While the weather is starting to improve, we’re still experiencing so pretty chilly temperatures for the month of April. In the past, we would have simply packed the kids up on those cold, rainy days and headed to the local indoor playground or community centre to help them stay active and get moving.
But with social distancing measures in place, our normal go-to’s are no longer a viable option. So how can we help our kids work out some of that pent up energy while they get moving and stay active indoors?
We’ve pulled together a list of our favourite apps, websites, and online activities that get kids moving—from fitness and dancing to sports and yoga, kids can still stay active even while social distancing.
True North Sports Camp
With new activities released online each Wednesday, True North Sports Camp is making sure your kids have fun at-home activities to enjoy. Each week a new themed activity is released that includes a warm-up, one to three games, and a cool-down activity. There are activities for ages 4–7 and ages 8–14. Currently, activities include yoga, soccer, basketball, a multi-sport challenge, and even an Olympics-theme activity.
VRTU Muay Thai & Fitness
If your kids are usually busy with karate or Muay Thai classes, then VRTU Muay Thai’s live Zoom classes will be perfect for you! With a variety of kids classes on different days of the week, be sure to check their schedule to see what dates and times work best for you.
Super Stretch Yoga
This app is available for iOS and was ranked in the Top 100 Health & Wellness apps in the App Store. A fun and interactive yoga app created for kids, Super Stretch is a yoga-loving superhero who introduces you to all of his friends and their yoga poses. The app pairs storytelling and animation with video tutorials to help kids make yoga part of their everyday life.
Sworkit Youth
Customizable workouts that help your kids build strength, flexibility, and agility, Sworkit Kids makes exercising a fun game kids look forward to. This app is great for kids 4+ and is available on iOS and Android devices. Kids will be guided through interval training paired with randomized exercises to keep kids interested. And fun questions like “how long can you jump up and down?” challenges kids to do their best.
Cosmic Kids Yoga
Making yoga and mindfulness fun for kids, Cosmic Kids Yoga is a Youtube channel dedicated to all things yoga—for kids! They have hundreds of videos to choose from and cover all kinds of themes that your kids will love—they have Frozen yoga, and already have a new Trollz yoga video up. Their videos are designed specifically for kids aged 3+ and with over 700k subscribers, they must be doing something right!
GoNoodle
If screen time has become a necessity in your home, we get it. But what if there was a way to use screen time to effectively get your kids moving? That’s what GoNoodle calls ‘“active screen time” and it’s what they do best. GoNoodle gets kids moving with fun, engaging dance parties, yoga sessions, mindfulness activities, and game sessions.
7 Minute Workouts with Lazy Monster
What could be better than a fun monster leading you through your workout? This app features Lazy Monster, an animated monster who leads you through a variety of 7-minute workouts—from the Lazy Workout which focuses on simple moves to the Superhero workout which lets kids take it to the next level. This app does require in-app purchases to unlock all of the workouts, but if your little one is really resisting getting active while at home, Lazy Monster might be the key to getting them active.
BalletNova
Offering free online dance classes, BalletNova has a variety of classes covering conditioning, barre, ballet, jazz, and more. Be sure to make some space in your home and check the schedule to see what classes will be right for you and your kids.
PE with Joe
Joe aka The Body Coach on Youtube is creating a new 30-minute exercise video every weekday morning. A great way to get the kids moving and have fun, Joe is super high energy and adds a lot of fun elements in for kids. He shoots his videos in front of the same wall every day and does a spot-the-difference with the pictures and tchotchkes—a fun addition to keep kids interested in what can be their new PE class!
Group HIIT
These short, fun workouts are designed to help kids burn energy and increase strength. They feature easy exercises that your kids will be able to do at home—squats, frog jumps, star jumps, push-ups, wall-sits, and more. And if there is a movement that your little one can’t complete, simply swap it out for something they can do, like jumping jacks or running on the spot.
