Action Songs for Kids of All Age Groups

The hardest job for today’s parent is to keep kids fit despite of all the enticing distractions that make it impossible for children to leave the couch. So to help your kids get into action, I have dug up a few action songs that are perfect to get kids of any age into action for an intense physical workout. So put on your work out pants and get your kids out of bed and prepare for a bombastic work out.

Get Up! By Pam Minor

With this song, do a warm up routine. Jumping jacks are great for warm up, but you can use any routine to get the muscles to prepare for the exercise.

Wake up and stretch
Rub sleep from your eyes
Get out of bed
I’ve got a surprise
We’ve got to move
Our work’s cut out
No matter the weather
We’re gonna shout Hey
It’s time to make a bright new day

Hurry get dressed
Brush your hair too
Breakfast is ready
And so are you
We’ve got to move
Our work’s cut out
No matter the weather
We’re gonna shout Hey
It’s time to make a bright new day

Go brush your teeth
Grab books and lunch box
School bus is coming
This day really rocks
We’ve got to move
Our work’s cut out
No matter the weather
We’re gonna shout Hey
It’s time to make a bright new day
Hey it’s time to make a bright new day

Hi De Ho by Andrew Queen

This is a great song for aerobic exercise. If your kids are into water aerobics, then this is the best song out there. Simply encourage your kids to follow their usual exercise routine, but ask them to sing along and a clap at the end of every chorus to make things interesting. This will prove much better than the outdoor playground equipment activities.

Hi de, Hi de, Hi de ho
Wig-wig-wig-wig-waggedy wo
Bop she-bop she-bop she-bo
Reach up high and reach down low
Hi de, Hi de, Hi de hee
Wig-wig-wig-wig-waggedy wee
Bop she-bop she-bop she-bee
Flap your wings and shake your knees

Hi de, Hi de, Hi de hi
Wig-wig-wig-wig-waggedy why
Bop she-bop she-bop she-by
Wave your hands up to the sky

Instrumental – guitar solo

Hi de, Hi de, Hi de hay
Wig-wig-wig-wig-waggedy way
Bop she-bop she-bop she-bay
Twist your body in every way

Hi de, Hi de, Hi de how
Wig-wig-wig-wig-waggedy wow
Bop she-bop she-bop she-bow
That’s all folks now take a bow

Now Jump! by Wendy Rollin

With this song, simply encourage kids to act out the lyrics.
Put your hands together, make a happy sound
Open arms wide, then clap
Now Jump
Twisty jump, arms stretched wide, jump as you twist side to side

Wave your arms way up high
Lift arms high over head and swing side to side
Now Jump
Twisty jump, arms stretched wide, jump as you twist side to side

Can you swim in rhythm
With your arms, do a forward swimming motion, in rhythm with the music
Can you do it backward
With your arms, do a backward swimming motion, in rhythm with the music
Don’t stop
Don’t stop

Now stop
Stop, with your hands held out, palms out, like a policeman stopping traffic

Put your hands together, make a happy sound
Open arms wide, then clap
Now Jump
Twisty jump, arms stretched wide, jump as you twist side to sides

So what do you think? Are you inspired to act yet? Share your opinion with us through our comment section below.

Ways to be Supportive Towards your Child’s Sports Activities

Children, especially boys love to engage in sports activities; however, at times this can become a hurdle in children’s academic activities. Most parents see sports activities as a recreational thing and therefore encourage their kids to only take part in such activities that add to their academic tasks. This post will shed some light on why it is important to be supportive towards children’s sports activities, and how can you be more supportive.

Children Need a Guiding Hand

When it comes to outdoor playground equipment and outdoor play activities, especially the sports activities, children need somebody who can guide them. This is especially important for children in the preschool years. Simply, watching kids from the bleachers is not enough; you have got to get up and take part in the activities so the kids can garner encouragement from you. You have got to let the kids know how much taking charge of their activities is important for the growth.

