Activities to Keep Teens Active
So exercise has many benefits for our teens. But what if your kid doesn’t like team sports? I was way too shy and way too uncoordinated to go out for any of the sports teams when I was in high school. My parents could have forced me, but I would have been miserable. School sports just aren’t for everybody.
Or maybe your son plays football in the fall, but has nothing in the winter. My daughter has dance and gymnastics all year long, but my boys only play one sport each. One plays golf in the fall and the other plays soccer in the spring. Neither does anything in the winter, unless you call marathon Call of Duty playing a sport.
What else can tweens and teens do to stay active? Lots of things. What are their interests? Are they creative? Charitable? Shy? You don’t have to be an athlete to be active. You just need to get off the couch.
- Ride a bike.
- Get the neighborhood kids together for a game of baseball, football, or soccer. It’s more fun without coaches and umpires. And screaming parents in the stands.
- Head to the YMCA for a game a basketball.
- Go swimming.
- Go for a run. Too cold? Jump on the treadmill.
- Get a gym membership and workout there.
- Play a parent/child game of racquetball or tennis.
- Volunteer to coach little league sports.
- Like video games? Work out with the Wii Fit.
- Don’t want it to feel like a workout? Play Wii Sports. I always work up a sweat with the boxing and tennis.
- Go skateboarding or snowboarding.
- Go sledding. Maybe it’s because I’m older, but climbing back up that hill sure gives me a workout.
- Lace up some skates and go roller skating, roller blading, or ice skating.
- Take the dog for a walk.
- Don’t have a dog? Volunteer to walk to the dogs at the pound.
- Parent won’t chauffeur. Walk to the destination.
- Go for a hike.
- Participate in a photo walk.
- Get in the garden with a parent or grandparent.
- Help paint the house. Or your bedroom.
- Volunteer to help an elderly person around the house or spoon out food at a soup kitchen. It not only gets you off the couch but it also warms your heart.
- Paint a mural.
- Take a dance class.
- Embarrassed to dance in public? Turn the radio up really loud and dance in your living room.
What suggestions do you have to get kids active?
I’m glad you put ride a bike at the top of your list. I’m sure that wasn’t intentional but I’m going to take it at such.
From second grade through high school, I was car-free and managed to get everywhere I ever wanted by bike or by the grace of others. My overhead was low and I was happy. Just yesterday, I had to put a new radiator in and new rotors on my (paid-off, ten years old) car to the tune of $600.
One of the worst long-term decisions I ever made was adding a second car to our family. I’m positive if we only had one car we’d be just fine and healthier (both fiscally and physically). Some of the best advice I can give a teen is to delay a car purchase as long as possible. High schools are always within riding distance. Colleges, almost by their very nature, are bike friendly. Delaying the purchase of a car (and maybe even a driver’s license) will save *thousands* of dollars a year.
For a couple car payments, you can get a wonderful bike that’ll last you a decade or more. You’ll be in better shape and you will make better decisions. (More on that later. For now, just trust me.)
The web comic Yehuda Moon did a ‘bike to school‘ theme a few months ago. In that thread were these statistics…
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In 1969, 87% of students within one mile of school walked or biked.
In 2008, 15% of students within a mile of school walk or ride their bike to school.
Source: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Correlation doesn’t prove cause, of course, but in 1971, about 5% of children were obese. In 2002, 15% were obese. I imagine that by 2008, the obese figure would be higher.
The comic points out that many schools have actually banned children from riding bikes to school because it is too dangerous. Bike racks have been removed from school property to ‘keep kids safe’. That is insane! It also points out that the danger is not from the bikes but from the parents in the SUVs.
Parents: Buy your kid a nice bike (with a helmet). Do it today. While you’re at it, get yourself a nice bike.
—Matt