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Wow! Summer break is almost here, and some children are tempted to stay inside from the heat and participate in sedentary activities such as surfing the Internet, texting friends, watching TV, movies and playing video games. Finding a balance of watching TV and getting physical activity is important for children to be healthy. According to the Center for Disease Control, 65.3% of children are not getting the recommended levels of physical activities that they need to be healthy.

Here are some tips to encourage your children to become more active in the summer:

 

• Explain the importance of exercise to your children. If they understand the importance of being physically active, then they are more likely to want to exercise more.
• Set examples by exercising with your children and doing fun things such as walking, jogging, playing basketball, baseball or football.
• Have your children help with physical chores such as washing the car, cutting the grass, pulling weeds from the flower garden or planting flowers.
• Set goals for your children by fitting exercise into their daily routine. Setting clear goals by changing up the exercises, keeps your children from getting bored or not wanting to exercise.
• Children from the ages of birth to 5 and especially from ages 2 to 5 love movement of any kind. They enjoy playing a game of chase because they love running around the yard, house and playground. They also like dancing to music and being silly. Walking with your children at an early age instills in your children being healthy when they get older.
• Children ages 6 to 9 enjoy fun sport activities such as swimming, riding bicycles and playing football, baseball or tennis.
• Children ages 10 to 15 are at the age where they want to play video games or surf the Internet, but parents should encourage them to become more active in sports like playing racquetball or soccer.
• Children ages 16 to 18 should be encouraged to play sports. They should be encouraged to play the sports that they enjoy so that they will continue to be active in college if they so choose.