Physical Activities to Help Beat the Rainy Day Blues
Despite bad weather, a little ingenuity can still create lively exercise.
By Karen A.
“Rain, rain, go away... Little Johnny wants to play.” This sentiment dates back as far as the 17th century. Even then, children wanted to expend their energy outdoors. In the eyes of a child, a day spent playing outside is a day well spent. Sadly, it follows that when that same child feels cooped up indoors, he often becomes moody or melancholy. However, exercise doesn’t have to wait for the weather to cooperate. There are a variety of ways to let “Little Johnny” play, even if the weather is foul.
Maintaining Healthy Hearts
Indoors, you can set up stations for physical activity. These stations could include jumping jacks, jogging in place, push-ups, sit-ups, and if you have enough space, jump rope. Either use a stopwatch, or set a timer for three minutes. Next, have each child choose a station. Give the signal for everyone to start at once. Each person spends the allotted amount of time doing his station activity. At the end of three minutes, call for a three minute rest to switch locations, and then start another three-minute segment. It is surprising how much energy can be expended in just a few short minutes.
Expand on this concept while sneaking in a little science, math, and health education. Have the kids take their pulse before each station, and then again after the three minutes of exercise. Children love to discover how they can accelerate their pulse. Writing down heart rates for each exercise will provide data which can be used to create graphs or charts. Another fun variation is to have each child predict which exercise he thinks will make his heart beat the fastest. At the end of the circuit, you can compare results with predictions.
How About a Game of Twister
Encourage movement by using the game of Twister. It is great to involve the whole family in this traditional game of placing body parts on brightly colored circles. You can also adapt the game to include school subjects or areas of interest. For instance, with young children, put letters on each of the circles, and call plays using the alphabet instead of colors. Another modification could involve making your own board out of an old sheet and incorporating the elements of the periodic table. Use a permanent pen to write some of the elements on the board, and then call them in the same way you call the colors in the traditional game. Once you start discovering ways to alter Twister, a myriad of creative activities will ensue.
Indoor Dance and Aerobics
Discover the impressive array of DVDs designed to get people moving. Peruse a movie rental site, YouTube, or a video store for exercise programs. Once you begin to Zumba, line dance, or yoga, you will increase your heart rate while chasing away the blues. In my experience, this avenue of exercise is usually met with resistance. If this occurs, try the paper plate aerobics referenced at the end of this article. As everyone focuses on the plates and the game, they are likely to forget that they don’t like exercising to a video. Another method for coaxing the reluctant exerciser is to have Mom or Dad turn on the video and start dancing. Even the most impervious child can’t just sit and watch for long. Generally, kids will join in quicker if there are steps or dance moves to be mastered. You could also propose the idea of choreographing a flash mob dance.
Whether you dance, play Twister, or invent cardio activities, indoor exercise will boost heart rates and dispositions. By finding avenues for playing indoors, the emotional effects of foul weather will wane, and “Little Johnny” will find that he is able to play, despite the rain.
Other Rainy Day Activities:
Attempt a variety of aerobic moves while keeping paper plates under your feet. You can also allow your kids to play tag, or create a dance routine while still having paper plates under their feet.
The game of Twister can be adapted to review and reinforce your current course material. This particular game pertains to Algebra.
Would you like to expand on the above suggestions for taking and charting heart rates? If so, refer to these resources for some clever ideas your students will love.