For adults, exercise or physical activity means sweating in a gym, working out, running treadmill, doing cardio, jogging, lifting weights and so on. But for kids, physical activity generally means playing in the open, running, playing outdoor games or sports like tennis, football, riding bicycles and so on.

Kids mostly stay physically active and fit while playing at school with friends, while attending physical education classes, while dancing or practicing sports at school or at an academy and so on. Many kids also have opportunities to visit nearby playgrounds or park and play games in groups.

Whatever the activity be, it is very important for kids to remain fit. There are numerous benefits of doing physical activity. It not just keeps the body toned and healthy but also makes kids mentally strong. Besides, there are uncountable other benefits of physical activity and fitness, such as:

• Makes muscle and bone strong– Physical activity helps in strengthening the bones and muscles.
• Help kids stay fit and lean – Physical activity also helps in keeping kids fit, energetic and flexible.
• Help kids stay away from obesity–It helps kids to keep away from obesity and related diseases.
• Presents better attitude towards life – It enhances one’s approach towards life and helps kids to see life in a better perspective and face various challenges
• It allows kids to sleep better – The physically active children are also benefited with better sleep at night which helps them to think and concentrate better in school.
• It develops Life Skills – Methodology of any form of physical activities, opening the door of learning the basics of valuable life skills.

Further elements of fitness

Besides the above benefits, fitness also boosts many further elements, such as, endurance, strength and flexibility. A child who is active since early childhood is bound to be more flexible, strong as well as inculcates the quality of endurance.

Moreover, playing together allows kids many other qualities like leadership quality, resilience, sensible etc., which help kids later in life. They learn to tackle different situations accordingly and become mentally strong and positive.

Besides, active and fit kids are willing to work hard. Kids put in all their efforts and hard work to get something done like they do in sports where they use all their strength to win a game.

Having said that, it has become quite a task for many parents to manage physical activity of their kids, especially during a time when the entire world is mostly keeping indoors to stay away from Covid19 and its effects.

However, here we are offering some tips to keep kids active and fit regardless of the ongoing Covid19 situation.

Valuable tips

• Interesting activities inside the house – For small kids encourage them to stay active by creating interesting activities such as hopping and walking like animals, playing within the house, racing wall to wall and so on.
• Use your balcony or terrace – If you have enough space in your balcony or terrace, you can use it to do fun things like hopscotch, rope jump or other age appropriate games etc.
• Online exercise or dance video – There are numerous online resources available that can be used to stay active indoors. You can have a dance session, or a Zumba session together, or anything else that interests you and your kids. 
• Engage kids in household chores involving activity and movement – you can get the kids do errands that involve movements to keep them active, like watering the plants in your garden or balcony, fetching things from around the house etc.

• Try kids yoga – Yoga is another effective way to stay active. Try some interesting age appropriate yoga moves suitable for your kids. Do it together to make it interesting for your kids.

Besides the above tips, you can use your imagination and creativity to keep your kids active and fit despite the restrictions or limitations posed by the pandemic.

Zoylu.com features many exciting activities and ideas for parents to help them tackle numerous situations pertaining to their kids and motivate them to nurture life skills activities. If you have any interesting concept for keeping the kids active during this ongoing pandemic situation, do share them with us.