Activity:
Stay Active With Fitness Tic-Tac-Toe
Who says you have to play Tic-Tac-Toe sitting down? This twist on the classic pencil and paper game offers you and your child a chance to get some fresh air and exercise. Children need at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day to help build strength and coordination, and this is a perfect way to get that crucial time in. Turning fitness into a game helps keep your child's interest and makes physical activity fun. Encourage your child to stay active and help her establish healthy habits that will follow her into adulthood.
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What You Need:
- Paper
- Pencil
- Checkers pieces or poker chips in two colors
What You Do:
- Draw a tic-tac-toe grid (3 x 3 square grid) on a piece of paper.
- Cut another piece of paper into small slips and write a different fitness activity on each one. Place the slips of paper in a bag or container. You can choose from the list of fitness activities below or think of your own activities.
- Now that the game is set up, it's time to begin playing! Have each player pick a color. To begin the game, player one plays a chip on the tic-tac-toe board, then picks a fitness activity out of the bag.
- Both players do the fitness activity.
- Player two repeats steps 3-4 to take his turn. Continue taking turns playing a chip and picking an activity until one player wins or there is a tie.
Try these simple fitness exercises:
Without equipment:
- 10 abdominal crunches
- 2 different Yoga stretches
- 10 push-ups
- 20 arm circles
- 20 jumping jacks
- 15 scissor kicks (on your back)
- 10 body twists
- Touch toes (with legs straight) for 20 seconds
- 15 high-knee steps
- 10 leg squats (straight back, arms forward)
- Balance one leg for 20 seconds and repeat with the other leg
With equipment:
- Hula hoop for 30 seconds
- Balance on a bean bag on 4 different body parts, 8 seconds each
- Jump rope for 30 seconds
- Throw and catch a beanbag while trying to clap (up to 5 claps)
- Play with a scoop and ball for 30 seconds (do two different challenges)
- Arm curl a light weight 10 times smoothly for each arm
- Hopscotch in and out of the entire pattern once
