8 Fun Family Exercise Ideas!

Exercise can be such a drag sometimes especially when you find it hard to find the time to do it together as a family with everyone’s busy schedule. Exercising as a group will increase motivation in the whole family and make it fun while you’re doing it! It allows for bonding time and new experiences for everyone.

Increasing physical activity decreases your risk of developing diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease. It is important to teach our children early habits that will benefit their health since they will carry it for the rest of their lives. We want our children to have healthy, happy lives they can enjoy. Here are just a few ideas you can use for getting the whole family to be physically active:

1. Create an obstacle course indoors (using furniture or pillows) or outdoors (using chalk or small cones). If you want to increase the pace, just use a timer or stop watch to make the person go faster!
2. Freeze dance: Create your own dance party and when the music stops or shuts off, freeze in a funny pose!
3. Clean up the beach or a nearby park. Help out your community by picking up trash together.
4. Create carnival games in your own backyard. Use old milk cartons and a ball to throw for bowling, water balloon toss, ring toss on used bottles, rubber ducks in a small blow up pool with water for ring toss, and many more! You can even hand and out little prizes if you want.
5. Work together in the front yard or backyard on gardening. Plant your choice of flowers and get your hands dirty! Also getting that vitamin D from sunlight helps your health! (Of course, make sure to put on sunscreen!)
6. Take a family yoga class. Not only is this good for reducing stress, it’s a great workout that is slower paced so it’s easier to learn at your own pace.
7. Check out the local community center for different activities. There’s lots of sport activities, dance classes, and even cooking classes. Getting involved may even form a new friend from the experience!
8. Go to a local nature center and pack a lunch. Hike the trails and appreciate nature and the different animals in their habitat. There are also tours you can take that have various fun activities like scavenger hunts, night walks, animal bingo, story-telling, and educational displays in visitor centers.

These are just some ideas to create fun lasting memories while still being active. Come up with your own and see what happens!