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When children are dancing, singing and having fun, they don't even realize they are working out. I work at a school that teaches kindergarten through fifth grade. One of the most popular teachers happens to be the coach. The kids really love him because they have so much fun in gym class playing games and exercising to music.

I hated gym class growing up because it was so boring with the same old music and the same old exercises. Things are different today. A few evenings ago, I looked out the classroom window and saw no less than 100 adults and children playing kickball and having a great time.

Many boys and girls attend after school karate class once a week. The karate teacher is a young man with a black belt and the kids adore him. Our school also offers after school cheer-leading for the girls, which is a great way to exercise, have fun and dance to routines while competing and preparing for high school cheer-leading.

Much help can be found on the Internet. Fitness videos for kids can be ordered in the fifteen to twenty dollar range including kids aerobic exercises, dance routines, rope jumping, yoga fitness and martial arts videos. Another website offers all kinds of exercise equipment for kids, but is quite expensive and is geared more for schools and churches unless you happen to be rich.

Parents can get involved in their children's physical fitness by attending after school activities and offering nutritious meals to go along with the proper exercise. Childhood obesity has exploded in this country. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), nearly nine million kids ages six to nineteen are overweight. Some experts recommend at least sixty minutes a day but several hours of exercise a day is good.

Swimming is excellent exercise for children. Enroll kids in swimming lessons at an early age at your local pool or YMCA. Go swimming with your kids on the weekends. Throw the beach ball around or play tag on rafts. It's fun and healthy too. Don't forget the sunscreen and it wouldn't hurt to walk to and from the pool.

Suggestions:

-Include walking the dog as a chore
-Clip on a pedometer to make it fun
-Plan a family weekend together: hiking,
skating or going to the mall
-Get off the computer
-Turn off the TV
-Discover your family!

Resources: fitnessbeginnings.com
CDC, kickstartfitness4kids.com

Learn more about this author, Maureen Totterer.
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