Kiddikicks was reading about childhood obesity today and the prescription for children to have 1 hour of daily exercise and here's the important bit, of which 20 minutes should be exercise like football or running - continuous, heart rate raising stuff.
This got us thinking as to the easiest ways of doing this; a solution for everyone, anywhere, anytime, especially during the summer holidays when lots of toddler and child activity classes take a break.
We hit our local park and found the answer by doing not watching!
Yes, just like at kiddikicks you have to leave your street cred at the park gates and exercise your inner child through physical play. The difference is your child leads, you follow.
Left to their own devices most young children will naturally run, leap, jump, hang, swing, twist and turn in the environment they are given; any playground will do.
Our park was a jumble of timber beams assorted into monkey bars, wobbly beams, parallel bars, type-ropes and stepping stones plus the regular slides, swings and bouncy things. The children led us through their imaginary obstacle courses, making up rules as they went, every time we finished one game, another one swiftly started. They key was to follow their instruction and never wimp out.
Honestly getting from one end of the monkey bars to the other is painful ten times, gripping wobbly chains attached to wobbly tyres in fear of splatting into shark infested waters on repeat at speed is a genuine upper body workout and walking the type rope without holding on is core trembling but enter their imaginary world and it's all good fun.
The best part though is the satisfaction gained from being awash with endorphins in the open air from simple horse play with your children on their terms for once.
It's that simple; child's play for adults.