At the promise of building a fort or waging a snow-ball fight, kids dash out into freezing-cold weather and waist-deep snow. What are you waiting for? Get outside and get active with them! You stay warmer outside when you are active and all it takes is a little extra walking. Neither you nor your kids need to get sweaty to have a good workout. "Walking is good for the heart at all ages and it's a good activity pattern to start in childhood," says Dr. Beth Abramson, cardiologist and spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. "It gets a child's heart rate up and their muscles moving."
Start looking at winter as the wonderland you loved walking in as a child. Instead of driving your kids to friend's houses, school or the park, walk there. Make a pledge not to drive your car unless you really have to. Plus, you'll be helping to keep heart-harming pollution out of the air. Abramson says, "When children and parents choose to walk instead of drive, they get much needed heart healthy activity. We also learn by these simple steps how easy it is to cut heart-hurting air pollution – often caused by taking a car to places that are easily walkable."
Here are eight fun ways for you and your child to spend more time walking outside this winter.
- Sign up for a winter bird watching tour. You can see lots of interesting birds in the winter like chickadees, cardinals and snowy owls. It's a great chance to learn about the nature while staying active outside.
- Encourage older kids to offer dog-walking services to friends and neighbours. They can earn a little spending cash while getting some refreshing activity.
- Instead of driving, walk to the local park to take your child sledding or ice skating.
- Set up a scavenger hunt or a challenge in a local park, or even your back yard. Try to find and identify animal tracks and different types of trees.
- Walk your kids to school. Ten minutes of walking in the morning is a great way to wake up. If you live far from your child's school, park just a kilometre or two away and walk from there.
- Create an obstacle course in your yard. Pack up snow balls into hurdles to jump and mark the ground with a spray bottle of coloured water to create a fun course for your kids to run.
- Roll the biggest snowball. Compete to see who can roll the biggest snowball. Start by making one in your hand and then pushing it along the ground until it gets too big to move.
- Make your own snow tracks. It'library for a book on animal tracks. Then let your kids try to recreate the tracks using spoons, cups and other household items, all across your snow-covered lawn.
Stay warm by staying active
It's especially important for kids to be warm and dry when they are playing outside in the wintertime. Dress your kids in layers so that they can remove them as they warm up. Water-proof gloves or mitts are a must for winter play. If you only have knitted mitts, make sure you keep an extra set handy if they get soaked through before your child finishes playing. Remember not to play outside for too long when the wind chill factor is -28° C or lower. According to Environment Canada, skin can get frostbitten after 10 to 30 minutes of exposure at this temperature. Strong wind affects the body's ability to retain heat, so even though it may be only -10° outside, your body reacts as if it's twice that cold. These conditions increase the risk of frostbite. But as long as kids keep their nose, ears and fingers covered, being active outside will keep them warm and happy.
Walking – a great habit for life
Simple activities like daily walks are a great way to teach your children about the importance of daily activity. When you take part in the activity instead of just talking about it, you can be a great role model for making physical activity part of their daily routine – for life. "If good habits are started early," Dr. Abramson says, "hopefully walking kids turn into walking adults.
Write your government representatives to tell them to act on reducing air pollution. Here'how.
Posted February 2008.
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