Get the whole family out into the garden or the local park

Get families active

Top Ten Tips to …Get Families Active

Being active is fun for all the family. Research shows that children whose parents are active are more than 5 times as likely to be active than those whose parents are not. It also shows that active families communicate better.

Below are some ideas that will give you info about how to get started.

1. Use your garden as a home gym for all the family.Gardening activities such as digging and raking can help you work up a sweat as well as being a past-time.
2. Invest in simple, inexpensive equipment. Frisbees, skipping ropes and balls can give endless hours of outdoor fun in your garden or park. Outdoor play enhances a child's natural exploratory tendencies and is essential to ensure that both children and parents get that vital bone development vitamin - Vitamin D. See Get Children Active for more ideas.
3. Make it Routine! Leave the car at home and try walking or cycling for everyday trips such as to the shops and friends houses.
4. Beat the school traffic through active travel! If you live near your school why not try walking or cycling some days. Even simply parking a little bit further from the school gates will ensure extra valuable steps, plus you’ll probably end up passing the queues! Why not use this checklist to see how walkable or bikable your area is. You can also view more information in the Get Active Your Way Booklet.
5. Get active on your holidays! Many attractions all over the country can help you get active, beautiful beaches are not only great for swimming they are great for walking  and or playing  frisbee, ball games or kite-flying. Adventure parks and waterworlds are great fun for all the family.
6. Plan an active family day trip! Pack the car with some balls and kites and head to one of the many beautiful parks, beaches or forest trails. Many have picnic tables so why not bring some healthy snacks too. Check family activities on the event page.

7. Family fun indoors!Bring out the disco diva in your family and turn on some tunes that the whole family can get moving to. You can also enjoy some games from your youth!

   • Ball Games
   • Rhyming Games
   • Running Games
   • Skipping Games
   • All Games
8. Turn household jobs into a competition. Household activities such as hoovering and washing floors can burn up a lot of energy so why not encourage your children to help you. Add an element of competition and everyone will be racing for the mop.
9. Rainy Day Activities! Don’t let the rain stop you from getting active. Blow up some balloons and use indoors as if they were volleyballs, dust off your old Twister game or play treasure hunt ensuring clues are hidden across the whole house. You can also look at the advanced search feature for indoor family activities or have a look at some of these ideas from little steps
10. Take up an activity or join a club together! Find out what clubs are in your area and discuss with your family what activities you might like to take up.

If a member of your family has a disability, the benefits of participating in regular physical activity are the same and many exciting opportunities exist to participate in sports and physical activity. For further information contact your local sports partnership sports inclusion disability officer or the CARA National Adapted Physical Activity Centre.