School’s out and the kids suddenly have a lot more time on their hands – and many parents become concerned about excessive screen time and a lack of physical activity. Summer’s a great opportunity to help alter couch-potato routines and instill healthy habits. Tackle these tips to keep kids active, engaged and healthy this summer.
- Structure Active Time: There’s nothing better than a formal class, sports practice or other structured activity to keep your kids active this summer. Need to find activities? The City of Fort Collins’ recreation department offers hundreds of programs each summer. Browse the catalog here.
- Explore Bike Trails: Nearly every child loves the freedom a bicycle brings. Tap into that excitement with family bike rides. Fort Collins offers more than 200 miles of bike trails for your family to explore. Download full bike maps from the City here.
- Sidewalk Games: Grab your chalk, as old-fashioned sidewalk games are still a hit with today’s kids. Whether you’re playing hopscotch, four-square, bulls eye or any of Active For Life’s selection of chalk games young children will love to get active and artistic. Looking to brush up on math skills and stay active? Try a game of calculator hopscotch.
- Physical Video Games: No, seriously! Thanks to cutting-edge game design, video games aren’t the sedentary pastime they were for years. Whether you track down a used Nintendo Wii or visit a local arcade for physical games like Dance Dance Revolution, physical video games can be a great compromise between active choices and love of technology. They’re still video games, however, so take care to mind screen time.
- Prepare and Enter a Race: Individual sports like running and swimming give children the opportunity to compete against themselves and measure progress. Kids’ one-mile races or family-friendly 5Ks give children a goal and can set up a summer’s worth of preparation. Fort Collins is an active community, so browse a list of local 5K races to fit your family’s schedule.
Be creative! Remember your child doesn’t need to be training for a triathlon or playing soccer to be active: A good 60-90 minutes of active outdoor play – even tag or hide-and-seek – is enough to keep kids active and healthy.