How to engage your child in free form fitness

The importance of play was very well put by Plato. “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” While it applies to one and all, it is especially applicable to children. Play allows fine motor skills; inter personal skills and most of all joy and a sense of freedom. Unfortunately, today, the concept of play is skewed by the hectic schedule of parents and the advent of fancy electronic gizmos, such as the x-box and other gaming devices. Where fun and adventure is presented at the click of a button with hardly any effort from the body and not much need for interaction with another individual either…studies show, that the condition of myopia is on the rise in United States by 50 percent since 10 years ago due to the fact that most activities by children today require close range vision such as the television and computer or other gaming screens, as opposed to expansive spaces. So, what shall we do?

Gymnastics tumble, handstands, back bend or back bend flip over, whatever the body can handle. When your child says, “Look ma, no hands!” encourage it. Encourage your child to explore the limits of his own physical strength and capacity. Allow your child to interact and play with another child from the neighborhood, or bring him to the park and let him interact with the other kids on the jungle gym. Hold off on that Nintendo just for another year maybe and let him shoot a few hoops in your driveway. Let her feast her eyes on the richness of her environment or find that truly meaningful element in her surroundings rather than tying her to the endless adventures of the electronic world, thus dwarfing her imagination and growth to the limits of the games that were designed by someone else for the sole purpose of entertainment.

Encourage, running, chasing a ball, jumping rope, hoola-hooping, roller blading, biking or simply walking and carrying part of your shopping from the super market. Remember, less is more, give your child less but do it with loving care!

Lots of Loving Care

Icons