When spending all our time at home, we need to find ways to stay active inside that kids can enjoy and look forward to. These tips from April Frazier will help with that.

Embarking on a fitness journey with your child can come with a spectrum of responses depending on a child’s relationship with their body, fitness, and adults. When working with children, the most important ingredient is building a relationship of trust. One way to do this is to start the relationship of wellness by playfully meeting the child in what they are already doing and incorporating fitness, mindfulness, and wellness playfully wherever they are.

Below are some of my favorite ways to playfully introduce mindfulness and fitness to young people who are a bit more skeptical/resistant.

  1.  1) Music Meditation

    Children/Teens love to zone out with their headphones and listen to music. A way to introduce mindfulness is to invite a child to listen to the sound of one instrument within a song for 60 seconds. This is also a great way to build attention and focus.

  2. 2) Power posing

    Some children struggle with self confidence in their bodies or don’t feel strong which initially makes fitness intimidating. There’s lots of research on power posing: big poses of confidence one can take with the body to send messages of confidence to the brain. You can start by having children come up with their own power poses.

  3. 3) Mindful Snack

    To invite healthy eating into the family you can have a mindful eating guessing game. Have your child choose a healthy snack and ask the child specific questions using the senses (what does this food look like? What does it smell like? What does it feel like with your sense of touch?) Then you can guess what food the child has chosen. This helps bring awareness to eating and can support healthy eating habits

  4. 4) Family relays

    Bring fun and fitness into the family! Deep down, children want to feel connected in relationship with the adults around them and learn by example.  By playfully bringing family relays into fitness, children become more engaged when working on a family team

By April Frazier, Youth Yoga, Mindfulness and Fitness Teacher

To find out more about our customized in-home fitness programs, contact Bonita at Bonita@EnergeticJuniors.com, or call 212-879-1566. Currently offering virtual training.