Still Stuck Inside? We Have Compiled Some Creative Ways to Use Your Smartphone or Tablet to Keep Your Family Active without Having to Venture Out into the Cold
As winter continues on, you’re likely looking for ways to keep your family active. There’s only so much screen time and reading that your kids can take. However, you can’t take them to the playground when it’s freezing outside and there’s a foot of snow on the ground. Luckily, there are plenty of creative ways to use your smartphone or tablet to keep your family active even when you’re inside.
Record Your Child Showing Off a New Skill
Encourage your child to do something active by offering to record them as they do it. This will give you a fun memory to look back on and will make your kid feel special. You can even replay the footage for your kid so that they can see themselves. Do this over time and make a video compiling their progress in the new skill.
You can do this with anything active or semi-active. Maybe you set up an obstacle course inside and challenge your kid to go faster each time, recording them as they go. Or maybe you encourage them to dance, and you record it to watch later.
Learn a New Dance
Speaking of dancing, learning a new dance from a YouTube video or other online platform is an excellent way to stay active. And it will give your kid a new skill to show off at the next family gathering.
Act Out Shows, Movies, and Videos
Get your child up and moving between videos by making it a point to act out each video after you watch it. Or, if you watch full movies or shows, choose a smaller section of it to act out. Grab costumes and assign everyone a character to play. For a bit less activity, pull out some dolls or figurines and use them to act it out.
Use an Activity App
There are dozens of apps specifically designed to keep your kids active. For example, the UNICEF Kid Power App is a popular option, and it even has Kid Power Bands, which are essentially child-friendly Fitbits. It encourages your kids to get in their steps and donates food when they do.
A similar option is FitQuest Lite. This encourages your kids to get in more steps and adds motivation via puzzles and challenges, such as dancing, hopping, and jogging. Or look for one of the fitness-focused activity apps. Some popular options include Fitness Kids, Iron Kids, and Super Stretch Yoga. The last of these uses storytelling to get your kids into yoga. You can also look into Sworkit Youth, Cosmic Kids Yoga, and 7-Minute Workouts with Lazy Monster, a workout led by a monster!
The Takeaway
Just because it’s cold outside and your kids are glued to their screens doesn’t mean you can’t all be active. Start dancing, download an app to encourage movement, or act out the last thing you watched together.
Added Sources:
https://gokidpower.org/best-apps-for-keeping-kids-active/
https://raisingchildren.net.au/preschoolers/play-learning/screen-time-healthy-screen-use/screen-time-physical-activity