Building our Muscles

When I say Muscle Endurance, what do you think of?  Weight lifting?  Pull ups?  Push ups?  Yes, for adults.  But what about children?  Stretching and Muscle Building are two important parts of physical activity that we sometimes forget about - but we shouldn't!  And there are so many ways to have fun with it!  Here are just a FEW ideas about strengthening our children's muscles.

1. Crawl or crouch through a tunnel. 

 2. Climb up on structures that are safe to do so.

3. Balancing strengthens the core muscles in our bodies.

 4. There are a variety of animal walks that you can teach your children, including a bear walk,

 5. a crab walk,

 6. a duck walk,

 7. and a crocodile walk.

 8.  And last but not least, let your children give each other magic carpet rides around the kitchen - and for more resistance I'm sure you could do it on the carpet as well!

 

What kinds of animal walks are there?

Duck Walk: Squat down and waddle like a duck. 

Chicken Walk: Same as a duck walk except put your hands between your legs and grab your ankles.

Bear Walk: Move around on all fours and be sure to keep your arms and legs straight.

Crab Walk: Walk on all fours but with your stomach in the air.

Crocodile Walk: Lay on your stomach and pull your limp body around using only your arms.

Lame Dog Walk: Move around on all fours (bending of the legs is allowed) - but put one of your arms behind your back - so I guess move around on all THREES.

Kanagaroo Walk: Squat down and then jump staight up, extending the legs.  When you land, go right back into the squat position and do it again.

All of these walks can also be tried backwards for the older children or the younger children that have mastered them all already.