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Homeschool Physical Activity Ideas

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Keeping kids active while homeschooling can often be a challenge, but is so important! I have found, that doing it with your kids is the best way to make it happen. Plus, it can be so much fun! I want to share a few things we do in our family to keep active.

We played Triangle (instead of 4-square), since there were only 3 of us!
  • Walks or hikes outside
  • Bike rides
  • Go to local parks
  • Play outside games: kick ball, four square, T-ball/baseball, soccer, hopscotch
  • Turn on music and dance!
  • Playing classic games like Tag, Mother may I, Red light-Green light, Hide and Seek
  • Make homemade relay races- we set up various things- a mini trampoline, things to jump over and climb under, wagons to pull, etc. My kids love this and it is so simple to do.
  • There are lots of kids workout DVD’s that you can buy online
  • Classes- dance, gymnastics, city sports teams, swimming, etc.
  • Local races in the summer time
  • Wii games- dancing & sports ( I actually haven’t tried these, but have hear they are great.
  • Simple equipment like hula hoops and jump ropes can keep kids active for a long time. Teach them some of the old fashioned jump rope rhymes:

Candy, candy in a dish, how many pieces do you wish? One, Two, Three…

Cinderella dressed in yellow went downstairs to kiss her fellow. How many kisses did she give? One, Two, Three…

Remember these?? Or did you have some other favorites when you were a kid?

We have a fun little book called:Anna Banana: 101 Jump Rope Rhymes by Joanna Cole. My kids really love looking through it.

Another book that has been helpful is:The Ultimate Homeschool Physical Education Game Book, by Guy Bailey. It has some fun and simple ideas that can be done with kids with minimal equipment. Sometimes you need a little inspiration!

Another fun resource that I have found is Yoga Pretzels– 50 fun yoga Activities for Kids & Grownups. This has cards that you pull out and it teaches you how to do poses in really fun ways. We always really enjoy doing this together. My kids ask to do it a lot.

Invest in some simple equipment- hula hoops, jump ropes, balls- kick balls, soccer balls, baseballs, trampoline (or a mini one) swing sets- or a simple swing hanging from a tree. Small things make a big difference.

For Christmas, I sewed a hopscotch mat for my kids. I sewed the lines with ribbon and painted the numbers- but you could make a simple one by taping it out with masking tape on the floor. It’s a great winter activity!

Another thing that has been so wonderful for our family is a homeschool P.E. class that has been organized at our local recreation center. We meet weekly and they have some wonderful activities! Check with your local recreation center, maybe if there is enough interest, you could organize something like this as well. Or, if you want to do it on your own, contact other local homeschoolers and organize a class yourself.

What does your family do to stay active?

This post was originally posted at Latter-Day Homeschooling.

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6 Comments

  1. I am going to check out that yoga pretzels book!

    In nice weather it’s easy to ride bikes and play outside, but this time of year in the Northeast is cold. Yesterday we met some homeschool friends at a play place and the kids ran around for 4 hours!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog and letting me know about yours. I really enjoyed perusing your site!

  2. You have a great collection of resources here!! We actually own the Anna Banana book I think. My girls stay very active…they LOVE to play outside: biking, hiking, jump roping, helping with chores outside, etc.
    I was looking around your site, and I was very pleased to see the Burgess Book resources. I shared it with my daughters. I think we’ll be coming back to check it out some more.
    Thanks for linking with Favorite Resources 🙂

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