heartofdakota.com

Hello Ladies,

I am in need of some fresh ideas. I have 3 children and need some ideas of things they could do in their free time. Mostly to get them moving a bit. I love to see them read, but I am seeing that they need some extra physical activity or even stuff to do together.

I am very careful with our family time and don't add in organized sports, dance or clubs. I try to encourage them to hang out together and enjoy our family time. We don't have a a bunch of friends close so they don't go play outside as much as I would like. I have one who would be happy playing inside all day They aren't big bike riders either . So we play at the park some and try to do some family tennis, basketball, and swimming together but what other things might be fun or engaging to do? We have lots of legos but they get tired of them. I think some of it is age. My dd's are older and not into as much "play" as they use to be. My ds is at the age (11) that he needs to move and create!

Just looking for some fresh ideas (mostly for my son). Thanks.

Hi Stacy! I only have a minute, but I read this and this past post came to mind...

Masterly Inactivity Ideas:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5416&p=39687

In Christ,
Julie

How about card and board games? The Timeline US History is fun and challenging for all ages. Games like Carcassonne and Sellers of Catan are great for strategy and critical thinking.
In the spring, would gardening be an option? It gets them outside to weed, water, and harvest things.
Maybe they can work on building something useful for your family or others like benches or bookshelves. If he likes Lego, have you seen the Lego Robotics sets?

Jumping rope?
Climbing?
Pick up basketball or soccer with friends?
Running?
Hiking?
Start a dog walking business (or get a dog)?
Start a lawn care business?
Swimming or water aerobics?

My girls are also readers - younger than yours - and this is a struggle for them. They are not go-outside-and-be-active types, and we do not have neighbor children that they want to go out and be with. Park days, bike rides, and family hikes are some of the things we do - because my husband and I also enjoy those things.

There are also lots of home fitness programs you can try, where even if the weather is bad or you have a small space, or no yard or park nearby, you can be fit and spend a little bit of time every day being active inside. My friend who does this does it with her kids. I think it was something like Family Life Fitness or something like that. No equipment needed, just your own body. If I was going to try something like this I would make it a school break, just a quick time to spend together doing something active.

We are doing organized sports and this has helped my oldest with this problem. So that, and the fact that my husband is really into it, means we probably will continue doing the sports. But I hope you are able to figure something out that works for your family.

I would like to follow this because we are at the same point here. My children do like Legos and older ds is an avid reader and they are not big bike riders either so inside is where they want to stay. I am not an advocate of video games but we do have a Wii Fit with the Wii Sports resort, Wii Fit and Wii Sports. Sometimes this is very helpful in getting them to move around and get some exercises. The games are fun and the Sports Resort has most they can do together up to 4 people. This has been helpful for rainy and snowy days and some hot days. Also, sometimes it takes reminding about sportsmanship and that it is just a game. They do move enough to sweat, unless they figure out a way to make it just look they are doing it. My boys figured out if you just shook the remote your character (Mii) would run and you wouldn't have to and they liked the wipeouts when they made them run too fast .

Thank you to all who have replied. It helps just to hear about what others have done or are doing.
Keep the ideas coming.

I am going to look into getting a few new games and building sets. We have a lot of games and art supplies. We have a big park really close I just need to make time for all of us to go hang out. I am tired in the afternoon and it has been hot, but I am going to try to in the evening. My ds really likes video games so I have to use those sparingly so they don't become a stumbling block, but sometimes they are fine to change things up. I did make a "busy box" a few years ago with all kinds of different stuff in it, single player games, puzzles, etc. I need to pull that out and see what is in there and add some interesting stuff to it. I don't want to be the "The fun director" so they don't know how to find things to do. I like the idea of "gardening, lawn business" keeps them productive, but it hasn't gone super well in the past. Might be worth another try.

Thanks again for your feed back. Keep it coming and I will let you know what I can come up with also.
Have a blessed week!

Ok, I just read this more carefully and see you are looking for more 'physical' activities! Our sons are super-active! Here are some of the things they do...

