3 Creative Ways to Incorporate Physical Literacy Into Your Family Routine

It's no secret that keeping kids active is essential. It's also well known that there are many influences on our children's physical activity. Parents can teach a love of physical activity and help kids fit it into their everyday lives. You may not know that for every additional 20 minutes of MVPA by parents; kids accumulate an additional 5 minutes. 

At the Champions for Life Foundation, we look at physical activity through the lens of building physical literacy and improving our movement skills in various environments. By definition, physical literacy is the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life. 

If you're looking for ways to help your children improve their moves, here are three ways to incorporate more physical literacy into your family routine. These enjoyable efforts will help shape your children into becoming more confident movers. That's a win-win if you ask us!

Try a new sport together

Most people don't start as experts when they try a new skill. Your kids may catch on quickly, but they'll also likely struggle. This may frustrate them, but if you start this journey together, you can get better together. If you've never played tennis before, pick up some racquets and a few balls and hit the courts together. Don't have access to a tennis court? Try doing yoga together at home. Other fun sports activities are dance, basketball or water polo. Try and set a specific day and time each week to practice this new skill together. There is no better way to support your child in learning something new than to do it alongside them!

Get out for a family walk

You can make going for a walk with the family part of your routine. Children need 60 minutes of MVPA daily, and heading out after dinner for a walk is just one of the many ways to achieve it. Worried that your children won't be too enthused with the idea? Turn it into a game. Add an "I-SPY" game element to help keep kids interested, or incorporate a scavenger hunt into your stroll (see below). Still, trying to convince your kids to go for a family walk? Make the end destination a local ice cream shop. Additionally, try to make this a technology-free walk. This incentive applies to you too, parents!

Host an Olympic-themed day

Have each family member pick a country to represent. Choose 5 or 6 activities and head out to the backyard! This blog post has tons of fun games to choose from. Keep track of points as you play the various activities; you can even have a medal ceremony at the end of the day's events. This is an easy way to motivate kids to move, practice their skills and spend quality time with them. Alternatively, invite another family over and play as teams (while maintaining an appropriate social distance, of course!) in the yard.

The family unit dramatically impacts the movement and physical activity behaviours of children. As parents and family members, it is important to model healthy attitudes, which include positive attitudes toward physical activity. Since more families are spending time at home this summer than ever before, why not add some physical literacy challenges to your daily routine? The quality time and active play are sure to benefit the whole family!

Curious to learn more? Visit our website and our social media for more fun resources!

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