Currently, my kids are 5 and almost 7. They want to be picked up, carried, flung and thrown as much as ever.  When I sit them on top of my feet and “airplane” them like I did when they were just one-year old, they’d happily play until I couldn’t extend my legs anymore. I once played for 75 minutes —back and forth between them. I considered it my lower body workout for the day. When we finally stopped and I said I was going to make dinner, they begged me for more! I couldn’t believe it!

There is no end to the Parent Play Ground! Truly, no limits but your imagination and the stamina of everyone involved. 

Here are some games to start the fun:

-Be the limbo stick. Let your child quickly crawl underneath you while you lower or rise up out of a push-up. It’s pretty hilarious to “squash” them.

-Play “parent push-over.” Sit on the floor, engage your abs and lean back a little bit. Have your kids try to push you backwards while you resist.  When they “win”, roll backwards and then roll up and start again.  Think of “weebles wobble but they don’t fall down”.

-Try wheelbarrows together. 

-Be a bridge, in a plank on your back (hips lifted) and let the kids crawl under you and on top. Give them a ride as you raise and lower your hips, or do push-ups.

-Play “catch” and let them run toward you and leap into your arms. Feel free to swing them above your head or around in circles. I catch my kids mid torso rather than by their hands so I don’t hurt our wrists, elbows, shoulders and backs.

-Play “I’m gonna get you”  and then pick them up and kiss or tickle them. I can’t tell you how popular this is.

Stay tuned over the next few months for many games to play. I broke them into multiple posts so they’d be easier to digest, try and internalize. Be mindful of your back, wrists and neck while playing. It’s easy to get distracted playing with your kiddo and forget form. Oh, and don’t really squash your kid! Unless their tweens and up. Then it counts as wrestling (coming in parent playground #2).

“Fencing is like playing chess with your body at 100 miles per hour. In competition, the only thing that moves faster than a fencing sword is a speeding bullet,”  explains Carla Corbit, the head coach for Caltech’s Fencing Club.

How cool is that? Physical chess!  Size up an opponent, develop a plan of “attack” with speed and high technique, and an intense game is played with such focus, it’s almost a meditation.

There are three traditional weapons in fencing (foil, épée and saber) as well as the gear to protect you. There are many places that teach fencing, and classes range in age from children to adults.

Recently, my kids went to a Star Wars birthday party and were taught to joust with a balloon light saber. Is this how it starts? Is Star Wars a modern version of fencing?

Pantomime or for real, fencing will get your heart rate up, your reflexes revived, your mind sharpened and your body strong. Give it a try and see if physical chess is for you.  At the very least, when you practice with your kid(s), you’ll crack up with laughter (which is my favorite way to work my “core”).

How long can you hold a plank on a swing? What if the swing moves side to side? Front to back? Be sure your back and wrists stay in neutral.   Here are some ideas for more fun at the playground, and moves that are super effective. Compete with your kids, your friends, or yourself. One parent I know keeps track in his phone of how long he can hold a plank. Then he beats his number next time.

Try it the other way, with your feet on the swing.  Put both feet on the swing while your hands or forearms are planted on the ground.  Do moving tuck or pike crunches.  Or swing your legs side to side. Keep your feet up and do unstable push-ups.

Turn and hold a side plank with both feet on the swing, hand or forearm on the ground (relax your neck/throat).  How long can you hold this in proper position? Can you raise and lower your hips? It’s challenging which makes it super fun!

How will you get a great start on the New Year?

By Guest Family Fitness Mom Erica M.

Focus on Family Fitness is having a contest! We’ve learned about a fun hoola hoop & DVD program for kids – just in time for the holiday season.  Jr. Hooper Molly goes on a fun adventure to Hoolaville – a vibrant, funky village filled with super hooping creatures. Kids will play, laugh and hoop dance to original music.

Check out a clip of the video here. http://hoolamonsterkids.com/

Since we celebrate family fitness – especially with all the temptations around the holidays – we are having a giveaway sponsored by the Hoola Monsters. Share a photo of your crew in action and you could win the hoop & DVD kit for a healthy new year!

