Getting Your "Couch Kid" to be Active

I remember I have read an article about child obesity issue in Malaysia. In this technology era, many kids will choose to sit on the couch and watch TV programme or play phone /ipad /computer all day. Sadly, many parents just let their kids to do so because this is the simplest way to keep the kids occupied. Unfortunately, the issue of couch potato children isn’t an isolated problem, we are noticing if only our household. In fact, as a nation we are noticing a rise in child obesity and inactivity. In the long run, it will affect the kids' health and grow.

To put this into perspective, parents should indeed engage their kids in physical activity regularly. I believe parents play the most important role in this and I am sharing some tips below that works for my girls.

1. Get crafty

Arts and crafts offer our kids the perfect opportunity to get off the couch. My girls love to do arts and crafts with me. We spent hours to complete the artwork and we will display our beautiful art work in the house. This way, they get excited whenever they see their pretty piece of art, and can't wait to create more and more art pieces to showcase to our visitors.

2. Play

It sounds simple, but encourage children to play might be tricky sometimes. Every kid has different kind of interest and hence we should engage them into the play that they love. We are fortunate to bring our kids to KidZania Kuala Lumpur, an indoor family themed learning centre that offers interactive learning and role play experiences for kids. From there, they learn how to communicate, have fun and appreciate team work while playing. My girls have been there for numerous times and they are still looking forward to visit it. After playing a whole day there, they easily get tired and fell asleep easily at night.
What about you? Do you have any other tips that can roll your little couch potato into action? Tell me by commenting on this blogpost. As I believe it'll not only be good for their health and well-being, it'll be good for yours, too, and that's really good for us all.