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Why Physical Fitness is important for kids: 

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Why Physical Fitness is important for kids: 

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Children need to be active every day to promote their healthy growth and development.

Kids who establish healthy lifestyle patterns at a young age will carry them - and their benefits - forward for the rest of their lives.
Physical activity can help kids cope with stress. It also promotes:

Healthy growth and development

Better self-esteem

Stronger bones, muscles and joints

Better posture and balance

A stronger heart

A healthier weight range

Social interaction with friends

Learning new skills while having fun

Better focus and concentration during school

Ask if they want to be a part of a team or do an individual activity, enroll in a skill based or recreational class or do their activity with a friend or family member.

Parents can provide support and guidance about how to start and how much activity a child needs each day. They need to feel motivated and enjoy their activities. Keeping an activity log can help them chart their progress, while praise and rewards for each small step achieved can help to keep them motivated.

Children should:

Include a warm up and cool down as part of each activity session

Drink water before, and after activities - and have water breaks during their activities

Wear sunblock, a hat and sunglasses when outside in warmer weather

Use the right size of protective equipment

Start at a level that matches their current fitness level. Too much too soon can result in injury. Always play it safe

Canada 's Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living for Children tells us that three different types of activities promote healthy growth and development:

1. Endurance

Endurance or aerobic activities - activities that involve continuous movement of large muscle groups - increase heart rate, cause breathing to quicken, and make you work up a sweat. They are important for development of a healthy heart and lungs.

Endurance activities can be lots of fun - and they don't have to be competitive. Help your children choose the right activities for them. Here are a few examples:

Scootering, in-line skating, skateboarding

Swimming, skating, dancing, tennis, martial arts

Hiking, jogging, skipping, playing tag, cycling, dodgeball

Hockey, football, soccer, basketball

Skiing, lacrosse, wall climbing

2. Flexibility

Activities that encourage children to bend, stretch and reach promote flexibility. Having adequate flexibility allows children to participate in daily activities without pain or restriction from their muscles or joints.

Being flexible promotes good posture, reduces muscle stiffness and soreness, increases relaxation and minimizes risk of injury
Flexibility Activities

Active play on a playground

Digging in the garden or at the beach, raking leaves

Gymnastics, dancing, wall climbing

Yoga, skipping, stretching routines

3. Strength

Working against a resistance helps children build stronger muscles. Adequate muscular strength allows kids to deal with the demands of daily life without excessive stress on their joints and muscles.

Activities that build strength promote strong bones, muscles and good posture, improve the ability to lift and manoeuvre objects and obstacles and enhance healthy growth and development.

Strength activities to promote strong bones and muscles include:

Lifting and carrying things like groceries, garbage and garden waste

Raking leaves, climbing stairs

Gymnastics, doing sit-ups and push-ups

Playground activities: monkey bars, climbing ladders, scaling poles

Calisthenics using their own body weight as resistance or supervised weight training exercises using tubing, bands and hand weights.

Links:
Action Schools! BC
Jump Rope for Heart
Canada's Physical Activity Guide for Children
Canada's Physical Activity Guide for Youth
Active Communities
British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association
Everybody Gets to Play (program focused on ensuring that economically disadvantaged children and families have access to quality leisure experiences)

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kids and physical activity | Healthy Families BC

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Children need to be active every day to promote their healthy growth and development. Kids who establish healthy lifestyle patterns at a young age will carry them - and their benefits - forward for the rest of their lives. Physical activity can help kids cope with stress.

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SPORTS can help kids stay engaged in a fun and active way!

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SPORTS can help kids stay engaged in a fun and active way!

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-Cheerleading
-Football
-Track
-Soccer
-Baseball
-Gym class

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-Skateboarding
-Rollerblading
-Hiking
-Jogging
-Running
-Playing tag
-Jumprope
-Yoga

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F- FUN
I- INTERESTING
T- TALENT
N- NECESSITY
E- ENGAGING
S- SPORT
S- STRETCH

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SONG- on getting your heart beat going!!

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SONG- on getting your heart beat going!!

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Heartbeat Children's Song Lyrics and Sound Clip Caroline and Danny

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VIDEO- How to keep kids active and healthy for 60 minutes a day!!

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VIDEO- How to keep kids active and healthy for 60 minutes a day!!

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Exercise is Cool- Hip Hop song to teach kids the importance of physical activity- by Mark D. Pencil

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https://www.healthyfamiliesbc.ca/home/articles/importance-physical-activity-children

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/fitness/Pages/Promoting-Physical-Activity-as-a-Way-of-Life.aspx

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BOOK- multiple books on why being active is important!!

