Everyday Physical Activity Tips
Small steps that get your family to move more can help all of you maintain a healthy weight. Choose a different tip each week for you and your family to try. See if you and your family can add to the list.
- Walk whenever possible.
- Walk instead of drive whenever you can.
- Walk your children to school.
- Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator.
- Take a family walk after dinner.
- Go for a 30-minute walk instead of watching TV.
- Get off the bus a stop early and walk.
- Park farther from the store and walk.
- Make a Saturday morning walk a family habit.
- Walk briskly in the mall.
- Take your dog on longer walks.
- Go up hills instead of around them.
- Move more in your home.
- Work in a garden or make home repairs.
- Do yard work. Get your children to help rake, weed, or plant.
- Work around your house. Ask your children to help with active chores.
- Wash your car by hand.
- Use a snow shovel instead of a snow blower.
- Live actively.
- Join an exercise group, and enroll your children in community sports teams or lessons.
- Do sit-ups in front of the TV. Have a sit-up competition with your kids.
- Pace the sidelines at kids' athletic games.
- Use an exercise video if the weather is bad.
- Avoid labor-saving devices, such as a remote control or electric mixers.
- Play with your kids at least 30 minutes a day.
- Dance to music with your kids.
- Explore new physical activities, like hiking, biking, or a new sport.
- Give yourself a gold star with non-food related rewards, such as a family day at the park, lake or zoo.
- Swim with your kids.
- Buy a set of hand weights and play a round of Simon Says with your kids — you do it with the weights, they do it without.
(Source: Adapted from smallstep.gov)