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Keeping your kids active during cold winter months
Posted: 12.14.2010 at 4:30 PM
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Any type of movement, inside or outside, is excellent for your kids

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Cold weather seems to be here to stay in the Tri-States.

When you combine those frigid temps with all the gadgets and games under the Christmas tree, it could be quite a chore to get your kids up and moving around.

But with a little motivation and encouragement, you could have your kids active no matter what it's like outside.

KHQA's Jarod Wells explains in this KHQA Safe Family Health Report.

Most kids don't have treadmills and exercise equipment available to them.  But the key to keeping kids active is fairly simple.

Quincy Family YMCA Wellness Director Johanna Voss said, "Go outside and play. I think we've lost the drive to play. We've forgotten how to play and so it's hard to teach our kids to play."

It's too cold should never be an excuse.

Voss said, "Bundle them up, send them outside and make a snowman, make snow angels, build forts. Any type of movement is going to be better than just sitting inside and saying it's too cold to go outside. Let them go outside, even if it's just for half an hour."

If you choose to keep your kids inside, they can still be active.

Voss said, "Build little obstacle courses if you don't mind them kind of being rambunctious in the house. Pull out Twister, you're different board games, Guesstures, things that require movement for those kids to play."

Getting yourself involved could be a big help.

Voss said, "Teach them how to do push-ups, planks, have contest with them. As a parent get down on the floor and actually say 'alright, lets see who can do the most push-ups, lets see who can do the most sit-ups' and actually do them with them."

Kids can never be too young to do body weight exercises because they carry their body weight around all day just by walking. You could even do things like jump roping and hopscotch to get your kids moving.

Voss said, "Some of those things that you kind of have forgotten about as you've gotten older, go back to that and teach your kids how to do it."

And if all else fails, let them play their interactive video games...but make sure they do them as they are intended.

Voss said, "You see a lot of kids who know how to work the system. They'll sit on the couch and just wave the wand around. But if you actually get your child up and get them moving with the video game, yes it can be a very good thing for the kids."

The Quincy Family YMCA offers several programs to get your kids up and moving.

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