Most parents prefer to not mingle with children’s play activities, which can greatly impact the way children take sports activities. If your children don’t see you being enthusiastic about physical activities, they are probably not going to take it seriously. Research suggests that parents who are more involved with physical fitness activities are more likely to have children who will take part in commercial playground equipment and other sorts of play activities.

Step Up

So you spend most of your time in your office chair and then the living room couch? What impression do you think that leaves on your children? If you are not able to pursue an active lifestyle, then don’t expect that your children will automatically start living an active life. You have got to step up and show your kids the encouragement and support that they need.
One way to encourage kids for sports activities through cheerful and inspiring stories. Here are some of the sports quotes that are worth mentioning:

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…” – Dr. Seuss

“You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.” – Irish Proverb

“Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” – Mike Singletary

“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.”

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When you’re riding, only the race in which you’re riding is important.”– Bill Shoemaker

“Number one is just to gain a passion for running. To love the morning, to love the trail, to love the pace on the track. And if some kid gets really good at it, that’s cool too.”– Pat Tyson

“There may be people that have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.”– Derek Jeter

Are you encouraging your kids enough? How do you make sure your kids love to spend time outdoors? Share thoughts and opinions with us through our comment section below.

When its Time to Pull the Plug…

Cell phones, mobile e-mail, and all the other cool and slick gadgets can cause massive losses in our creative output and overall productivity.
~Robin S. Sharma

If Yoda were real and he saw what today’s kids were up to, do you think he would have approved? Knowing his wisdom, I don’t think he would have. You can’t just sit and watch your kids become the victim of technology! So to help you out, I have listed down a couple of ways that can help you pull the technology plug and encourage your kids to have more outdoor time.

 Explore the Outdoors

I know what you are thinking. Isn’t walking to school an outdoor activity? It is, but it’s not enough. An outdoor activity should constitute a healthy amount of time spent with outdoor playground equipment or any other play structure. If a play structure is not available, then simply spending time in the nature is enough. However, as a parent, you have to decide how much time your child needs to have outside.
Encourage your kids to explore and enjoy various outdoor recreational areas. Weekends are great for family recreation, so don’t just sit around on the couch this weekend and plan a trip with your kids.

 Increase Outdoor Activities

Today, most children prefer tablets and a cozy couch in contrast to the fresh vegetation smell, mud and the commercial playground equipment that awaits them. The only way kids can ever consider spending their evening outdoors is if you get them the kind of equipment that they find interesting. Today, the play systems have become advanced and more thrilling, but due to budget problems, community parks cannot afford.

However, you don’t always need to have an expensive set of play systems to make things interesting for your children. There are a million ideas to add flare to your current background setting or to increase enhance the community parks.

 Edify them about the Importance of Outdoors

This is the most crucial thing when it comes to helping kids understand why they need to be outside in the nature. Children are usually unaware of why they need to play outside. It is your job to edify them and help them make smarter choice about their play activities. Start early and begin to educate your children about how they need sunlight and nature for better physical and cognitive development. Do not hesitate to explain them everything about the cognitive development that can only take place when children play outside in a challenging environment.

Our children need to understand that where technology is making things easier, it is also crippling their creativity and the power to do things by themselves. We may not be able to understand the devastating impacts of technology now, but our children may suffer a lot in the long run.
How do you encourage your kids to play outside? Share your opinion with us through our comment section below and let us know what you think about the subject matter. In your opinion, what can be the best strategy to get kids to go outside?

Are You Spending Enough Time With Your Child?

Your children can be around you all day, but if you don't spend quality time with them and you don't pay attention to them and talk to them and listen to them, it doesn't matter that they're just around you. ~Brandy Norwood

Every parent, once in a while, asks himself this question: “Am I spending enough time with my child?”

As working parents, we all can never spend enough time with our children, and that is the problem that sometimes makes me feel a little bit guilty about myself. I don’t know if parents should be guilty about spending a little less time with their kids, but I know one thing for sure, we can definitely spend some more time. I am not saying that you are spending enough time with kids (who am I to judge), I am only saying that we can always find more time for our children.

