Let’s take a look at some of the most common questions parents have asked me over the years regarding the importance of their child’s activity levels.

Importance Of Being Active

Being active is something we hear often, but why is it so important?

Being active can help children in many different ways. Being active can boost children’s academic performance and physical health.

There have been numerous studies stating that by adding 30-40 minutes of being active each week, children can increase their I.Q scores and academic performance.

As a parent or teacher, it is essential to encourage children to be active and enjoy the benefits it can have on their lives.

Ideas To Increase Activity Within Children

What are some ways that children can become more active?

With school-aged kids, it’s crucial to have a balance between screen time and active time. Children in the school-aged group can do activities such as;

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Martial Arts
• Biking
• Hiking
• Playing Tag Outside

Children should find something that interests them and set some time aside to be physically active. For older teens, there are many different choices. For teenagers, along with traditional sports, they can try things like;

• Yoga
• Skateboarding
• Horseback Riding
• Swimming

Physical Benefits Of Being Active

What are some of the physical benefits of being active?

Being active helps children to build healthy bones. Physical activities can help to improve the strength and endurance of children.

Along with those benefits, being active can help to;

• Reduce Anxiety
• Reduce Depression
• Reduce Stress

A child’s blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and psychological well-being can all benefit from being active.

As children enjoy being active, it can also help to boost their self-esteem.

Being Active Benefits Learning

What are some of the benefits with regard to their learning?

As children are going through school, they can experience situations that hurt their confidence or self-esteem. Keeping a child’s self-esteem and confidence high is very important so that it doesn’t impact them academically.

Being active can help kids concentrate more and have an increased attentiveness in school. Physical activities can also help children to achieve better grades and better behavior.

Ideas For Promoting Activity Within Children

How can we promote children to be more active?

As a parent, you can encourage your child to find something that they enjoy. Many local counties have sports leagues, church sports league activities, or community activities that are geared towards kids.

In every county, there are community sports centers that you can take children to during daylight hours. Parents can also use sports to help students test their spelling words and retention of material.

For example, children have to spell a word correctly before they would be able to shoot the basketball.

As a teacher, there are many ways you can incorporate “active time” in the classroom. Good grades and good behavior can help students earn active incentives such as extra individual or class recess passes or extra time with the Physical Education Teachers.

Along with those incentives, you can also do active academic lessons. Students can do engaging activities that have been incorporated with learning standards.

For example, students could catch a football if a statement is a theme or slam the ball down if it is a central idea.

Brain Breaks are another way to give students a chance to be active within the classroom. GoNoodle is a popular brain breaks website that offers videos for students. Teachers can make activities engaging and fun for students while challenging their academic progress within the classroom.

There are literally thousands of ways children can be active AND have fun! Special Education Resources exist to help come up with new and ideas children absolutely love!

What type of activities have you found to work best in today’s environment? Share with the community by leaving a comment below!

~ Taylor Fulcher