Children's Exercise Videos

I tend to cringe when I see exercise videos for children. What's wrong with the good old-fashion playing at the park? What happened to picking up a few friends and going to the basketball court? Children today seem to have forgotten how to play - or maybe they never knew how to now that they have so many indoor distractions. The television set, computer, and game-boy have all crushed their ability to run outside with glee and play. Additionally, so many schools have cut back on their physical education programs, that it's no wonder that American kids are fatter than ever.

So, what can you do about this? Certainly, don't buy your child an exercise video! Children shouldn't feel that exercise is something that they have to make time for. It should be something that they enjoy and don't realize that they are doing. Us adults need to think about our exercise time, and can even buy videos if it will help us to get the job done. Children, however, should naturally be exercising by riding bikes, running around, playing basketball, going swimming, and the like. While we want our kids to be healthy, we don't want to drive them crazy, or feed them with the idea that they have to be skinny. Exercise helps you to be healthy - if you lose weight from it, that's a nice side benefit! Throw out those exercise videos and help your kids to enjoy their time outdoors. When they are older, they will pine away for the days when they had the time and the energy for play and fun. Don't make them sit inside and exercise while they are young!