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Off the Couch
Summer Fitness for Kids
By Amy Carey
While kids look forward to summer break all year long, parents may find these school-free months a little more challenging. Not only are kids underfoot more than usual, they may start to chant, "Mom, we're bored!" a few weeks into vacation. After the novelty of eating popsicles and splashing in the sprinkler wears off, you might find the kids sacking out on the floor with a Playstation and a bag of chips.
More devices than ever entice kids into the house and onto the couch. Television, computers, video games: so much passive entertainment can become a bad thing if kids favor surfing the Internet over playing at the park.
To head off this problem before it becomes an issue in your household, start by trying to limit screen time to an hour per day. "Screen time can be TV, video games or computer time," says Kim Danger, a mother of one and owner of Mommysavers.com, a Web site offering support for moms.
Limiting the amount of time kids veg out indoors can help prompt them to choose more active pastimes outside. Not that downtime indoors automatically means being lazy. "Inactivity isn't bad as long as it is constructive time. Use it as time to draw, work on puzzles or read," she says.
Once kids are temporarily unglued from the computer screen, what are some of the best ways to get them moving and interested in staying that way?
"If it were up to my son, he would be happy sitting in front of the TV all summer playing video games," says Debra Hilfstein, a mother of four near Buffalo, N.Y. "Getting him out of the house with an activity that has a beginning and end has been the best way to keep him active."
For Hilfstein, this often means scheduling sports clinics or theater camp for her children. But be sure you talk to your child before signing him up for anything. Is it really something he'll enjoy? If not, is there another activity he'd rather try this year? A child is far less likely to appreciate being active if he detests horses and finds himself attending horse camp four weeks out of the summer. "You and your child may even want to sit down and make a list of all the fun things to do outdoors during the summer," says Danger. "That way, you can refer back to the list when you're looking for something fun to do."