How can my toddler get more exercise at home?
During the day, my 2 year old and I are basically stuck at home w/o any transportation to go to the park or to a baby gym or anything. I try to keep her entertained as much as I can, but we always end up doing sedentary activities and she’s not getting any physical activity at all. What are some good ideas to incorporate fitness into our daily routine and how much exercise should she get?
Dancing is a good idea 
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education has set these exercise guidelines for healthy toddlers:
* Toddlers should get at least 30 minutes of daily structured physical activity (organized sports, a game of hide and seek, a walk down the block);
* Toddlers should get at least an hour and up to several hours of daily, unstructured physical activity (meaning they are amusing themselves, and mom is not directing or organizing the activity);
* Toddlers should not be still or sedentary (such as in front of the TV or playing a video game) for more than 60 minutes at a time, except when sleeping.
-Michael
March 10th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Dancing. Or you can just let her ride her tricycle around in circles in the living room. That’s what I did as a kid,because there was no park nearby us either.
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March 10th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Love the dancing idea. You can do a freeze dance kind of thing where she has to freeze when you stop the music. Are you in walking distance to the library? Or can you have someone drive you? They usually have kids movies/dvds for free. Some of which really get the kids moving. Does your 2 yr. old watch the Wiggles? That’s a great way to move and dance with your child. How about just taking a walk outside when it’s nice out. Getting fresh air and not being stuck inside is just as important as exercise.
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March 10th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
hi! Do you have a garden or driveway? She can ride her trike/scooter…if youhave an open space inside she can so that inside too…you dont need much room when they are this small. Also, just walk to the end of the street and back!
Mine loved gymnastics at this age- learning to do forward rolls etc and doing handstands on the sofa and leaping over them and using them as trampolines too! Mine never sat still really even whilst watching tv they would be jumping about, copying and dancing…playing hide and seek can get active, plus ‘tig’ and other fun games like that. It’s hard work for you too though and can drive you nuts! try and have fun!
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March 10th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Walk around the neighborhood. If you have a safe front/backyard play in it.Do exercises in the house. Jumping jacks, stretches, kid friendly yoga. Play dancing music, use ribbons, strips of cloth etc to dance around with
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March 10th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Obstacle courses are great, and it doesn’t take much. Make a path out of couch cushions to crawl or walk across. line up two scarfs, or whatever you have to make a sort of balance beam like path. A tunnel out of couch cushions to walk through. Any thing can be an obstacle course. We draw them on the driveway with chalk. A squiggly line to follow, circles to hop in, a long skinny rectangle for a balance beam. Demonstrate, and they will follow.
Races to clean up are good for you and her. Pick an item, like clothes or shoes (dog toys are big in our house), and go around picking them up as quick as you can. When your done see how many you each have, and declare a winner.
If you have a yard, take a ball out there and let them kick it around. They’ll get exercise chasing the ball and have fun.
Dancing can be great exercise and a lot of fun too. Going for walks is always good exercise.
As long as she isn’t like a bump on a log, she probably gets enough exercise. Most toddlers are constantly moving and exploring. Just walking is building their muscles. Make sure she doesn’t watch more than a half hour to an hour of tv a day, this will encourage her to get up and move.
Hope that helps
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March 10th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Build an obstacle course. Use pillows and couch cushions to crawl over. Maybe use the boxes diapers come in and open them up on both ends and she can crawl through them. Put some little couch pillows down and arrange them so she has to weave in and out through them while she is running. Put something down she has to jump over, and so on and so on.
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March 10th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
You can have her do a fun dancing type thing.Also you can go into the yard at play with her,make her run and skip and hop.Another thing i seen was an obstacle course which is a great idea!!Does she have any type of bike?If so then let her ride that around.If she’s into like the Wiggles or Barney or something let her watch more of that because there is a lot of dancing and singing.You could play like hide and go seek type thing where you hide some objects around the house and you help her find them and give her like a penny for everyone she finds.Also another think is the library.They usually have a lot of activities for the younger kids such as movies or just arts and crafts so if you’re within walking distance do that.
