Having a Difficult Time Getting Your Kid off the Couch?

If you have children, than you are fully aware of the spell-bound gaze fixed to the television and permanent couch imprints left by our kids day in and day out. With the 500 channels on television, interactive online video gaming and the cold outdoor air – it’s no wonder our kids aren’t motivated to go outside. Most of the time we find them indoors and it feels as though they aren’t even there. As a parent, this is another one of your many jobs. You can motivate them to get out, ’see the world’ (as our parents used to tell us) and enjoy time outdoors. The summer months are slowly approaching, winter holidays coming to an end and spring breaks just around the corner – you have the perfect opportunity to arrange some quality family time. That is, until you try to un-glue your kid from couch and hit the kill-switch on the tube. Their complaints of boredom are peppered with your futile attempts to entertain them. If you have the feeling ‘all hope is lost’ and are looking for a solution, then this article is for you. Following are some great ideas to encourage your children to get moving…and all them involve a little strategic negotiating.

If you have active children, there are endless amounts of sports equipment that can be purchased to keep them moving. Soccer balls and goals might inspire a neighborhood soccer match. The new Nerf balls enable our kids to throw like Eli Manning and are perfectly safe in the event their Superbowl catch is thwarted. These can also give parents some fun exercise and prove to our kids we still have “it”. Erect a tether ball pole in your backyard and bring back the old days on the elementary school playground. Another option is to get your kids rolling; watch them roll through the streets on new bikes, skateboards, scooters, or roller blades. Or, watch them bounce around the yard on an outdoor trampoline (the only thing to note is that trampolines do have some impact on certain insurances so it’s smart to look into this before purchasing).

If your neighborhood sees snow, you can always purchase sleds, snow shoes, or a snowman kit complete with carrot nose. If you have some sunny days ahead, roll out a slip ‘n slide and lather up the sunscreen. Or, purchase a few mini pools and soak your feet while your kids splash around you. However, if you really want to liven things up, water guns make the perfect addition to your playful pools. Sidewalk chalk is a great gift that definitely gets kids outdoors. The fresh air seems to get their imaginations flowing and all sorts of art begins to take place in your driveway. Or, draw out a hopscotch game with the chalk and teach your kids what we used to do “in the old days” with only a rock to keep the game going. Bubbles are another fun and inexpensive way to get kids outdoors. Kids love to blow bubbles and chase them as they cut a path through the sky.

A truly ingenious way to get your kids out of the house is to put them to work in the yard. (I am sure there are many laughs carrying on about this one.) Haven’t figured out to do this yet? You know when you are walking through the toy section and your kid just can’t live without something…Well tell them they can have, but they will have to work for it. The kicker is that you cannot give it to them early, you need to get the work first and you will take them back as soon as they are done. A little incentive could by to have them pick out a set of “cool” gardening gloves and shovel if its yard work (or whatever tool is relevant to the task). It is important to understand that they have to pick their tools out. Make it a competition if you have to and see what happens.

If your kids are relegated to the indoors due to weather or some other circumstance, there are still some ways to get them off the couch. Purchase a “gift” or item that will require some movement, like good old Twister. And believe it or not, there is a modern day video system that will get them off the couch: The wii system, while somewhat expensive, it does encourage movement and you’ll be surprised when your kids break out in a sweat with the exercise games.

You can always get a family membership to a nearby gym. Yes this can be expensive also, but if you make a family thing out of it than it is money well spent. Dads and sons can work on getting buff, while moms and daughters can motivate each other to stay fit. Parents may even start to see that side of their spouse the first fell in love with…If you really try to make the time for this, than it will take around a month before you lose that feeling of having to “drag” yourselves there. You will hit a point that you hate missing a work out and not going is not an option.

In the end, involving your kids takes a lot of effort on the parents part. Whether you are tempting them with rewards and gifts, or you make a family effort out of it – you can do this! Involve yourself and you will see your child’s involvement start to…mature on its own. Hopefully this article has provided you with ideas. Leave comments to let me know what works and what didn’t work for you. Maybe you’ll find that what you have done can benefit others that are in the same position.