Sports day is a fun feature of summer, but toddlers who aren't old enough to attend school miss out on all this fun - why not hold your own 'Sports Day' for your littlest children and some of their friends?!  Invite two or three other mum's round with their little ones, set up a picnic outside for everyone, and make up a few races for them to compete in.  If it's hot, ensure there are plenty of drinks on hand!

Sports concentrate on improving motor skills and coordination, so think of some fun events that help do this.  If your little ones are two young to walk or run, then many races could be held at a crawl instead.  If you have a mix of ages and capabilities then introduce handicaps for the more capable children to give the littlest ones a fair chance of winning something.  If you're tight for space then rather running races in parallel you can time each child one after the other.  Here are some ideas:-

Flat race: have your little ones run from one end of the garden to the other, or in a loop around the garden.

Egg and spoon race: good old fashioned fun! Have your babies walk or run from one end of the garden to the other balancing a hard boiled egg on a spoon all the way.  Afterwards you can add the eggs to your picnic!

Sack race: give each child a sack and have them jump from one end of the garden to the other.  Shopping bags would make a suitable 'sack' but make your little athletes understand never to put bags over their heads.

Obstacle course: make up an obstacle course with your little ones having to run around, over and under objects placed around your garden.

Bat'n'ball race: have your little one hit a ball around a course in your garden - use a tennis racquet, cricket bat or any other makeshift bat.

Balancing act: if you don't have bean bags, find other items such as teddies, dolls or toy cars that your little ones can place on their heads and balance round a course.

Make up some certificates and award them at the end of each race.  You'll have great fun holding your own sports day; you'll enjoy watching your children perform, and they'll have so much fun trying out the different races!

Getting active with the children is not always as easy as it sounds: how can you fit any more activity time in an already busy day? Here are some simple ways to increase the activity levels in your family. Remember, every little bit counts, so keep a note of all these activities and work out your daily total of minutes spent being active.

• Music Time - turn on some groovy music and have a good old dance together!
• Encourage your toddler to walk up the stairs or to the car rather than being carried.  For older children, encourage them to tidy up after themselves or put away toys or washing at the end of the day.
• Walk to the shops and post box rather than take the car.
• Get the little ones involved with household chores: digging in the garden, sweeping the floor, washing down the garden shed.
• Go for a walk as a family - find somewhere with woods and climb up the trees or balance along fallen tree trunks.
• Have a time limit on TV watching.
• Think about some old fashioned games that are fun to play outside: hop skotch, skipping, chase, hide and seek, hoolahoop, flying a kite.

Children should do about an hour of physical activity each day.  See how close you are and praise them each time they want to do something physical.  It is so good for them to start out actively as children, because then they are more likely to stay active as they grow older.

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!

New research has found that one in ten children will be obese in the next five years - what a staggering statistic!  Research carried out at the University of London studied statistics between 1995 and 2007.   The health survey for England provided the data which takes a sample of UK households.

If the trend continues, then researchers predicted that 1 in 10 boys aged between 2-10 will be obese by 2015, and approximately 1 in 9 girls.  In lower income families the statistic was slightly worse. They said  'these increases will affect the lower social classes to a larger extent'.

The research was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health - let's hope the predictions don't become reality.  It's so important to get kids up and moving from an early age.

Children who are overweight at a young age risk greater likelihood of health problems in later life, including diabetes and heart disease.  Children who are more active in their first few years are statistically more likely to maintain an active lifestyle when they are older.

There is so much that parents and carers can do and its one area where you don't need to spend much money.  Going to the local play park, setting off on nature walks round your neighbourhood, heading off the woods and climbing on fallen tree trunks, even walking or scooting to school instead of driving.  Enjoy an active lifestyle with your children and they will benefit for years to come.  Premium Members of ToucanLearn can search for 'Physical Development' activities 'Outdoor' and find lots of fun games and activities to do outside, specifically aimed at the capabilities of their children!

Lots of families visit local parks frequently during the summer months.  Keep things fresh and exciting by playing some new games.  Take along a kite to fly or maybe a boat to float on a pond.  Throw pebbles into the water or try to hit leaves of plants on the opposite side of the river bank.  Make a 'secret camp' in the bushes.  Don't forget the ducks - take along any stale bread and give the ducks a feast.  Or, take along a picnic and enjoy your own feast.  Perhaps try something new: pitta breads, or wraps for a change from sliced bread.  Hunt for different leaves or special pebbles or pine cones, collect them up, take them home and make a collage from all the different things you find!