Staying Active in the School Holidays

How to stay active in the school holidays

Staying active in the school holidays……..let’s be honest – it can be hard to maintain any routine let alone an exercise routine in the school holidays! This is especially challenging if having your children at-home creates additional location, time restrictions and potentially financial restrictions.

If you are finding your exercise options are limited, it might be time to get a little creative with how you approach your exercise – in this article I am looking at simple solutions for busy families.

Planning ‘active’ activities

Look for activities that involve movement that the whole family can join in on.

You might like to go to the oval and kick around a ball or play some cricket. If everyone is old enough (or you have a bike to accommodate any little ones), go for a family bike ride and take a picnic along.

Don’t forget that even gentle movement is better than none. If you’re feeling a bit tired, head to a local farmer’s market or walk around the local park/lake. Every step counts!

Look for weather-friendly activity options

Weather can be unpredictable at the best of times. This can make things difficult if you don’t prepare for every eventuality. Get proactive and come up with some alternatives to your favourite activities if the weather does turn. To give you some ideas:

• If the weather is too cold/windy – head to a heated swimming pool or indoor activity centre like bowling or flip out. Alternatively, turn your loungeroom into an obstacle course for you to race against the kids.
• If the weather is too hot/humid – you can head to the beach or pool in the morning, or set up some low impact activities on the deck or patio. Alternatively, do your favourite outdoor activities early in the morning while it’s still reasonably cool, and make sure everyone has a big drink of water afterwards.
• If it’s raining – have a dance party at home! Pop on a YouTube video (Just Dance has some great ones), and get everyone moving their bodies together.

Make it a game

Keep it fun and playful – kids learn so much with games and adults could learn a lot through active playing too. There’s also a pretty good chance that your kids will love to compete. Plus there is nothing more enticing than the thought of beating Mum! Make up some competitions or races that ‘test’ different forms of fitness or skills, and keep track of all of your results so you can celebrate your progress. If your kids enjoy running, check out your local ParkRun location and take them along for a 5km jog(or walk/jog).

Remember – any movement is better than no movement at all!

~ Nikki

It is normal to feel like you aren’t getting a good workout because it isn’t your usual exercise routine. It is important to be aware that any movement is better than no movement at all and your body (and mind) could actually thrive from the change in activities and routine – variety is the spice of life after all! Here for a 5 minute workout that I have created for you, based around the concept of any movement is better then no movement at all.