Fitness for Kids

Just get out of the house and play.

Have you seen The Matrix, the mind-boggling sci-fi movie starring Keanu Reeves? The main character, Neo (played superbly by Reeves), is shocked to discover that humans live in a virtual cyberworld. Each human being lies dormant in a small pod. A cable attached to the back of their heads feeds their brains images of what they think is reality.

Are you ready for a real shocker?

The Matrix is already here. No, we don't have cables plugged into our heads. But boy, are we ever close!

That's because in today's society, our kids are effectively plugged in to the computer, the television, the iPod, the video game, the cell phone, and all other sorts of electronic gizmos that keep them glued to the couch. And no couch in America is complete without a bowl of munchies nearby. Is it any wonder that obesity is hitting epidemic proportions? No one's getting out of the house! (Fitness for kids? It's more like cheetos for kids.)

Even worse, parents are often too busy to get in some quality time with their own children. In most families, both parents have to work in order to make ends meet. This leaves both mom and dad with little energy left to play catch with Junior. Fitness for kids is thus in danger of becoming obsolete.

Some parents try to compensate by signing their kids up for soccer, ballet, karate, swimming, and so on. Not that there's anything wrong with this -- I'm all for it (my kids are into karate and baseball and they love it). My concern is that we now assume fitness for kids is something out there that we have to pay for. We forget that we need to be mindful of kids' fitness at home, too. We'll throw Junior in the pool at the YMCA for a 30-minute lesson and then let him play video games in the basement for the rest of the afternoon.

Whatever happened to hanging out in the backyard?

But... with a little creativity, you can bring fitness for kids back home where it belongs.

Let's take a trip down memory lane: Think back to all of the fun games you played before the advent of email and home entertainment systems. (Isn't it funny how people now say they don't know what they'd do without their cell phones and computers? I got news for them: They'd be outside getting some fresh air!)

I was talking about this with my wife the other day. The more we talked, the more vivid our childhood memories became. And that's what inspired me to write this fitness for kids page. All of the games we played are simple, easy to learn, and a great source of exercise.

I'm going to describe some of them below in just a moment. You might smile and remember playing similar games when you were a kid. And you know darn well that any child, given the opportunity, can be very resourceful when it comes to having fun. Kids are naturally creative and love to express themselves.

Fitness for Kids: Easy as 1-2-3

Then there's riding bikes, playing on the swings at the park, tossing a football, or throwing a frisbee. This isn't rocket science, folks! All we're talking about is getting out of the house. That's all it takes.

A Little Creativity Goes a Long Way

Whiffle ball and stickball: Kids can play all day long with this. Whiffle ball is an amazingly fun substitute for baseball that can be played virtually anywhere. The same goes for stickball -- all you need is a tennis ball and a broomstick. Kids can come up with their own rules and variations depending on how many players are available and the size of the playing field.

Wireball: This one was really innovative. All you need is a tennis ball and a safe location where you can play under a telephone wire. Player one throws the ball up in the air, attempting to hit the phone wire. If he misses, the ball is still "alive" and player two attempts to catch it. If player two catches it, it's one out; if the ball hits the ground, it's a single. If the ball hits the wire and then hits the ground, it's a homerun; if it hits the wire and player two catches it, it's an automatic three outs and the players switch.

Buttball: This one got us in trouble at school but it was a lot of fun and great exercise. All you need is a tennis ball (or any other ball with a good bounce to it) and a wall. The ball is put into play by throwing it against the wall. From there, all of the players take turns (in no particular order) catching the ball as it bounces their way. Whoever catches it just throws it right back at the wall and the volley continues. However, if any player attempts to catch the ball and drops it, he has to run to the wall as fast as he can and touch it before any of the other players pick it up and throw it at his butt. If it hits him in the butt before he touches the wall, he's out. Game continues until the one remaining player wins. Obviously disapproved of by teachers and parents, but there's a safer variation: draw a reasonably-sized chalk target on the wall (or use a trash can) and throw at that instead of someone's kiester. Overall, this is a great game for agility and hand-eye coordination.

500: This is a nice little baseball game you can play when you don't have enough players for a real game. All you need is a bat, ball, gloves, and a field that's big enough to hit fly balls. One player starts and pitches to himself, tossing the ball up and hitting it towards the other players. If he hits a ground ball, whoever catches it gets 50 points; a fly ball, 100 points; a line drive, 150 points. If anyone makes an error, subtract the subsequent value. First fielder to get or exceed 500 points replaces the batter.

These games are just the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty more. The above examples are just a brief glimpse at how creative kids can be when you kick them out of the house.

Recommended Resources

Mark Drolsbaugh

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