Use the holiday vacation to take pictures and try new healthy activities together.  Best photo wins! Send pictures to Kim@FocusOnFamilyFitness.com

Contest ends January 1st. Photos may be used on website.

What’s a fun and free fitness activity you can all play together over Thanksgiving? The middle school near my house has a public exercise circuit, Parcourse or fitness trail — you know, the ones with the metal posts showing exercises like in this picture, and sometimes there are benches or bars where people can do exercises.

VitaCourses (a brand name of exercise circuits), Parcourses, and/or fitness trails are all around the country, so wherever you are on Thanksgiving, you can find one near you. Kids have formalized playgrounds. VitaCourses are kind of formalized playgrounds for adults that kids can do, too. Go try it, it’s fun!

I used to push my daughter to the school in the stroller for my warm-up, then get her out of the stroller, and she would do the VitaCourse stations with me as a game. Now that she is older, she rides her bike to the track and challenges me to the circuit.

It’s easy to stand there and watch her play, so I remind myself that it’s more fun and healthier for both of us to move through the circuit. Her step-ups and push-ups are as hard for her as they are for me based on our weight and size. She thinks these are the most fun things in the world because we are doing it together. I’m not talking on my phone. I’m not checking email. I’m outside with her; we’re doing the exact same thing – making up crazy movements around the course, creating lasting memories for both of us. Oh, and we’re also getting a great work-out. Family fitness indeed!

Can’t find a circuit near you? Try some of these games over the holidays instead: active vacay, object race, hand slap plank game or scavenger hunt. Have a game or activity your family loves? Take a picture! Focus on Family Fitness has a contest coming up for the best active family photo.  Details are coming!

Tonight, with just a few hours notice from a peer (not me), several families showed up at a public city meeting to speak about how important our Family Fitness class is to them and their families. They were asking to be allowed to use a local park for classes.  Even two five-year-old children spoke in front of the board. One woman said she’d lost over 50 pounds taking my class twice a week and now her children were learning to love fitness from her role modeling.

I was moved to tears.

If ever there was a question that family fitness has an impact, I no longer wonder. Here is a photo of one of the five-year-olds speaking up.

I can list all the benefits of exercise. I can proselytize how important it is that families take time to have active play together. Or I can look at this picture and realize that kids get it. They understand family time; they understand how humans need movement. The positive and dramatic changes taking place each time a family focuses on fitness together is immeasurable.

One of my favorite sports is rock climbing. I love rock climbing so much that I named my cat after the carabiner used to connect me to the rope. When I climb up the rock, focused on where to put my foot next, the day’s stresses disappear. I get to the top (or not) and feel like I can solve any problem before me. Perhaps doing an actual gigantic physical puzzle makes everyday nuances easier.

I’ve discovered that all kids, of any age (1 to 108), gravitate toward climbing rocks. It doesn’t have to be an actual rock face that requires belays and harnesses; any pile of large rocks will do (even a big pile of hay, huge sand dunes  or super long stair cases do the trick). Walk a kid over to a pile of boulders and see what happens. Don’t stand there as a parent observing.  Have total engagement and climb too. Climb, scamper, scale, and clamber up the rocks. Get to the top and look around. Is your heart beating faster? Did you just have fun and forget everything else?

Try an official rock climbing class at a rock climbing studio or store like REI that offers weekend workshops. Don’t just climb indoors; get outside and try it, too. It’s different. Don’t use the excuse “I have no upper body strength” or climbing “is just for kids.” If you’re scared, that’s fine. Do it anyway! Be proud that not only did you try it, but also you role modeled being scared and going for it despite your fear.  As you ascend, you might just notice your mind soaring to new heights, too.

