If you’ve been throwing shapes in the living room or enjoying some garden games, you’ll already know that there are plenty of fun, family-friendly ways to get your Body Magic fix at home – while keeping the kids entertained, too!
Keeping active is so important – for our physical health, as well as our mental wellbeing – and finding boredom-busting activities the whole family can enjoy will leave you brimming with Body Magic energy.
Because we’re big kids at heart, we’re fully loaded with fun-tastic ways to keep active with your little ones – whether you’re staying inside or looking to make the most of your outdoor spaces. In the latest part of our ‘getting active with the kids’ special series, we’ve rounded up more games and activities that are perfect for lockdown living.
Ready… set… let’s go!
Play around
From a game of tag to a round of musical statues, bringing the playground into your garden is a great way to move more at home.
Get the kids to draw a hopscotch grid on the patio or driveway and then challenge them to see who can complete the game the fastest. Crouching, balancing and jumping will give your leg muscles a workout – and all you need to get started is a pebble and a piece of chalk.
Or whizz yourself back to the school yard with a skipping challenge! If you don’t have the space to use an old washing line to introduce the kids to double dutch, see who can last the longest with some on-the-spot solo skipping instead. Our Consultant Suzy Summerhayes has been practising her skipping in the back garden.
Get in the game
If you’ve got a games console at home, you’ll find there’s a whole indoor arena of sports and activities to keep the kids entertained – and because they need lots of physical participation, they’re brilliant for burning off any over-excited energy. Even better, most consoles let you invite friends and family to play, too.
Walk this way
If you’d rather keep things simple with a family walk, but the kids aren’t as keen, letting them scoot or cycle should break the boredom.
Hold an ‘Olympics’
Whether it’s a classic egg-and-spoon race, an indoor hockey tournament using kitchen-roll/wrapping-paper tubes and a sponge ball, or a hilarious hula-hoop challenge, a family sports day is a fun idea for staying active. And if you’re in need of a little extra move-more motivation – and a genius craft idea to buy you a five-minute rest! – you could get the kids to make medals for the winners!
Take a class
Is your child a budding karate kid, a future gymnast, or the next Strictly star in the making? Ask the kids to share their talents with you to help them practise their skills while classes are postponed, and you can learn a new move or two at the same time! Reader Matt has been getting some pointers on how to perfect his handstand.
You’ll find lots more tips to get the whole family moving in your local Slimming World group and in the Slimming World Online community. You can find out more about joining Slimming World here.