Staying physically active during the pandemic has been a struggle for many of us. Gyms are shut down, bikes are sold out; even strolling through a park seemed like too much of a gamble for a while. But I have seen how it has been especially hard for the tweens who suddenly lost all their team sports, their recess kickball games, their dance classes and their walks to and from school. They’re no longer so young that they’re bursting with that special little kid energy that sends them climbing all over everything, but they’re probably not yet at an age where they want to be intentional about getting regular exercise.
When my 9-year-old son’s school closed in March, I mapped out a daily schedule that included a mix of reading time, classwork time, playtime and breaks. But I didn’t think strategically enough about what those “breaks” would entail, and more often than not, they were spent in front of the TV. Which was quite fine with me at that point, because we were all in survival mode, and too much screen time was the least of my worries. But as time seemed to slow down, our bodies did, too.
It’s not that we haven’t made an effort to move around as a family since schools and camps and team sports all shut down—we’ve taken lots of walks and bike rides over these past five months. But we haven’t been consistent about it, nor is it enough exercise for a child who would have spent his summer at basketball and soccer camps, who would have swam for hours in public pools and played laser tag in his best friend’s backyard. He actually told me the other day that he needs soccer to start up again because soccer makes him strong and he doesn’t feel strong anymore.
Regular exercise is important for all of us (pandemic or not, kids ages 6 and up should be active for at least an hour per day). But I’m at a bit of a loss about how to help him get moving in a way that is fun for him to do on his own (or with a parent). At nearly 10 years old, he is too old for all the best little-kid-energy-busting activities I can think of, from mini-trampolines, to hopper balls, to inflatable bounce houses, to Go Noodle.
But the start of the school year is a clean slate, a moment in which we can set a new routine and develop new habits. If your tween is starting out with virtual learning this fall (or on a hybrid schedule, or you’re fully expecting that they will be virtual at some point), what will “recess” look like in your home? Are you investing in a Ring Fit Adventure for the Nintendo Switch? Teaching them to play tennis with you? Signing up for virtual dance or karate classes?
Tell us: How will you help your tweens stay active this fall?
