Just because you’re stuck indoors doesn’t mean the kids can’t let off steam and bump their heartbeats up a notch. The benefits of being physically active at a young age include reducing the risk of depression, improving aerobic fitness, muscular fitness, and bone health, and improving attention and some measures of academic performance. That’s a lot of great stuff!
Whether the weather is sunny, rainy, or something in between, there are loads of ways to keep kids healthy and entertained. Check out our list of fun indoor exercise games that work in any type of weather.
Know the physical activity guidelines for school-aged kids
The NHS offers the following physical activity guidelines for 5- to 18-year-olds:
- Aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity a day across the week.
- Reduce the time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with some activity. Aim to spread activity throughout the day.
Get in a mix of exercise types
Children and young people should get a good balance of different types of exercise to reap the benefits of physical activity at a young age, including:
- Aerobic activities. Try skipping, dancing, martial arts, or running on the spot.
- Muscle-strengthening activities. Try push-ups, squats, resistance exercises using body weight or resistance bands, or some forms of yoga.
- Bone-strengthening activities. Try hopping, skipping, or jumping games.
Try these fun indoor exercises for 5- to 12-year-olds
In addition to outdoor sports like football and basketball, experts recommend a variety of indoor exercises for kids in this age group. They can also do basic fitness exercises, such as push-ups, curl-ups, running on the spot, mountain climbers, and burpees.
You can also play a structured game like “Olympic Hot Spot Challenge.” Clear out some space and create “hot spot” stations with different activities for fun and variety. The idea is to get the children moving from one station to the next every 30-45 seconds. Here are some station ideas:
- Push-ups (against the wall, on their knees, or full push-ups)
- Sit-ups
- Skipping
- Step-ups (either with a freestanding step or up and down the stairs)
- Circle jumps (small rings, hula hoops, or tape marks)
- Star jumps
- Squats
- Balancing on one leg
- Throwing a ball (with a partner)
To make it more challenging, you can:
- Increase the time at each hot spot, so 30, 45, or 60 seconds.
- Increase the number of times you do the complete hot spot circuit, so 2, 3, 4, or 5 times.
- Mix up the hot spots or do them in a different order.
- Create new hot spot activities of your own.
- Add new hot spot props like tin can weights (use baked bean or soup tins, for example).
