If you want to increase physical activity time in your children here are two simple tips. Provide choices and encourage mastery of a skill. A recent study indicated that providing children with a choice of active toys increased physical activity time by nearly 200% for girls and 42% for boys. The active toys that were used included mini hockey, bean bag toss combined with tic-tac-toe, mini indoor basketball and jump rope. In a second study researchers looked at the intrinsic motivation in children for physical activity time. Using exergames (ie Wii), the researchers concluded that combining choice with mastery of a game resulted in the greatest increase in physical activity time.
Need ideas for active play? Check out this collection of ebooks with active play ideas.
Reference: Medical Express. Kids get more active when given more toy choices, studies show. Retrieved from the web on 4/18/12 at http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-kids-toy-choices.html
To increase physical activity, children need physical education, safe routes to walk and ride their bikes to school, parks and access to playgrounds and community centers.
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