How to Motivate Your Child to Exercise

Kids are naturally active, but that doesn't mean they enjoy regular exercise, especially when it falls outside free play. Physical activity must be fun and engaging to encourage your child to exercise!

Kids who participate in organized sports or other physical activities like dance, cheer, martial arts, or marching band already get some much-needed exercise. However, motivating kids who'd rather spend their time playing video games than outside is challenging.

But, engaging your child in an active lifestyle when they're young, sows the seeds of lifelong habits that will help them maintain a healthy weight and benefit their overall well-being.

This article provides parents tips to encourage more physical activity in their child's day and ways to boost their child's enthusiasm about exercise.

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Why Doesn't My Child Want to Exercise?

Most children aren't concerned about their physical health and don't understand the benefits of nutritious food and regular exercise. To create a strong foundation for physical fitness, adults should talk to children about the importance of physical activity.

Children want to play, so if you can make exercise fun for your child, their motivation will increase. Plus, once children understand why exercise is essential, incorporating physical activity will be easier!

Additionally, because we live in a digital age, many kids would rather watch television or play on their devices than participate in other activities. Parents may need to get creative to get their kids involved in active play and away from electronics.

Your child may also avoid fitness activities because they don't enjoy what they are doing. For example, if you tell your kid to go for a walk every day but they dislike walking, they'll resist. So instead, try to figure out what interests them, and maybe you'll try some new activities too!

How to Motivate My Child to Exercise

Motivating children to exercise isn’t always easy, but we have some great tips on what you can do to increase their interest. Chief among these ideas is making exercise fun and something you do together. Children are influenced by what they see their parents do and say, so if you are struggling to motivate your little one, it’s time to jump in yourself and get active! 

Make physical activity a family activity

Go for a family walk, try bowling, mini golf, or a family bike ride. A thirty-minute dance party with your kids is a sneaky and entertaining way to get the whole family moving.

When the whole family plays, everyone stays healthy!

Focus on fun physical activities

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that children three to five remain active throughout the day. Children five through seventeen should engage in one hour of aerobic physical activity daily and muscle and bone strength training activities thrice weekly.

Parents should make exercise fun to encourage their child to meet this daily physical activity goal. Talk to your kids about what activities interest them. Your child may be interested in joining the school basketball team or learning about rock climbing, but you'll never know until you ask!

For little ones, dance parties, trips to local playgrounds, swimming classes, and active games like tag, Red Light, Green Light, or freeze dance are excellent ways to get your child active.

How Joon Can Help 

Joon is designed to promote independence, increase attention span, and improve task completion through gamification. If you struggle to get your child to exercise at least one hour per day, make Joon part of your daily routine by creating exercise goals!

Joon encourages children with ADHD to focus on specific activities by rewarding task completion. This process will build positive habits, create active kids, and promote a healthy lifestyle. Claim your 7-day free trial here.

Use competition

Kids love competition. So, challenge your child to a race on the monkey bars or your teen to see who can do the most push-ups.

Take family game night outside and play horseshoes, badminton, or corn hole. Evening batting a balloon around to see who can keep it in the air the longest increases your child's physical skills. There are many unique and creative ways to get your children's bodies movie!

Keep it Positive

Children respond better to positive interactions and words than negative ones. And unfortunately, it's easy for children to develop a negative body image or an unhealthy relationship with food.

Base discussions on your child's age and instead discuss the benefits of exercise and healthy eating over the adverse side effects.

Avoid phrases like "bad food," "fat," and "unhealthy" and instead teach them the good that regular physical activity and nutritious food provide! Discussing the positive will encourage your child to try new activities and foods.

Be a healthy habits role model

If you want your child to exercise, you must set an example of being physically fit. If you spend your free time watching tv, you can't expect your kids to engage in vigorous-intensity aerobic activity.

Something as simple as walking daily shows your kids you're interested in your health and fitness. Then prepare healthy meals, and let your kids see you exercise and sweat! Making your health a priority demonstrates a lifelong habit your kids will want to emulate.

Limit screen time to keep your child physically active

If your child is older or a teen and is resisting exercise in preference of screen time, it might be time to put time limits on TV and other screen time.

There are many ways parents can limit screen time. For example, some devices automatically turn off your wifi at a specific time, and you can also set limits on their devices to shut off when their daily or weekly limit is met.

To give your child some control over their life, allow them to choose when and how they use their screens. Create the understanding that when their time is up for the week, they will only receive additional minutes once the week starts over. 

Or, for a twist, allow them to earn additional device time for every thirty minutes of physical activity they engage in past their daily goal.

Make it a social activity

Some children are motivated by social activities like team sports or classes. Check with their school to see if any sports clubs or teams are available. School sports offer the bonus of giving your child time with their friends or ways to make new friends.