The weather is warmer, the kids want to go out, but what can you do and why bother doing physical activity when you can just stay indoors?  It's important to encourage youngsters to get active and get used to the idea of doing physical activity.  Here are a few reasons why its important to do activities with children of all ages, because it helps them to:

1. Be happy and have fun
2. Sleep well at night
3. Pay attention and learn at school
4. Keep fit
5. Grow strong and  healthy
6. Make new friends and try new things
7. Become less stressed and anxious
8. Control their behaviour
9. Express themselves

How much exercise you do depends on you, but the advice is that it should be about an hour a day.  Sound a lot?  It's not really when you look at what's included:-

1. Walking to school
2. Swimming lessons
3. Sports and dancing
4. Physical games e.g. skipping rope, trampolining
5. Climbing, physical play at a park

How can you help?

• Undertake activities together: try and do a family walk in the woods, or a family cycle ride every now and then
• Set tasks and challenges for your children to achieve, eg. run on the spot for 2 minutes, run between 2 chairs 10 times, throw and catch a ball 5 times
• Use your imagination: try doing some funny running or walking; run like a penguin with your legs together, waddle like a duck, gallop like a horse etc
• Try something unusual: let your children choose something new, eg. yoga, rugby, tumble time
• Help your child with basic skills so they feel confident and happy to build on those skills eg. ball throwing, skipping, running and jumping
• Praise and give lots of positive feedback
• Get some simple equipment to help them eg. scooters, skipping ropes, hula hoops, skittles

So, get outside and have some fun!

Earlier this month, about 6,000 children took part in the BUPA Great North Run.  There's the junior section (9 - 14 year olds) and the mini section (3 - 8 year olds).  Of course the distance is shorter, and the pace is much slower than the 54,000 adults who take part in the main event, but that said, it's still great that so many kids are being encouraged to take part.

All the competitors, no matter how little (!), all get awarded a medal and a T-shirt just like the grown ups!  More importantly it gives them a goal to reach and the chance to feel they achieved something worthwhile.  What a brilliant thing to be involved in!  Congratulations to all who took part!

Of course, you don't need to do a marathon to get active.  Simply walking to school or to the shops every day is a great start.  Keep a note of how much you actually walk each week and you'll be amazed how it adds up!  Getting the kids involved from the start is a great way to get them in the mindset of walking rather than jumping in the car every time you go out!  It's healthy to get active; it's fun to be out and about and with fuel prices rising, it's cheaper too!