Jump IN shares ideas, resources, and recommendations for keeping you and your family active while quarantined

Captain’s log, week two…

It’s looking as if out social distancing may last for some time. Schools are closed temporarily, so some of you reading this are trying to balance homeschooling your kids, working full-time from home, and keeping on top of the current news. On top of that we’ve been told to stay home and quarantine our households to protect ourselves and others. Your kids may be antsy, stuck inside without their usual recess, sports practices, dance classes and normal running around times. Stress and inactivity are a recipe for disaster. One thing you can do to help combat both: get everyone in your house up and moving.

No equipment required…

You may be thinking, “but I don’t have a home gym or a treadmill, the gyms are closed, and now it’s raining outside – what do I do?” In fact you don’t need any special equipment, just a commitment to make time in your day, every day, to move. You don’t need to block an hour for it either – even small increments of 5-20 minutes add up.

There are loads of activities you can do that require no tools or equipment at all. You can play follow the leader with your kids all around your house (and yard, weather permitting). Take turns being the leader and encourage everyone to get creative – you’ll be surprised how much your heart rate can go up in just 5-10 minutes. You can run up and down your stairs twenty times. You can race to the end of your block and back. It’s a good idea to check on others during our social distancing – a long walk around the neighborhood with stops to shout hello from across the street can be good for body and soul.

If you’d like to add a few more elements to your activity, pick up a jump robe, set out some cones for soccer drills, or draw a hopscotch with some sidewalk chalk.

What are the best online resources?

And there are many, many online tools that you can access for free. The Y is offering free online physical activity videos for all ages here. Phonics Man on YouTube offers a dance and vocabulary lesson with the characters and dances from Fortnite. Cosmic Kids Yoga offers online gentle yoga activities for kids. The USDA has many tools for families on its site. Pop Sugar offers family fitness programs that everyone can do together. And finally, we at Jump IN adore GoNoodle. You can download the GoNoodle app to your tablet or Apple TV or stream from your computer. GoNoodle offers hundreds of videos of different lengths to get you moving. The Harlem Globetrotters are featured, Kidz Bop Kidz, Moosetube, and the Blazer Fresh guys all feature prominently, among others. It’s a silly, very fun program and many of the videos also include lessons on math, science, reading and other academic subjects.

Getting physical activity during this time of quarantine is important for your physical and mental health. It doesn’t have to be complicated and it doesn’t have to be perfect, but give yourself the gift of physical activity during this time.

Our friends at Voices for Healthy Kids compiled a very useful list of all kinds of resources your family might want to have on hand during the coronavirus pandemic. Stay safe and take good care of yourselves.