One of the things I love about where I live are my neighbors. Every year we have a block party and close off the street so the kids can run around, have a bike obstacle course, jump rope, hopscotch, and play basketball. The kids favorite activity is the massive water balloon fight that the parents spend 2 hours preparing and cleaning up, even though the actual balloon fight and chase is about 30 minutes. It’s the highlight of the day for the kids, and joke for the parents that the prep takes so much longer that the actual game.

All the neighbors come out, bring food and random toys in their garages. This year, someone brought out a toy that I liked just because of it’s name, “Zoingo Boingo”.  Say that ten times fast.

It’s a simple toy, kind of like an easier pogo stick. And it’s fun. Any age and ability can do it. Just bounce, bounce, bounce, all the way down the sidewalk. Think of it as a mini trampoline you can jump around town on. No prep, no clean-up, just healthy, springy fun, family fitness. Yes, please!

I’m tired. I don’t know if I know anyone who isn’t. Maybe it’s the news; maybe it’s the endless dishes; or laundry that grows like a amorphous blob, but I’m tired. September is National Yoga Month. Seems like a good time for some restoration, relaxation, and Child’s Pose among the back-to-school chaos.

I like yoga. I’m not a crazy-over-the-top fanatic like some Yogi’s I know, but I respect it as an ancient practice that brings incredible mind-body awareness, inner and outer strength and peace, and a discipline that improves over time.

I don’t want one more thing to do. I do want high quality time with my family that doesn’t involve technology, that does involve health and fitness, and is interesting and challenging for us all.

Recently, I borrowed some yoga books from the library. I was already doing some basic poses with my children but, since they are four and six, the visual books was helpful. Plus the provocation was coming from the book rather than Mom.

Going to the library can feel like one more thing though, and the point is simple. Easy. Soothing and refreshing. There are tons of websites that detail yoga poses, but to start, pick one or two. Make it your pose. Have your kids find their favorite. Kids usually  love downward dog. My children love tree pose, but pretend there is fruit on the tree. They like to do their own variations. There are books for young toddlers, and books for teens. I like The Girls Yoga Book by Michaela Caldwell by for Tween Girls.

Do it after school when you haven’t quite moved into an activity. Try it while the toast is browning for snack. Try it daily or whenever the mood strikes. Just, well, as the saying goes, just do it.

Imagine if the whole world was taught from a young age a go-to exercise we did for calming and comfort, for settling our mind and strengthening our bodies.  Imagine if that same exercise was our go-to quick exercise for our whole life. Perhaps the news wouldn’t be as depressing. Perhaps resolution would be found in other ways. Many people have seen this video of the man who can’t walk without the help of crutches, who practices yoga, and then… watch it here if you haven’t seen it. Start practicing yoga. Like all exercise, it’s a great use of time.

I can’t help it — the back of my mind is always thinking of new ways to inspire people and families to exercise. I also have a quiet love affair with TED talks, and watched one recently about how if the five senses are incorporated into product design, the product is much more effective. (This talk is meant for adults.) See it here.

It started me thinking about how exercise can incorporate the five senses, and can easily be a top experience of our day or week. Think about a fall hike in the woods after a light rain. How does it effect our five senses?  A scenic hike is incredibly fulfilling visually. After a rain, the wet earth smells fantastic, the crunchy leaves beneath feet are full of sound, the feel of the your body exercising and sweating goes from our head to our feet, and the cold water and snack mid-hike taste refreshing. All five senses stimulated in a simple, free mountain hike. How about a bike ride/skate board to a local coffee shop?

Even an aerobics class can stimulate our fives senses to different degrees. Our hearing, vision and touch senses are all high. Smell, well, hopefully that’s the sense least stimulated, unless the drink you are hydrating with has a good smell. Taste? That water bottle hits the spot. When I taught spin class last week, I brought them all chocolate. All five senses activated and great fun.

While not every sport can rouse all five senses perfectly, the more senses involved, the more pleasurable the experience. And all this doesn’t even take into account the incredible bonding time with your friends and family, the conversations, the feeling of playing on a team, the endorphins from movement, and the thrill of a new sport or winning a game!