Christmas is such a wonderful time for being together in the home as a family, discovering crafts and baking with your children, and of course playing with new gadgets and toys! But children still need exercise and fresh air to get rid of all that crazy energy and excitement.
Playing games and sports is a great way to have fun together, get outside, engage in physical activities that keep us fit and healthy, keep bad moods at bay, encourage friendly competition, and get a break from the indoor activities that dominate the Christmas period.
Here are some words of wisdom from our resident personal trainer, Lorraine;
“Football and other team sports are a great way to teach children the benefits of physical exercise. With positive feedback and enthusiastic coaching they’ll develop not only healthier bones and muscles but will build self-esteem and become better equipped to handle physical and emotional challenges.
Given the opportunity, most children will happily swap TV, Wii and XBox for playgrounds and football pitches and will enjoy leaving behind chips and cookies for health-enhancing snacks of fruit and vegetables (renamed sports candy in popular kids tv show ‘Lazytown’).
Regular participation in team ball-sports will help your child to better concentrate at school due to improved oxygenation in the body as a result of cardiovascular exercise. He will become more aware of his posture and be more likely to maintain a healthy weight, while improving gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination and social skills.
Football is a great activity for boys and girls which will encourage good sportsmanship, cooperation and teamwork – all essential skills that transfer to any aspect of school or adult life.”
Read more from Lorraine on her Facebook page here and catch her regular posts every Monday right here on Mummyology.
Competition
Competition
Does your child love football? You could win a visit from the FA (football association) for your child’s school, which includes a coaching session from an FA legend, tickets to an FA cup semi-final match for the school’s football team and 2 teachers, and a brand new team football kit! An amazing prize. You can enter here or read more and enter here. Competition closing date is 20th December 2012.
And now here are some more ideas for play outside during the winter months and christmas holiday:
– An ornament hunt – JDaniel4sMum suggests this, and what a great suggestion it is, and then you could…
– Decorate your garden and outside trees – like this Backyard Christmas Makeover from Go Kid Yourself.
– You could make and use these Ice Ornaments from RedTedArt too.
– Or set up a Winter Bird Cafe from Nurturestore
– Play some playground games, like this HoHoHo Hopscotch from The Pleasantest Thing.
– Go on a nature walk: winter nature is lovely, think holly leaves and red berries, pine cones, fir trees, robins… and then…
– Make a Wonder Jar, like this from Connecting Family and Seoul
– Ice Bowling – this would be wonderful, see the post here from Train Up a Child – make sure you wear gloves!!
– Go Ice Skating – lots of places now have temporary ice rinks set up over winter, and many of those have little toddler skating aids so you can your littlies too.
– Snow Activities – If we are lucky enough to get plenty of snow here are 10 Outdoor Snow Activities from Hands on as We Grow
– Just go outside! Yes, and here’s why from The Usual Mayhem
To finish This is a great resource for keeping your little ones safe outside during winter months from Glittering Muffins. You might also like to check out this great list of Winter Activities to Keep Kids Active from Growing a Jewelled Rose.
So now there is no excuse – brave the cold and get outside! It will do you the world of good! 😉
This post was sponsored by Beko. I was financially compensated for this post.
2 thoughts on “Ideas for Outside Play in Winter | Football Competition”
Valerie @Glittering Muffins
(June 29, 2013 - 7:43 pm)Great post! Thank you very much for including our post as a great resource 🙂
Five Family Family Fitness Tips! with #cbias - Mummyology
(July 2, 2013 - 11:52 am)[…] For some more inspiration read our personal trainer Lorraine’s Top Tips to Improve Family Diet and Fitness or some more Ideas for Outside Play. […]