Stay Motivated!
We are halfway through the program and you are doing great so far! Sometimes we can lose motivation to stay active, but this is a great time to remember why we started the program and find new ways to motivate your child.
Sometimes it can help to think about reasons why we would do something, since this can motivate us and help us remember why it is important to us. For example, some things that are important to people are family, friends, fun, responsibility, kindness, knowledge, community, health, etc. What are some things that are important to you? How can you use those values to help you achieve your goals? For example, maybe your goal is to be active for 45 minutes each day and having fun or being with family and friends is really important you too – you can combine those. Maybe on one or two of the days you don’t feel motivated to be active you chose a fun activity or create a playlist with all of your favorite songs then listen do them during a workout/walk.
It can also be helpful to remember all the reasons you signed up for this program at the beginning! Staying active throughout the day (like your child taking breaks during their homework to get up and move) is so important for health. For kids, being active throughout the day can help them focus on classes /homework when classes are going on. For both adults and kids, when you are active you will likely help you feel more energized on a daily basis and will give you a sense of accomplishment at the end of the program.
Another great way to stay motivated is to use incentives. We talked about using incentives in the last newsletter{LINK TO LAST POST}. Maybe it’s time to think of some new incentives to help motivate your family to accomplish their goals. Next time your family is together, have a brainstorming session of things that can motivate them to accomplish their goals. You can even create a ‘menu’ or list of incentive ideas and select one each week to work toward. Some ideas may be getting to go to a new park, or spending extra time playing games as a family!
Family Activity Corner
Make a list of your child’s favorite exercise activities. Based on your progress and what’s working well and not working well for your family, see how you all can challenge your child to improve their activity levels using these exercises or see how you can incorporate more of these exercises into your child’s exercise practice to keep them motivated and engaged. Take a moment to plan out when and where to complete these exercises for the upcoming weeks. The values worksheet might help you identify some personal reasons why it is important to do these.
You can try creating a sidewalk obstacle course like this one!
Don’t worry if you don’t have sidewalk chalk! You can always use some sheets of paper and a marker to draw out the course.
Brain Breaks
· Check out this video! Go to YouTube and search HTS Middle School Physical Education at Home or use this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJmKUIXeTHs.
· You can also try this UNO workout. Grab a deck of UNO cards and pick a card. If you get a Yellow Card, do Jumping Jacks. If you get a Green Card, try some planks. If you get a Blue Card, do some push-ups. If you get a Red Card, do some lunges. If you get an Action Card, pick your favorite activity. Don’t worry if you don’t have UNO Cards, you can also use a regular deck of cards and pick an activity based off the color or numbers of that card.
· Here is another activity! Go to YouTube and search Physical Education at home – Paper Fitness or use this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9XIGs_lu4g. COVID-19 Updates
Current cases in the Kansas City, MO area: https://covid-19-response-in-kcmo-kcmo.hub.arcgis.com/
Testing locations: https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/health/coronavirus-covid-19-kcmo-information-and-response/covid-19-testing-locations
Visit the Stay Active Website for more information and resources
Contact us with any questions or concerns related to the Stay Active Program:
816-287-0262
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