Exercise for kids of all ages!

My son has been my biggest cheerleader since I've started my journey to healthy living. He will run alongside me when I am using my EA SPORTS active and help deepen my stretches when I am doing a yoga workout (by sitting on my back - good thing I'm flexible!). When we run outside he encourages me to go faster from his throne (the jogging stroller) And every time I finish exercising he claps and says "yea, Mommy, good job!"

He is already learning that regular exercise is important and I'm glad to set an example for him but I also want him to get exercise that is geared for him so here are a few things that we've tried out.

My Gym is a fitness center for children from 6 months t- 13 that offers weekly classes to help keep kids in shape. They are located all over the country and have recently released a DVD for at home fitness for children ages 6 months to 3 years. The DVD is a series of workouts led by Miss Monique and she demonstrates each move with a child, this is interactive exercise and both parent and child participate. Mekhi and I tried the workouts and although we had fun, in my opinion this DVD is bested suited for children 2 and under. I really recommend it for this age group as a fun introduction to exercise.

Sid the Science Kid is a television show that airs on PBS that my son loves. In the book "Everybody Move Your Feet" Sid learns the importance of exercising and realizes that there are things to do beyond watch television all weekend. He explores the concept of exercising for health and fitness and shares his knowledge with his classmates. This book is a hit with Mekhi, it is geared toward the pre-school set and he completely relates to the characters and understands the concepts. This book reinforces the lessons that I teach him about exercise by example.

Hip-Hop baby is a series of DVDs that teach young children concepts like counting and ABCs by using hip-hop. My son has been a fan for well over a year of Hip Hop baby so when they released Hip Hop dance class we had to try it out. This DVD is fun, all of the dance steps are broken own into easy movements and it is appropriate for ages 5 and up. My son and I did the DVD and although he didn't get the choreography, he did jump around to the music and do his verison of dancing, so he certainly exercised with the DVD.

Since it is summer I like to get Mekhi outside to exercise. His Backyard Safari gear puts him in ther mood to run around the yard in search of new adventures. He is wearing his safari jacket and playing with his working periscope and bug catcher. He really enjoyed searching for bugs and the vacuum pulls bugs in for closer observation under the internal magnifying glass. When he is finished looking, the nozzle is easily detached so that our bug friends can go free.

While Mekhi explored the wilds of our backyard, I sat in the shade watching him run around while I tried to keep cool in the Georgia heat. Mekhi got his exercise in without even realizing it, if I could bottle up the energy of my three year old and sell it, I'm sure I'd be a billionaire.

Encouraging exercise for children is especially important considering physical fitness classes are being cut from the budgets of many schools. By providing children with the tools to enjoy exercise at home at an early age, we set the foundation for life long healthy living. Hopefully I've given you some ideas to help encourage your child to exercise too.


Disclosure: I recieved the above products for review and all of the opinions are 100% my own.