Encouraging Movement In Our Little People
Daily movement for everyone is a must, but especially for our young children. Up until recently, they were active little humans rushing around the school playground in wide-open spaces, now with the new laws due to the COVID-19 virus, they are adjusting to a new sedentary online learning environment and are mostly housebound. It is not realistic to expect the children to sit still for that long.
Their little bodies and muscles start to shorten up; they experience discomfort, become tense and being inactive can lead to poor sleep and restlessness at night. However, by incorporating some simple stretches or movement into their day can help solve any of these issues.
If your families live in an apartment, have a tiny outdoor area or simply can't make it to the park, there are fantastic exercises they can do in their lounge room, that you can incorporate into their daily learning plans. These are offered on YouTube and are sure to excite and motivate your students to move.
Encourage your students to have a bottle of water handy and a gym mat if they have access to one.
PE with Joe - Joe is releasing free home workouts every school morning at 9 am, for everyone, no matter their fitness levels. Starting the day off with physical activity is a great way to help our students focus and prepare for their learning. Subscribe to Joe’s workouts on YouTube under The Body Coach TV.
Cosmic Kids Yoga - this is a long time favourite of our students. It’s yoga, mindfulness and relaxation designed especially for kids aged 3+, used in schools and homes all over the world. Choose from a huge list of themes and topics. Yoga is a great form of movement for everyone.
Just Dance - dance and movement for when you just want to let it all out. Follow along and learn some new moves. This is a very popular one with the kiddies.
KIDZ BOP - Provides dance along videos. This is another, where you can learn the dance moves to your favourite songs. Children can have their own dance party in their lounge room. There is a huge selection of songs to choose from.
Go Noodle | Get Moving - has plenty of movement and short brain break activities which can help to split up a child’s day.
Get Moving with Disney Family - subscribe to the Disney Family Youtube Channel for all your Disney favourite songs, Disney-inspired workout adventures.
Move Like The Avengers Workout with Les Mills - great kids workout using boxing moves to get the kids active.
Little Sports - It's all about getting active and exercising every day at home! Simple, quick moves for kids to help them build their muscles, strengthen their bones, improve flexibility and even burn calories!
So whether you are a teacher or a parent reading this blog post, I hope these workouts have helped inspire you to include some physical activity into your child's day.
How do you encourage your children to be active? Is there a great YouTube channel you can suggest? We would love to hear your feedback. Feel free to join the conversation below.
