Family Fitness

We went to a great Pack Night about Family Fitness and Melanie Douglass gave us some fun ideas to do as a family.  Here are these simple fun games you can incorporate in your family night activities, or during the day when your kids don't know what to do.  These would make great birthday party games as well!
Obstacle Course
Create any course you want using garden hoses, wagons, bikes, balls trampolines, swing set, or anything else in your yard.
2.  Let your kids help design the course.
3.  Incorporate at least 3 different movements:  run, walk, crawl, hop, run backwards, plank-walk, drop for 10 pushups..go for it!
4.  Either allow two kids to race against each other, or use a stopwatch to time each participant.

Candy Drop
1.  Group two big spoons and 5-6 pieces of wrapped candy or pennies.
2.  Kids race against each otehr holding the spoonful of candy.  If they drop a piece of candy from the spoon, they have to stop, pick it up, and then continue the race.
3.  First kid to cross the finish line with al the candy/money in the spoon wins.

Sit-up and Toss
1.  Use a hula hoop or garden hose to make a circle for a target.
2.  Kids sit on the ground 4-6 feet away from the target, holding a ball overhead.
3.  With bent knees and feet flat on the ground, have kids roll back, come up to a sit up then toss the ball into the target.
4.  Every target hit equals a point!

Band-aid Tag
1.  Parents should be "it".  Chase kids around and "tag" them on the shoulder, knee, ankle, hand, hair, etc.
2.  Wherever the "it" person touches, become injured and have to hold your shoulder or knee or hop on one foot if it was their leg.
3.  Once a player has 3 injuries, they become it.

Freeze Dance
1.  Play music and encourage kids to dance..any style they want!
2.  Randomly stop the music during the danceing
3.  When the music stops, all freeze, the last person to strike a pose or freeze is out.
4.  The winner is the last one dancing

Crazy Jumps
1.  Use a garden hose to form a jump line.
2.  Kids run to the line and then try to jump the farthest like the long jump track even.
3.  Kids can do any creative form of jump they want-strike a pose, do a carwheel, run backwards

"Physical activity isn't just for weight loss...It saves lives, provides a mental and physical boost, and helps us find our happiest, healthiest self."  Melanie Douglass, R.D., NASM