In December, I had an insane amount of continuing education credits to finish because I had put the classes off…for two years. One of the classes I took was about exercise and kids. I was reminded that kids need a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity a day. While taking the class, I started to worry that my son wasn’t getting enough activity each day. As a result, I’ve been trying to focus on ensuring that he gets at least 30 - 60 minutes of activity each day.

My son gets some physical activity during recess – if they go outside. However, in Kansas, weather can be vicious in January. They’ve been doing a lot of their recess time inside, which means they are playing in the classroom – not running around on the playground.

Much to my son’s dismay, I’ve started making him exercise with me in my gym. Knowing he wasn’t crazy about the idea, I’ve been trying to come up with workouts that are fun and distracting. We just want to burn some energy! This is an alphabet workout we did recently, and it was a success! I spelled out “Happy Valentine’s Day, Finn.” He had to do the exercises associated with each letter!

After 10 minutes into our alphabet workout, the attitude shift was noteworthy! My less-than-enthusiastic son was giggling and racing me while we did jumping jacks.

If you want a fun, indoor activity you can do with your child, give this one a try. It requires no equipment, and you can do it in your living room.

We spelled out Happy Valentine’s Day, but you can use so many different words and phrases!