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March 10th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
ok i have a couple techniques
the rollrollroll
Put a blanket on the floor and have your toddler lie down on her back at one end and then roll to the other side of the blanket. You might have to help at first or demonstrate. Kids love to watch adults and then try to copy what they do! Roll to one side and then to the other! Or you can both start on the ends and roll toward each other so that you meet in the middle! Remember to count each time she rolls over and celebrate with some hi-5’s when she does it!
here another one’
Find a place on the rug or floor and put some masking tape down in the outline of a square. Next, have your toddler stand just outside the square and then tell her to jump inside the square! Then have her jump outside the square from standing inside. Again, start by showing her how to jump inside and jump outside ( or use a stuffed animal to show her how to do it.)
If you have a yoga mat or exercise mat, roll it out onto the floor/rug. Then have your toddler lie down on his back with his knees bent and his feet on the mat. Then have him stomp his feet up and down on the mat to make some noise. You can also put down some paper from a brown paper grocery bag so that your toddler can make more noise with his feet. Count to ten has he stomps up and down and celebrate with some tickling and giggles when you get to 10!
Each time you start some exercises, tell your toddler that it is "Exercise Time!" Soon, you’ll see that your toddler will ask to do exercises because they are so much fun! Start each activity/exercise by showing your toddler what you are going to do. Play some fun music while you do the exercises. Remember that the more fun you are having the more interested your toddler will be in what you are doing.)
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March 10th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Buy an indoor jungle gym climbing thing (my son had this for his girls and they played on it all day). Play some music and dance or exercise to music. I used to exercise to music and when the grand daughters were visiting………they also exercised to the music.
Children know when ‘enough is enough’….once she’s had enough ‘moving around’ … she will stop.
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March 10th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Dancing
Follow the Leader
Go for walks
Kick or roll a ball back and forth to each other
Buy a small trampoline with a safety net around it for her to jump on in the house or outside.
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March 10th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Get her a dance mat, one wear you put a video in the TV and she dances along and follows the moves on the TV.
A karaoke machine where she can put on a ’show’ and sing/dance for you.(for when she’s a little older)
Get her a mat and teach her how to do sommersaults.
Get her a small pool in the backyard, it wont keep her active very much, but she will have something to splash around in the summer.
Do you have a small swingset? Maybe get one. She can use it for a couple of years and it will keep her busy during the summer, spring and even fall. Depend on the swingset you buy, she’ll be able to hang on to the bars, swing, go down slides, hold on to ropes and more.
An inexpensive thing to do would be to buy her some chalk and let her draw on the sidewalk, then you can let her clean it up with the hose.
You could let her water the plants or help you garden.
You could buy her a mini basketball hoop for toddlers and start teaching her how to throw the ball and make it in the hoop.
During the summer days, go to the Dollar store when you are not busy and buy a bunch of waterguns so she can have something to do during the day. Give her a watergun and you could run around the yard, while she is chasing you and trying to get you wet.
Get her a sandbox and some sand art. http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?sr=1&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2254197&kw=sandbox&origkw=sandboxes&kwCatId=&view=all
Hope you find something to keep your little one busy and active!
Maybe everyday for a few minutes you could do some exercises with her and do things like 5 jumping jacks, 5 sit ups, etc and then reward her with a peice of fruit or somthing.
References :
http://www.toysrus.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=2255961
http://www.toysrus.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=3130027
http://www.toysrus.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=2255969
March 10th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Dancing is a good idea
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education has set these exercise guidelines for healthy toddlers:
* Toddlers should get at least 30 minutes of daily structured physical activity (organized sports, a game of hide and seek, a walk down the block);
* Toddlers should get at least an hour and up to several hours of daily, unstructured physical activity (meaning they are amusing themselves, and mom is not directing or organizing the activity);
* Toddlers should not be still or sedentary (such as in front of the TV or playing a video game) for more than 60 minutes at a time, except when sleeping.
-Michael
References :
http://www.free-toddlers-activity-and-discipline-guide.com/toddlers-activity-parent-child-development.html