Winter Fitness

It's snowing out. The temps are dipping into the 20s (if you're lucky) and the kids are driving you crazy.... or at least mine is.Living in the colder regions of the US and homeschooling can sometimes be a daunting task. We are just getting used to the transfer - as this is our first cold season since moving from Southern California and Vegas.

It is said that kids need at least 60 minutes of activity a day. While it is harder when you are homeschooling to keep the kids (and yourself) active, it is entirely possible. Being creative with your time is very important as it is easy to get in a rut, especially if you are an unschooling or eclectic schooling family. Here are some ideas to get you and your kids out and about to fight off the winter cabin fever.

Sledding:

Remember sledding when you were a kid? You probably didn't think about it then, but going down the hill is fun... coming back up is a whole new area of aerobic exercise! You can burn up to 500 calories in 2 hours of sledding just by going up and down. If you have a younger child and a rope, you can also pull the along behind you just like a wagon and get some walking in. You can bet you will burn some calories, but you can also talk about velocity and science concepts as well!

The little ones can play too! They now have baby sleds like the Sledz Racer Jr which is light weight and has shock absorbers as well as two man sleds you can go down together on and pull them back up.


Snow Play:

Whether rolling up the balls for a snowman or running and dodging snowballs, you are bound to work up a sweat with your kids, and this also provides some great motor skill building! They have snowman kits as well which can customize the snowman or you can incorporate daily lessons in by making life size geometric shapes, forts, or letters!

Hiking:

Just because there is snow out, doesn't mean you can't hike... you just have to choose your hikes carefully as well as make sure you are bundled up. We have had some great hikes going and finding old bridges, frozen water falls, and animal prints in the snow.

Remember - just because it is cold, you still need water!