6 family fitness ideas for 2020

End of Term 1 holidays are over! We’re back into the swing of things here at school. So shake off those cobwebs, dust off your boots, and let’s get things up and running!

The diagram below looks at the brain functioning after just 20 minutes of walking.  Getting your children to move helps strengthen and stimulate their brains. This is why so many recent research studies are showing increased fitness = improved academics. 

Note: The blue colour represents inactivity in the brain.

So… are you and your family interested in feeling more energised and healthier throughout 2020? If so, take a look at some of our top tips to a healthier and happier year ahead, we challenge YOU to complete them.

Setting fitness goals as a family is a great way to achieve regular exercise and include everyone in fun productive activities in and out of the house. It models healthy behaviours for your children and ensures you stay active and healthy too!

Add some exciting competition to the mix and everyone can gain from this.

Try these 6 ideas for fitness that’s fun for the whole family:

1. Take a Walk

Whether you travel by foot to drop your children off at school or take an evening stroll, build a walk into your daily schedule. To make the new routine stick, sit down as a family and decide how many kilometres you’re going to walk each week. Then set aside the time, and mark it on a calendar, to ensure you stay on track. You can take the same approach with biking and jogging. Want bonus points? Mix things up along the way, with a quick set of push-ups, lunges or squats. Complete the Thao Dien Loop, or enjoy the peace and beauty of the park surrounding Landmark 81.

2. Create a Challenge

Use this as an example. Perhaps you and the family could create your own fitness challenge?

3. Sign up for an Event

Team up with your children and participate in a fun run. If you have an event coming up, you have a goal to train for. You could even recruit other families (cousins, friends and co-workers) to get in on the action. You can even join the BIS community and participate with your family at the BBGV Fun Run, help the school with the Thao Dien clean-up, or compete in the BIS Aquathlon in Term 3.

4. Start a Weekly Sports Night

Get a few families (school friends, neighbours) involved in a standing game of football or capture the flag. Playing sports not only help children enhance their physical skills, but they also develop their social skills. By hosting a team sport, family fitness will feel less like formal exercise and still provide an effective workout.

5. Head Outdoors

In the mornings and evenings when the weather is cooler take advantage of being outdoors – encourage your children to bike ride, scooter, rollerblade, and/or play handball type activities. BIS offers plenty of sports and active co-curricular activities before and after school. Switch that brain on with exercise to start the school day, or before homework in the evenings.

6. Consider ACTIVE Video Games

Keeping screen time to a minimum is a solid goal, but instead of turning off devices completely, consider using screens to pursue a healthy activity - something that gets children off the couch. Interactive games including simulated golf, tennis or even dancing may be just the gateway your child needs to tackle more real-world physical pursuits.

Making fitness a family goal creates friendly and fun competition as well as promotes a healthy lifestyle. Children feel empowered because it’s not just you telling them to get moving; they can tell you it’s time for your family football game or that they’re ahead of you on this week’s walking steps. The key, of course, is setting aside time to stay active and engaged as a family.

Design a schedule and put it on a whiteboard, create a Google calendar for the whole family so everyone knows what’s expected, or take advantage of fitness apps you may have so you can keep track of each other’s progress digitally. Then grab your family crew and get moving!

BIS HCMC Primary PE Department