First of all, let me just clarify why spending a little bit more time with your child might be a good idea. Do you remember the last time your kid was out there playing with an outdoor playground equipment and you were there with him? Most parents just rely on the nannies or the guardians when it comes to watching the kids. But your nanny shouldn’t be spending much time with your kid, you should be the one.

“What does immortality mean to me? That we all want more time; and we want it to be quality time.”~Joan D. Vinge

Many researchers usually highlight the words “quality time” when speaking about spending time with children. For most parents quality time is more time, however the true definition of “quality time” is far away from the meaning that most folks deduce out of the words. “Quality time” is more than just spending time with your kids; it’s about how you spend that time with the kids. There is a difference between when you play backyard soccer with your children, and when you just watch your kids play with the commercial playground equipment from the distance.

It’s all about being more involved with your kids. Simply watching your kids from the distance is not spending time with them. Most parents, especially mothers watch their kids play as they busy themselves with their tablets or smart phones. If you really wish to be more involved with your child’s life, or spend quality time with him, then you need to consider your schedule and his schedule. This is where the work-life-balance comes in. One important thing to remember here is that you want to be involved with your kid, but not too involved. Give them space so they can do things their way, but at the same time do not leave them on their own with zero guidance.

How do you spend more time with your kids? Do you have any ideas or suggestions that can help other parents spend more time with their kids? Share your opinion with us through the comment section below.

Do We Enough Playgrounds?

Do we have enough playgrounds? No, I don’t think so. I don’t know about you, but I think we could definitely use more playgrounds. And, to be exact, we need more playgrounds with modern outdoor playground equipment.
Decreasing play areas and hoisting number of tech gaming gadgets has changed the point of view of recreational action for kids. Since the invention of PC and related advancements, our kids rarely appreciate what we might want to call 'a day out.'

Do you watch your youngster sprawled before the TV for a considerable length of time? Is the tablet truly helping your kid gain something separated from the gazillion better approaches to slaughter a virtual creature? The raising pattern of advanced diversion is a troublesome thing, and we have to discover approaches to recover our play areas before we lose our children to the computerized monstrosity until the end of time.

Do We Have Enough Playgrounds?

Did you realize that almost 42% of the schools need age-proper school playground equipment? As indicated by an exploration, most government schools need utilitarian play areas with age-suitable school play area gear. By and large, the schools need a suitable play framework that is a pivotal component in the general physical and intellectual advancement of kids.

It is anything but difficult to put the fault on the legislature, yet shouldn't something be said about us? Is it true that we are allowing so as to contribute decisively towards our kids' improvement, solid measure of dynamic play consistently? At the point when was the last time you went by your closest play area with your youngsters? Numerous parents gripe that "our play areas are not sufficiently spotless; we can't just let our kids play in rottenness." How about getting a sweeper and doing some work yourself. Why do we generally need to sit tight for the civil administration to react to our grumblings?

Another imperative thing that you ought to do is to contact your kid's school powers and ask about the play exercises amid the school. Verify that your tyke is enlisted in a school that gives everyone of the offices that contribute altogether towards your youngster's both mental and physical advancement. Likewise, verify that your kid has adequate time for dynamic play at home; the break time permitted in schools is normally insufficient.

If you believe that your community does not have enough playground and play areas for your children, then you should immediately take action and approach your local government officials. And if the government fails to take action, build your own playgrounds with the help of your community. There’s always that can be done. So don’t just sit there, do something for your children’s bright future.

Does your community have enough playgrounds for children? Do you often take part in community playground projects? What is the latest community playground project that you participated in? Share your opinion with us through our comment section below and let us know of your opinion and help other parents with similar issues.

Tick Tock, The Time's Running Out…

“Now, today, some children are enrolled in excellent programs. Some children are enrolled in mediocre programs. And some are wasting away their most formative years in bad programs….That’s why I’m issuing a challenge to our states: Develop a cutting-edge plan to raise the quality of your early learning programs; show us how you’ll work to ensure that children are better prepared for success by the time they enter kindergarten. If you do, we will support you with an Early Learning Challenge Grant that I call on Congress to enact.”