Mini-basketball hoops in basement, 2 mounted to the wall
Outdoor above ground Intex pool
Exercise DVDs (I put exercise mats down on cement floor and mounted a big screen tv on wall with DVD/VCR player; this is where they do mini-basketball too)
Obstacle course outside (i.e. try to beat own person time, each one gets to set up part of it - they get silly with it to have fun ; i.e. put bat on ground, put forehead it and spin around 10 times, pick up a nerf gun and try to shoot a target so many times, run around the trees, do 5 push-ups, lay noodles out and do football quick toes to get through as quick as possible, dive in pool/throw ball in bucket, pick up baseball bat to hit a baseball across the yard continuously to get into a bucket, back to nerf gun station and throw a frisbee at target until they hit it; pick up football and have to hit 3 targets, etc., to across finish line)
Note: 1 person runs the timer, 1 person throws back frisbee if missed and helps gather things to keep it flowing, while 1 runs the course
Outdoor basketball hoop
Water balloon fights
Water crayon shooters hitting targets or each other
Building huge snow fort
sledding down big hill
football toss game
bean bag toss game
bowling
park day, this is usually with the cousins and my brother-in-law
outdoor nerf guns target shooting (someone sets up water bottles, etc. at different heights)
sleds pulled behind 3-wheelers through snow in winter
swimming lessons in the winter
volleyball net between 2 trees
activity table downstairs (i.e. foosball, air hockey, ping pong, etc.)
walk the dog, pet the cats
throw the football around, tackle football
1 pitches baseball, 1 hits, 1 fields balls
yard calisthenics to get ready for deer hunting season (where they walk LOTS of miles in a day); run around the yard 5 times, 25 jumping jacks, 10 push-ups, 25 sit-ups, run around the yard, etc.); they can take turns leading the exercises, the order, and the amount of what is done for each
Build huge forts in the basement with tents/blankets/etc. and 'camp' or have in the dark nerf gun fights
fishing and hunting with my dh
We're thinking about training for a 5K together. I might wait until our youngest is a little older though.

We've had a lot of fun trying to be 'healthy' in the kitchen! Smoothies, juicers, raspberry lemonade, making own popcorn with whirly pop, etc. As well as not as healthy (i.e. they make a big cookie together or other desserts). We have picnic style breakfast one day a week, where Wyatt makes homemade donuts in our little donut maker, and Riley makes homemade smoothies. We throw a picnic blanket down and all each together on it in the living room on the floor. Everyone loves this!

Well, those are some ideas! I hope something helps!
In Christ,
Julie

Thanks Julie!

I require our boys to play outside daily after lunch for an hour. They split the time typically into two 30-minute segments. Since we have 4 boys that means each boy gets to choose what to do for a 30 minute outdoor segment every other day. If you have three kiddos, you could do three 20-minute segments instead, where each child gets to choose what to do for 20 minutes of the recess.

Since we live in town, our boys have more limited space. They like to scooter and bike around the cul-de-sac, throw Ogo-discs in the backyard (which work like frisbees but float much easier), play badminton, hit a tennis ball back and forth on the driveway, play catch with the baseball, play hotbox, throw the football, play football two-hand touch mini-games, play mini-soccer games in our backyard, play nerf gun wars, bump and set the volleyball around, swim in our above ground pool in the summer with games they make up (even though it's just an Intek pool they all can get in it and swim daily in the summer), etc.

We only go to the park once a week with the cousins. In the summer, my husband also takes the older boys (and older cousins) to the basketball courts to play basketball at 6:30 or 7 in the morning before work/school begins. Otherwise, our boys do all their recesses right in our front or backyard. They have learned to be creative with their time and their space, as they realize this is something they are required to do daily. I also require them to be moving for recess. So, no one gets to spend recess just sitting around.

In the winter, they build snow forts, have snow ball fights, and slide on their sleds right in our yard. Our yard is flat, so sledding across the yard is truly hard work!!

As you can see, we do fairly normal routine things, yet the boys get outside daily and get needed fresh air and exercise. With my older sons being 20 and 17, it is easier now to have outdoor time (as they can keep an eye on the other boys without me having to go outside with them daily). It is good for the older boys too to get fresh air and exercise and to spend time with their brothers. My oldest still chooses to keep up this daily "recess" time simply because he feels it is so good for him.

Of course, there are issues and arguments that arise at recess, and my oldest son sorts many of them out. Sometimes my kiddos are hard-pressed to decide what to do at recess, and then I have to intervene and make some suggestions. We do have to have discussions about attitudes and rules, but I try to look at those moments as character-training and problem-solving moments. When I taught in the public school, we had recess issues and arguments daily. Learning good sportsmanship can be a definite challenge no matter when or how you try to learn it!

For boys, however, the benefits of recess outweigh the challenges as it is imperative for them to run off energy daily (even for those of my boys who would prefer to stay inside)!

