by Justice Liberty

Created on: March 18, 2007   Last Updated: April 25, 2007

Let's face it, not all children are interested in, physically able or coordinated enough to play team sports. Many children give up trying after they are made fun of a few times. I know I was made fun of and I witnessed many other children being made fun of as well. Here are some ways to keep your children fit without team sports.

1) Nutrition - You as a parent are building a kids future eating habits. Prepare healthy meals for your children. Limit foods that are packed full of sugar and or fat. Encourage your kid to eat fruits and vegetables as snacks. Tip: If you do not have junk food in your house, they cannot eat it! Talk to your children about nutrition. Believe it or not, when we tell our daughter that something is not very good for her, she doesn't eat it for a while.

2) Exercise as a family - Many days my daughter comes home from school, and we do a workout video. Don't get me wrong, she doesn't always do what the video is doing (she is 5 years old) but she does get some exercise, and she thinks it is great fun.

3) Whenever possible, go to the park. Children love to go to the park to play. Taking your child to the park allows them to socialize with other children and have a ball all at the same time. Climbing the steps of a slide and other park activities are great exercise for children.

4) Take your child for a nature walk. Taking your child for a walk anywhere is beneficial to them, but they may find more interest in a walk in the woods, on some trails, or even in a field. Living in southern Indiana, we take our children mushroom hunting, arrowhead hunting and we take them on trails. By the time we get done, the kids are worn out!

5) Encourage your children to play outside. Chances are, if your children are playing inside, they are not being physically active. Take your chldren to fly a kite, go rollerskating or just run around the tard with them.

Hopefully these tips can give you some ideas for keeping your children healthy and active. With today's child obesity rate, we have to do something to change it, and that change starts with us as parents.

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