Five great ways for kids to stay fit
Former British Olympic athlete Colin Jackson has been busy spearheading a campaign to get children interested in keeping fit.
The BBC TV commentator's interest in helping drum up interest in the Tesco Great School Run stems from his alarm that one in three children in the UK are classed as being clinically obese when they leave primary school.
Baker Ross has lots of games and equipment which provide great activities for children: but it can sometimes be a challenge for parents to help children stay fit.
Colin told the Daily Mirror: "Toddlers and little kids want nothing more than to be outdoors all day, but it's the parents that put up barriers. Mums and dads need to get their kids moving. Take them to the park or go out in the garden."
Model Nell McAndrew is helping Colin with the School Run project and said: "At each school we visited, the kids were beaming, even in the rain."
Now that the sun is shining a little more often, there is no excuse not to encourage kids to get outside and keep fit.
Five ways of helping kids to stay fit
Number One: Turn off the TV
In 2010, British researchers found that six-year-old girls were nearly four times as likely to watch more than four hours of telly per day if their parents watched TV for four hours each day.
Little boys are even more influenced by their parents' viewing habits – the research found that they were ten times more likely to be glued to the TV for four hours per day if their parents did so.
If you do have to have the goggle box on then make sure it is tuned to a sporting event which will inspire children not to be couch potatoes. Hint: Wimbledon is taking place at the moment.
Number Two: Water fun
Baker Ross has lots of swimming pool games which can keep kids on the move in the pool. The Pearl Diving Game is one of them; to play it kids need just fill the shells with water, let them sink and then dive for them. Whoever comes to the surface with the black pearl wins. This game is great for improving kids' lung capacity – useful in or out of the water.
You don't even need to have a pool to have fun in the water. The Skip & Splash Outdoor Sprinkler Game connects to the garden hose to provide the jets of water and spray which children will love to run around in.
Number Three: Get down the park
Parks are free and their open spaces are just the place for kids to run wild and get rid of some of their childish energy. So take some plastic footballs down to your local rec and have a kick-around without any fear of having to ask the grumpy next-door neighbour for your ball back.
Number four – get them to eat healthily
The food you put in their school lunch box is the fuel in their tank for the afternoon. If they're running on empty they are less likely to want to play games. So, think about giving them wholegrain pitta bread instead of processed white bread, nuts instead of salty crisps and fruit instead of a chocolate bar. Baker Ross's healthy eating reward stickers are a great encouragement for them to eat their greens, reds, and oranges….
Number five – at the end of the day…
At the beginning of the day it is great exercise for kids to walk to school instead of being dropped off in the car. And at the end of the day, don't forget to praise them if they've done things to keep fit. It's nice to get some credit for all that hard work!
The BBC TV commentator's interest in helping drum up interest in the Tesco Great School Run stems from his alarm that one in three children in the UK are classed as being clinically obese when they leave primary school.
Baker Ross has lots of games and equipment which provide great activities for children: but it can sometimes be a challenge for parents to help children stay fit.
Colin told the Daily Mirror: "Toddlers and little kids want nothing more than to be outdoors all day, but it's the parents that put up barriers. Mums and dads need to get their kids moving. Take them to the park or go out in the garden."
Model Nell McAndrew is helping Colin with the School Run project and said: "At each school we visited, the kids were beaming, even in the rain."
Now that the sun is shining a little more often, there is no excuse not to encourage kids to get outside and keep fit.
Five ways of helping kids to stay fit
Number One: Turn off the TV
In 2010, British researchers found that six-year-old girls were nearly four times as likely to watch more than four hours of telly per day if their parents watched TV for four hours each day.
Little boys are even more influenced by their parents' viewing habits – the research found that they were ten times more likely to be glued to the TV for four hours per day if their parents did so.
If you do have to have the goggle box on then make sure it is tuned to a sporting event which will inspire children not to be couch potatoes. Hint: Wimbledon is taking place at the moment.
Number Two: Water fun
Baker Ross has lots of swimming pool games which can keep kids on the move in the pool. The Pearl Diving Game is one of them; to play it kids need just fill the shells with water, let them sink and then dive for them. Whoever comes to the surface with the black pearl wins. This game is great for improving kids' lung capacity – useful in or out of the water.
You don't even need to have a pool to have fun in the water. The Skip & Splash Outdoor Sprinkler Game connects to the garden hose to provide the jets of water and spray which children will love to run around in.
Number Three: Get down the park
Parks are free and their open spaces are just the place for kids to run wild and get rid of some of their childish energy. So take some plastic footballs down to your local rec and have a kick-around without any fear of having to ask the grumpy next-door neighbour for your ball back.
Number four – get them to eat healthily
The food you put in their school lunch box is the fuel in their tank for the afternoon. If they're running on empty they are less likely to want to play games. So, think about giving them wholegrain pitta bread instead of processed white bread, nuts instead of salty crisps and fruit instead of a chocolate bar. Baker Ross's healthy eating reward stickers are a great encouragement for them to eat their greens, reds, and oranges….
Number five – at the end of the day…
At the beginning of the day it is great exercise for kids to walk to school instead of being dropped off in the car. And at the end of the day, don't forget to praise them if they've done things to keep fit. It's nice to get some credit for all that hard work!