Since you have a couple of girls, I will share that my sisters and I used to spend much time hitting a birdie back and forth with badminton racquets and counting how many hits we could get in a row before dropping the birdie. We also spent a ton of time bumping and setting a volleyball back and forth counting the number of times we could hit it before it landed on the ground. We played croquet a lot and really enjoyed it. My dad also pounded a wooden beam into the ground horizontally on short wooden supports as a balance beam. It wasn't very high off the ground, actually only 6 inches or so - maybe even less - and we spent much time walking back and forth on it, trying tricks and handstands on it and even practice cartwheeling on it. We spent a ton of time cartwheeling, doing round-offs, and practicing handstands. Other things like horseshoe toss, beanbag toss, ring toss, jazzminton, lawn darts, or bocce balls might be something to try too. The Ogo-discs I mentioned earlier are great frisbee-like games. My sisters and I also had hula-hoops that we actually practiced enough to get pretty good at using. My younger sister could spin it around her knees and even her ankles for long periods of time! We used to count how many rotations we made before the hula hoop landed on the ground, and then try to beat our own personal best number. It seems we counted everything!!

Anyway, just a few ideas to get you thinking of possibilities. In fact, this thread has gotten me thinking of some new ways to spice up our outdoor play. I think I may be looking for a bocce ball or croquet set now too.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you Carrie! The ideas really help. Sometimes I just need to change things up.

I am in the process of putting things together and hope to post an update soon.

thanks for the ideas from everyone! Keep them coming.
Stacey

Well along with these other ideas I wanted to share a game my kids made up.

It is called Chicken Run and it is played in the dark. The idea comes from the movie "Chicken run"

1. One person is Mr. or Mrs. Tweetie, then everyone else is a chicken.
2. Mr. or Mrs. Tweetie hide a light up object (we use an electric candle)
3. The chickens need to find the hidden object by sneaking out of the "coop" and return it to the "coop" with out getting caught.
4. Mr or Mrs Tweetie are on patrol trying to catch any escaping chickens (they get to use a flash light,but the chickens don't) and if they find a chicken missing they begin searching around for them. If the chicken is caught they go to jail for a small amount of time (30 seconds) and they have to return to "coop" before they escape again.

5. Who ever brings back the light up object gets to be Mr. or Mrs. Tweetie.

You can add your own twist to the game....it is made up!

Another game we have played at church is "Human Stratego" It also is in the dark. It is a fun and wild game, but you need a few more people. So a church group is a good number.

Just wanted to share.
Stacey

My older boys also have a designated 30 min. indoor "playtime" with each of my younger sons daily. During this time they often play board games or card games. That might be something that would work for your girls to do with your son. We alternate by day as to who picks what to do do for indoor playtime.

Blessings,
Carrie

Ok ladies I have a list of stuff we are going to work towards getting together.

Outside:
A net for volleyball/badminton and some nets for a mini-soccer game.
Ogo discs
Spike/slamo ball game
a new nerf football
We have a playground ball, basketball, baseballs, hula hoops. So hopefully adding to our outdoor stuff will get them thinking. We also played the other day with a large white foam plane and had a lot of fun doing loops and seeing how far it would glide. I want to get a new kite also.

Inside:
We have games/board games
legos
marble run
So I will look to adding stuff to our "busy box" like paper airplanes, gravity maze, puzzles or some new building kits.
We have Ivans hinge and the globe puzzle, Qubits, Hyper slide, rush hour.
I need to encourage them to find things to do together also.

My implementation is not very good. Here is a funny. We just had my grandmas 90th birthday party and got some balloons. That is all you need is a bunch of balloons.
Oh a beach ball too.

Sometimes I over think things.

Thanks for everyone sharing your ideas with me. Keep it going.
Have a blessed week!

Those are wonderful ideas! I have enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts. Another thing about independent play is, for my kids, less is more. We have so many toys, but there are only a few sets of things they play with a lot. Legos, American Girl dolls and the clothes and things, dress up clothes (stick horses, swords, etc), baby dolls, wooden train set with trains, and the kitchen stuff (which is often used for "restaurant" or "store"). I have practically gotten rid of everything else. For outside it's bikes, scooters, jump ropes (which get used to drag things more often than to jump), and balls.

When we have more toys and "stuff" around, the kids can't find anything and can't figure out what to do. When we have less stuff, and the stuff we have is nicer and encourages imaginative play, they play more and enjoy the things more. I'm sure you guys probably already know this too, veteran moms as you are. I just thought I'd share, as this is something that for me is a new thing I am learning.

Melissa,

Thanks for your thoughts. I agree having too many toys can just make a mess and not really help them play well. I will get a few "new" things because some of our outside stuff has started falling apart. I am really enjoying all the ideas. I can get stuck doing the same things and need to change things up.

Thanks,
Stacey