If you are a parent who’s trying to get your children to exercise, then you may find yourself banging your head against the wall as they refuse to go outside and run around and instead insist on sitting glued to the television or their games console. It can be very tough to get a child interested in staying fit, so if you want to make progress then you need to try and get inside their heads. Think: what is it that makes them want to stay indoors? And what can you do to convince them that being outside isn’t all that bad?
Computer Games Are More Exciting
Children once played football and other sports more regularly because really it was all they had. There wasn’t really the option of playing another game and so they were forced to make do with what there was.
Today though there are many other options – which include computer games. In computer games a child can play as a ninja who leaps through a glass window while the building behind them explodes and they fight a t-rex on the way to the ground. Is it any wonder that kicking a ball around can seem a little lame?
What’s the solution then? Simple: try to make exercising outside more exciting and more fun as well so that it doesn’t seem as lame. And how do you do that?
For one you can start looking at some cool heroes for them to aspire to who don’t spend all their time indoors. I was a very active child who spent a lot of time doing martial arts and stunts because I was a huge fan of Jackie Chan. Your child might love Jackie Chan too, or perhaps they’d be more inspired by WWE or by David Beckham. Likewise you can also try taking your child outside to do exciting things – whether that’s a day of paintballing, rock climbing or cave diving. Show them that the real adventure is outside.
They Get Hurt Easily
Some children are just a little more fragile than others and this makes them somewhat less keen to run outside kicking footballs and bumping shoulders with bigger, tougher children.
There are several solutions to this problem. One is to show them a sport that’s a little more friendly and a little less dangerous – such as table tennis. This will have the added bonus for you of keeping them away from the occupational therapy ward. Another is to try and help them to develop their pain threshold and teach them that a cut or scrape isn’t the end of the world. This is also beneficial in other ways and will help them to be a little tougher and hardy in a range of other situations where it can be a huge advantage.
It’s Cold
Let’s face it, nobody really wants to go outside and kick a ball around in the freezing cold when they could be at home in the warm drinking tea. The solution? Get them to play indoors by renting a hall, or even by setting up a room in your house where they can kick a ball around. You might even enjoy it yourself!
