You and your little angels can be active and happy indoors and out, even when you are doing your shopping.
Out and about…
There’s an ever-increasing number of baby and toddler-friendly activities available, so get out and explore together
- Sign up for local classes – there’s everything from swimming, dancing and even circus games on offer to energise your young offspring.
- Visit a local child-friendly museum and use the experience to encourage your little one to start their own collection of objects, such as stones, leaves and shells from the garden, beach or local park. This provides a good incentive for extended walking and is a great way to introduce kids to different textures.
- Organise an active storyreading session in the garden using costumes and props, and get your toddler to hop, skip and jump at given points of the story.
- Many cinemas now have mother and baby showings – a great resource for when your baby’s brain is still active but your own energy has started to dwindle!
In the house…
Don’t let a rainy day stop you from getting active – there are plenty of things you can do indoors.
- Put a group of safe items into a handbag or day bag for your baby to unpack – this teaches them to undo zips and buttons.
- Set up an indoor scavenger hunt for your toddler by hiding healthy treats around the house. You could use themes from your child’s favourite storybooks to guide them. When they find each hidden goodie, you could couple this with an activity such as jumping on the spot or walking on all fours.
- Break up television-watching by making adverts a time for doing some fun exercises.
- Hide and seek is excellent for both physical exertion and for having fun with your toddler. Hide from your child and encourage them to come and find you. The more you hide, the more your child will hunt and exercise!
At the shops…
Try to make shopping trips fun for children rather than a boring chore.
- Keep your shopping trip as short as possible – and make sure you make a list before you go.
- Give children their own shopping list of pictures of things that they can point out to you.
- Bring a healthy snack from home for your baby to chew on while you shop, such as fruit or a bread stick.
- Encourage your child to walk if possible – thread a scarf through the bars of your shopping trolley and ask them to hold on to this. This will offer them a guide without being too rigid and restrictive.
- Allow your toddler to pick up easily accessible, light items from the shelves as this will make them feel more involved.
