When the weather is nice, I take Oliver outside at least once a day even if it's just for a walk to the mailbox. If we're cooped up from bad weather, I do a series of exercises with Oliver. He loves it! It not only gets him active, but it gives him a chance to show off his counting skills.
I choose what exercise we're going to do. He loves it when we punch. He punches his arms and counts each one to ten. We also raise our arms over our heads ten times, lift our knees ten times, squat ten times, and jog in place for ten seconds. The repetition of counting to ten over and over really helps get it ingrained. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if 8 month old Jo recognizes the sound of counting to ten.
I don't want exercise to be taboo for my kids. I want it to be something they feel comfortable doing, even if it's just for a few minutes a day. Besides, it's really good for me to make sure that I get my body moving a little bit every day, too. I like that Oliver has fun doing exercises with me.
Moving around and doing these type of simple exercises is easy, fun, educational, and free. This is the type of thing we can do when we're waiting in lines to keep Oliver occupied.
It's perfect, and so I give it a grade A.
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My two year old and I have made up our own exercise song. We chant it together and do the motions over and over until we're both winded....
"Jump like a kangaroo, jump like a kangaroo.
Wiggle like a wiggleworm, wiggle like a wiggleworm. (twist body)
March like a soldier, march like a soldier.
Tall like a giraffe, tall like a giraffe. (stretch above head)
Little like a mouse, little like a mouse. (squat low to ground)"
Since making up our routine, we sometimes add "stomp like an elephant", "swing like a monkey" and "pounce like a tiger." She loves animals, if you can't tell. :)
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