No matter the place or country, COVID-19 has impacted all people in many aspects of their
daily life. The two most severe aspects that COVID-19 has affected is health, forcing people
to adapt frequent sanitization cleaning rituals and using a face mask to go everywhere, and of
course, the social aspect, where many people had been isolated from their social cycles to
protect themselves and others from potentially spreading the virus. The extended period
where people had to remain at home had also become a testing trial for physical exercising,
which many people unfortunately abandoned and chosen a sedentary way of living instead. This
way of living has also passed to the children, which their parents often found difficult to
embark in activities due to their increased work overload from home, making them resort to
the easiest strategy of “leaving kids in front of a screen while adults work and clean the
house”. While this lifestyle might be tolerable in adults, who still present important
health issues, kids are in high danger of developing all sorts of cardiovascular diseases and
obesity if they do not keep an active lifestyle.
An exciting way of encouraging children to follow a healthy lifestyle, as far away from
screens as possible, is to camouflage excessing into fun activities. Children are much more
prone to adopt a behavior if they are exposed to it with a positive method that also involves
them in the learning process.
Hence, we propose the following activities and measures to introduce children into a healthier
lifestyle:
- Introduce a reward-based system: Kids (and adults too) love get the feeling of
accomplishment. Focusing on small, easy-to-achieve victories is a key method of boosting
children’s social competences and their overall confidence. Hence, an effective method to
motivate kids is to start a point system with them. For each activity they will accomplish (eg.
cleaning after themselves), they can get some symbolic reward points. These points can be
exchanged for various gifts, from excursions to the park to a new toy. Of course, this point
system can include activities related to physical exercise. If for example, the children will
take a walk to the park, or take some time to practice sports with parents instead of dwelling
into a television, it will be able to collect points. This method will most likely make children
more willing to explore new possibilities and urge them to try different sports
- Try out as many different sports as possible: Sports are vital for the solid growth of
children, both in terms of body and of social skills. Because not every sport will fit for every
child, it is important to invest a trial period in different sports so that the child will find the
most suitable sport. It is important to try different categories of sports, like team sports
(volleyball, basketball, etc) or individual sports (tennis, kick boxing, etc.), and also water
sports too (polo, swimming, etc.). To make the trial period more interesting and engaging for
the child, the previous method of rewarding can be a potent tool from the parent’s side.
- Play games with them!: There is not a most intimate thing to do with children than to be
on their spot and have fun together. Try interacting and playing games with them that involve
physical movement, like hide and seek or tag. As simple as they seem, children will love
them and will greatly appreciate the fact that their parents took time to organize them. Either
on home or at a park, such games not only reinforce the physical prowess of children but alsothey greatly strengthen the bond between the family members. To draw aspiration for moreactivities to organize with children, you can visit this page. https://www.familyfuntwincities.com/physical-activities-for-kids/
- Handicraft time!: Other than sports and exercise, children must also develop their
creativity and thin muscles through the practice of handcrafting. There are numerous online
pages offering easy to apply handcraft ideas for little to zero price and with a click of the
mouse you can find even more. This idea also sensitizes children with reusing material that
would be thrown away in other circumstances. For instance, instead of buying a pencilcase,
you can create one together from old plastic bottles.These activities are just a glimpse of what the children are capable of doing. Experiment with them and engage them into various leisure time activities to enhance their physical and mental growth. This is the secret for raising kids that will become responsible and active persons as they grow up. And of course, remember to turn everything into a game; because children love to play!
https://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g4988/easy-crafts-for-kids/
Vasilis Rafail, IASIS NGO
