Ten Exercises You Can Do with Your Toddler (1 – 3 years old)

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toddler exercise

By: Katerina Tiapula

You have a toddler and toddle he does. Full of energy, these little tots are constantly on the move. They have a terribly short attention span and are never going towards one direction for long. Between the chasing, entertaining and basic care there is not much extra time for the personal workout.

Try adapting your workout to your new lifestyle.

You can achieve your fitness goals by working out with your child. You will also be showing your child that fitness is an important part of life for everyone.

So how do you incorporate your workout to include your child?

Make it part of your time together. If it is a time that they can play with you, they will look forward to it and be more willing to participate. Keep in mind that your workout will need to vary weekly so that they do not become bored. Do not forget to find good music to listen to. Using songs they know, such as Sesame Street and Hi-5 songs, which are always a hit because they are lively and upbeat. Your favourite dance tunes will also be good to get you moving.

The exercises:

1. Stretches – pretend to be animals. Be a cat. Stand with your legs apart and stretch your arms to the ceiling and then the floor. Stretch to the left and right reaching as far as you can. Yawn like a cat. Roll your head around from left to right. Arch your back and straighten up again. Reach down to your right foot and then your left. You can roar like a lion and purr like a cat. You really do need to make the sounds. It helps you to stretch and release tension. The more animated it is the more likely your child will have fun with it. Sit on the floor with your legs spread out as wide as you can. Now pretend to be a clam and reach up with your arms and then close up by reaching forward as far as you can. Think of as many animals to copy as possible and do a few different ones each time.

2. Cardio Jumping Jacks – also called star crosses, these simple exercises get the blood moving to all parts of the body. They are great to do after the stretches and before any strengthening exercises. They warm pretty much all the muscle groups. Kids like to do these too. Put on some music and have a go. You can continue by running on-the-spot or dancing wildly. 10 – 15 minutes should do some good muscle warming.

3. Abdominal crunches – lay on your back on the floor. Bend your legs so that your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle to the floor. Put your child up on your legs so that their head is resting on or slightly over your knees. They can hang on to your legs which really should not move while in this position. You can put your hands behind your head and lift your body up towards the ceiling. Your neck should not bend much. It is your chest you are lifting towards the ceiling. This is a crunch. Your child can practise his counting and you can help him with it while you do crunches.

4. Leg lifts – this is great fun for kids because they will be pushing your legs back down as you lift them up. Lay flat on the floor. Let them stand about where your shoulders are and you lift your legs to reach their hands. They will push as hard as they can and you can lower your legs and bring them back up. Little ones will not be able to push hard enough to provide any resistance. The point is that they are participating in your leg lifts.

5. Tip Toe Teddies – you can work out your calves and strengthen your ankles while your little one tip toes to the tunes. Get out a few teddies and prepare a tip toe dance for them. You should stand where you have support of some kind, a wall should do the trick. On either both feet or one at a time, raise yourself from a flat foot to tip toe position. You can do this to music so that your child can join in tip toeing around with the teddies.

6. Wall Tables – stand against the wall with your feet about the length of your thighs from the wall. Lower your body so that your knees make a 90-degree angle to the floor. Now this is not the easiest place to be. You need to stay here for as long as you can. Your child will try to place blocks (or papers or something light) on your legs. The more items that are placed, the higher the points. Keep track with a chart and see how your time improves.

7. Grab the bean bag (Push ups) – Time for some push ups using bean bags. Both of you lay on your stomach on the floor so that your heads are facing each other. Put a bean bag between you. Now both must do push ups and try to grab the bean bag in the centre as well. A point is allotted for each grabbed bag. Little ones need not do perfect pushups but mums should. Place your toes on the ground and put your arms at the side of your shoulders. Drop your knees down so that your weight is on your arms and knees. Now as you push up, your body should remain straight and flat. Your bottom should not be higher or lower than the rest of your body. Your child may win the first couple of times but keep at it. You may get a few points in as well.

8. Obstacle course – Being indoors can be also result in quite a workout. Set up a course with various obstacles/stations that will require you to climb, crawl, run around, hop and sprint to a finishing line. Chalk can be used as markers on the floor, if required since it washes easily off. The layout of the house can also be used for the various stations. Hop with a piece of paper from the kitchen to the front room and put the paper on the bookshelf. Then take a book from the shelf and crawl to the TV. After that, step up on the stool and off the stool 10 times. Crawl under the table and over a bed. There are a lot of things you can do once you start.

9. Sprints – this is great for the outdoors. You can have races setting their end closer than yours so that it is fair. Put buckets or just draw chalk circles at each end. Use toys, bean bags or even sticks at each side and run back and forth putting something in and out of the circle or bucket. It will not be a distance workout but is great for legs, buttocks and arms, in addition, the kids will definitely enjoy these sprints.

10. Story telling exercises – Think up a story for your child so that you can incorporate the movements you want. Here is an example – There is some treasure hidden in the forest. The adventurers have to climb to the top of the trees to see if they can spot it. Pretend to be climbing by reaching your arms way up and pulling them down. Climb using your legs too (left arm, right leg). At the top of the tree, search from the far left to the far right stretching your back and abdominal muscles, twist around several times. Spot the treasure. Where is it? Through the river, over the logs, around the big swamp and through the tall grass. When you are travelling on your way to the treasure you can crawl, hop, jump and even do some stretching.

With a little playing and a lot of laughs you are well on your way to fitness.

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