wall and call out traffic cues for them to respond to. Of course, “green light” means go and “red light” means stop. You can invent other traffic situations to make the game more complex as well. This is technically a race to get to the other side of the room, but it doesn’t have to be competitive.
Hopscotch
Good old fashioned hopscotch is one of the great exercises for kids at home on a patio or the driveway. You can even make an indoor version with tape, or draw the hopscotch on a flattened cardboard box. The rules of Hopscotch are simple. The squares on the ground are the playing field. You mark a square with a stone or similar object you can palm. Then you hop to each square, skipping the square with the marker as you go, there is a succession of marked squares from first to last. as you return to the beginning you pick up the marker and the next player gets a turn. It’s more physical than you think!
Corners
Corners is a great game if you have a group of kids with a larger indoor space or a yard with clearly defined borders. You separate the kids into corners and that becomes their home. The main play is kind of like musical chairs in the middle of the room, only instead of sitting in a chair when the music stops, the kids have to run back home and perform a sequence of physical activities.
Hula Hooping
This is another easy exercise that doesn’t seem like exercise. It’s great fun for kids and it strengthens their core. Hula Hooping is just an activity. There are no rules, but you can attempt a number of revolutions or go for the longest recorded time. Jenny Doan set the new world record this April with 100 hours according to WTTW News.
Simon Says
This classic game is a great opportunity to work in some simple and complex activities that will give kids a good solid workout. Just make sure Simon says “warm-up” and “cool-down” before attempting anything too rigorous.
En español: Juegos y ejercicios para niños que pueden hacer en casa