 – President Barack Obama, speaking to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, March 10, 2009

Why Early Physical Education Matters a Lot?

The baby is born, and after a couple of months of hassle, you are back to your normal routine. Most parents, especially mothers make sure that their child has everything he needs, but they usually forget one of the most crucial things — physical education. You must be wondering “2-3 year olds needn’t to learn about physical education until they reach the school going age.” Some parents also avoid younger babies near outdoor playground equipment and other play structures. This is an extremely wrong practice.
It is true that younger children are at more risk of hurting themselves. However, this should not let us, parents, keep our children from keeping children away from nature or play systems.

Paving a Way for A Healthy Future

Did you know that children as young as one year old should be introduced to physical fitness exercise? Researchers suggest that small babies should be introduced to physical actions like hand and leg movements. Why this is important? According to the growing evidence from various researches, children who are introduced to physical activity in an early age are more like to adapt to an active lifestyle in contrast to the kids who grew up with digital devices.

“If you’re going to equalize the academic playing field, you’ve got to get the kids in early childhood programs.” – Paul Vallas

How to Help Kids Learn about Physical Education?

The best way to help kids learn more about physical education is through family fitness; If you get fit as a family, there’s a chance that your kids will understand the importance of physical activity from the early age. Education of any kind, whether it’s physical or academic, needs to start early in a child’s life. Make sure that develop a habit of getting physically active as a family. And it has to be something continuous, not something that you try with your kids on the weekends.
I would like to conclude this post with a renowned quote that goes something like this:

“In early childhood you may lay the foundation of poverty or riches, industry of idleness, good or evil, by the habits to which you train your children. Teach them right habits then, and their future life is safe.”– Lydia Sigourney

What do you do to keep your little angel physically fit? Is there a commercial playground equipment or a playscape, or is it just simple physical activity? Share your opinion with us through our comment section below.

“Just a Few More Minutes, Mom!”

What are those Extra Few Minutes Doing to your Child’s Health?

The modern, high tech gaming gadgets are very tempting for children, which is why it is impossible to unglue them from these devices at the end of the day. There’s always “just a few more minutes, I am almost done with this level.”

There is always some level that they need to complete. There will always be some level they need to complete. The big question is what can we do to keep kids away from the modern adhesive that has made our kids enslaved to the digital devices.

Those Extra Few Minutes and the Repercussions

Most parents are probably not aware of the consequences that the technological device can produce for children. Where do I begin? Let’s start with the computer vision syndrome that affects more than 40% of the population, and 23% of children among that 40%! How about that? Is it this not a worrisome thing for us? Our children have become prone to diseases that were once considered an adult illness.

In addition, technological devices are contributing towards obesity in children. I just thought of a great quote that goes like:

“My head’ll explode if I continue with this escapism.” Jess. C. Scott

It is true that technology has helped us solve many problems, but do you really think that this is the replacement for outdoor playground equipment for young children? As an author, Jess.C.Scott, stated, technology is a tool for escapism. Do our children need to use this tool like we do? Why do they need to escape from their reality?

 “Even the technology that promises to unite us, divides us. Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone.” Dan Brown

Do you really want to introduce your child to the Facebook and many other social media networks? If your child is constantly engaged with social media platforms, then there is a pretty good chance that he ignores most of what happens around him. Your child’s reality should be playgrounds, cerebral enhancing natural active play and commercial play structures that allow them to increase their physical and cognitive strength. Digital devices do nothing but provide a solution to minor problems, and they most definitely not a tool to solve our children’s problems.

Make sure your child does not get lost in the abyss of technology by introducing balance in his life.
I would like to conclude this post through an insightful quote that goes like:

“We can’t jump off bridges anymore because our iPhones will get ruined. We can’t take skinny dips in the ocean because there’s no service on the beach and adventures aren’t real unless they’re on Instagram. Technology has doomed the spontaneity of adventure and we’re helping destroy it every time we Google, check-in, and hashtag.”
― Jeremy Glass

Is your child constantly involved with video games? How do you make sure that he has a balance between his activities? Type away in our comment section below and let us know what you think.