A blog from David Gent, CEO, Active Humber and David Watson, CEO, North Yorkshire Sport
To all our colleagues across North Yorkshire and the Humber, we all hope you and your families are safe and well.
As at last the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be easing, the weather is quite good and the way we are allowed to exercise with family and friends is easing, now is the time to get outdoors and go walking and cycling and incorporate some movement into every single day.
By practicing social distancing and listening to HM Government recommendations walking and cycling are two great ways to be active right now.
Walking and cycling to get to places as a family are good examples of ‘active travel’, as you are using your own human-power (being carbon friendly as well) to move from one place to another. It is a perfect way to getting your daily family exercise by steps through walking and using cycling to stay active and healthy whilst discovering your surroundings in a much more accessible way than in a car.
Even better walking at a good speed, is an amazing way to sneak in some active time toward the 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity adults need each week and the 60 minutes per day that kids need.
Actively travelling with kids, however, can pose a few challenges, especially when little feet start to drag and frustration mounts. As parents we have both faced that moment of defaulting to throwing everyone into the car to avoid a mid-walk melt-down!
What might be a routine trek to the shops or routine trip out to get in some steps can become a daily way to play, explore and enjoy each other’s company.
Here are some sure-fire ways to, safely, get your children and young people excited about the next time you go outdoors. Between the two of us we have tried all the ideas and here are our top fun and safe games to play with your kids while walking & cycling.
Five games for talking, thinking & interacting
- I-Spy - A bona fide classic, I-Spy has the person who is ‘it’ choose an object within sight of all the walkers and says, “I spy, with my little eye, something that …” and give a clue, colour, shape, texture or use, for what the object might be. Whoever guesses the object is ‘it’ next.
- ‘When I Go on Holiday …’ - The first person says, “When I go on holiday, I am going to pack a …” and states any object that starts with the letter A. The second person repeats the phrase and the first object, adding a new object that starts with the letter “B”. Each player must repeat the whole list, adding to it on each turn, until somebody is unable to recite the contents of the alphabetical packing list.
- Rock, Paper, Scissors - Pair up in twos to play this game found all over the world. On the count of one, two, three, go, each of the players throws a hand in one of the following symbols: a rock (closed fist), paper (flat, open hand), or scissors (peace sign). Paper always beats rock – it can wrap around the rock, rock always beats scissors – it can smash the scissors, and scissors beats paper – for obvious reasons! Keep score as you go.
- What Am I? - This can be played with lots of walkers. The group can choose a category like animals, countries, food, or famous people. The person who is ‘it’ thinks of something from the category and give two or three difficult clues as to the identity of the thing they are thinking of. Guessers get to ask yes or no questions before guessing the identity of the object and are eliminated if they guess wrong.
- Would you rather… - whereby each person gives one another a choice of being one thing or another or eating one thing or another etc, also a lot of truth or dare played!
Four games to get moving while walking
- Follow the Leader - Whoever is ‘it’ gets to decide how everyone will walk – like a monkey, a kangaroo or a bear, and where the group walks – across rocks, along low retaining walls or other low to the ground structures.
- Catch or Kick - Take a ball with you while you walk and toss it from one walker to another without dropping it. If walking along paths and trails with enough space to kick the ball ahead and have the next person chase it and kick it further.
- Scavenger Hunt - Give kids a list of five to 10 objects that might be found along the walking route. Searching for squirrels, oak leaves, pine needles or a funny piece of rock that looks like something to keep kids too busy to state those dreaded words of, “Are we there yet?”
- Race - One person picks a landmark within view ahead such as a bush, tree, stop sign or building. The object cannot be across a road. Have everyone race to the object, and the winner gets to choose the next destination.
Walking, running, or cycling are fundamental ways to get our kids moving more. By consciously choosing to move around as a family on foot and cycle, we are setting an example for our kids to follow, setting them up to become adults who naturally choose physical activity as a way of life – even if it's one step at a time!
Still need more ideas then go to the biggest physical activity movement currently - #stayinworkout from Sport England.
So, we hope the ideas above might help at this time to entertain the kids and for us all to get through this Covid-19 pandemic together, across North Yorkshire and the Humber, one step and or one turn of the pedals at a time.
All the best from the two David’s at Active Humber and North Yorkshire Sport.
For activities across the Humber, click here.
For activities across North Yorkshire, click here.
