With numerous areas around Sydney, New South Wales, and Australia back under lockdown restrictions, it is super important to keep active. Not only for your children to be active, but for parents and carers as well; exercising is as good for the mind as it is for the body. Medical practitioners suggest 30 minutes a day of activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle (along with a nutritional diet of course). But we aren’t here to lecture you, just here to fill you with some tips and tricks on how to keep active during this lockdown period.
At the time of writing this, we are still allowed to leave the house for exercise in NSW, and there is currently no time limit set on this, so you can go for as many walks to the park, or around the block as you wish. It is always good practice to carry a mask for yourself (not recommended by NSW Health for children under 12 years of age at this point), and to have wipes or hand sanitiser to keep the good hygiene practices up and running! There is currently no restrictions on the use of play equipment in public areas, however it would be sensible to take care and be diligent about the possible spread of Covid-19 and use that hand sanitiser whenever possible.
Some other activities you can do are, instead of walking you could ask them if they’d like to take their bike, or ride a scooter to change things up a bit. Whatever you decide, please make sure that the route you take is age appropriate – little legs only get so far before getting very tired. Their current fitness and stamina comes into it too. It’s worth picking a route you can easily shorten or extend depending on how they’re doing. Start short so as not to put anyone (including yourself) off future adventures.
In the backyard, instead of having them put all their toys and outside game activities away, leave them out, but organised, so that they can see they have the option to go outside and play. Spend time out in the fresh air with them, organise an activity like a colour, or shape, treasure hunt where they have to find so many objects of the same colour or shape. Use this as an adventure in science and maths, allowing them to pay greater attention to the world as they move around and exercise the backyard at home.
Take a deep breath and calm the family down with a bit of yoga. Yoga is great both adults and children alike, it’s relaxing through gentle movement and calming visualisations. There’s many different YouTube channels who offer yoga and other exercise through creative play. Yoga is a great activity for you to do with your children, or on your own if you need a bit of “me time”, it offers mindfulness, meditation, deep breathing exercises, and doesn’t need to be an elongated session; so do what suits your mood.
Activities don’t need to be complicated, a short game of hide and seek, or even a crawl around the lounge room floor being “chased” by you, will keep them active and engaged. There are plenty of options available, you just need a bit gumption, some imagination, and you’re all set to go!
At Angel’s Paradise, we believe in keeping healthy and active, and having fun while doing so!