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BOOK- multiple books on why being active is important!!

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I was a horrible child athlete, the second to worst player on my elementary school softball team. During a 6 th grade basketball game, I think I made a basket for the other team, too. Despite my lack of talent with hand-eye coordination, I was an active child. I spent many years participating in track-and-field and dance lessons. Though decades have passed since my childhood, I'm still excited to run races and take dance classes. Knowing that kids today are often immersed in video games and constantly connected to gadgets, I hope to instill my life-long love of fitness to my son. Being a role model is key, so I do my best to create family fun and fit opportunities throughout the year. Also, a wonderful way to reinforce a world filled with personal interaction and teamwork is by surrounding him with stories of exercise, activities and team sports so that he can make his own connections. Below is my list of children's books with a focus on an active lifestyle. I've read most of these and received recommendations for the others from my favorite local librarian.

50 Children's Books that Promote Fitness (4-7 years old)

1. Elephants Cannot Dance, Watch me Throw the Ball by Mo Willems

2. Curious George Rides a Bike, Curious George Goes Fishing, Curious George at the Baseball Game by H. A. Rey

3. Angelina Ballerina Ice Skates by Katharine Holabird

4. Clifford's Field Day by Norma Bridwell

5. Dora Plays Sports by Alison Inches

6. Jake and the Never Land Pirates Surfin' Turf by Melinda LaRose

7. Babar's Yoga for Elephants by Laurent de Brunhoff

8. T he Berenstain Bears Go Out for the Team by Stan and Jan Berenstain

9. Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen

10. Maisy Learns to Swim by Lucy Cousins

11. Dino-Basketball, Dino-Baseball and Dino-Football by Lisa Wheeler

12. Mooses Come Walking by Arlo Guthrie

13. Ladybug Girl Plays by Jacky Davis

14. Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

15. Spot Loves Sports by Eric Hill

16. Froggy Plays Soccer, Froggy Plays T-ball by Jonathan London

17. The Magic Hockey Stick by Peter Maloney

18. Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen by Cari Best

19. Casey at the Bat by Ernest L. Thayer

20. Mitchell Goes Bowling by Hallie Duran

21. First Sail: An Adventure Story Designed to Help New Sailors Learn the Ropes by Richard Henderson

22. Stretch by Doreen Cronin and Scott Menchin

Pictures Books with a Deeper Message

23. Zach Gets Some Exercise by Sarah, Duchess of York

24. Hamster Camp - How Harry Got Fit by Teresa Bateman

25. Winner's Never Quit by Mia Hamm

26. Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki

27. Players in Pigtails by Shana Corey

28. Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Olympic Gold by Deloris Jordan

29. Get Up and Go! by Nancy Carlson

30. You can Do It! by Tony Dungy

31. Yankee Town Featuring Robbie the Rookie by Aimee Aryal

32. Becoming Babe Ruth by Matt Tavares

33. ABCs of Baseball by Peter Goelenbock

34. Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish

35. Magic Treehouse #16 - Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osbourne

36. The Littlest Leaguer by Syd Hoff

37. Fred and Ted Go Camping by Peter Eastman

38. Flat Stanley at Bat by Jeff Brown and Macky Pamintuan

39. Tae Kwon Do! by Terry Pierce and Todd Bonita

40. Lily's Lucky Leotard (a first graphic novel) by Cari Meister

41. Kick, Pass, and Run by Leonard Kessler

42. I want to be a Gymnast by Kate Simkins

43. To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel by Siena Cherson Siegel & Mark Siegel

44. Basketball is Fun by Robin Nelson

45. Let's Talk Baseball by Janice Behrens & Let's Talk Basketball by Amanda Miller

46. Fishing by Julie K. Lundgren

47. Keeping Fit by Emily K. Green

48. National Geographic Readers: Race Day! by Gail Tuchman

49. Cheerleading by Holly Karapetkova

50. Cool Skateboarding Facts by Sandy Donovan and Gail Saunders-Smith, PhD

Please help grow this list and add your favorite stories about sports, fitness or energetic activities in the comment section below. We're a baseball family, love to root on the Yankees and all our local Little League teams, too. Here are some of our favorite baseball books.

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50 Children's Books that Promote Fitness - Pretty Wellness

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I was a horrible child athlete, the second to worst player on my elementary school softball team. During a 6 th grade basketball game, I think I made a basket for the other team, too. Despite my lack of talent with hand-eye coordination, I was an active child.