What Do You Do to Keep Your Kids Active???

Give them a pail of clean water and a couple of clean rags and show them what to do-in a month or so-get them rakes. Show them how to sort, wash, dry, fold and put away the laundry. Fix dinner in the morning and take a walk with them after homework.

Tag
Hide and seek
puzzles
crosswords
books
kick the can
stickball
catch

As a matter of fact, why are you organizing it for them? They have minds - tell them to use their imagination and come back inside in 45 minutes.

Well, I would send them outside. If it's really hot, they can play with the hose or water balloons. NOt so hot, ride bikes, skateboards, roller blade, play tag, relay races, etc. There is really no shortage of things for a 6 and 8 year old to do and they shouldn't need you to be their entertainment committee. They should be able to entertain themselves.

Put watches on their wrists and kick them outside. Tell them to return at dinnertime.

Why aren't they playing outside while you are making dinner? Riding bikes, etc.

Walk to the park, play, walk back

I take my boys on a run with me. The youngest rides in the jogging stroller or rides his own bike, and the rest, including hubby sometimes, ride their bikes. Family bike rides are the best this time of year, too! Weather is going to be perfect for them soon.

If it is still hot for you like it is us, I set up the sprinkler or pool or something outside for them to play in, even if just for 30 minutes.

Once a week play dates work well, too. Your boys are the perfect age to have a playmate over, or they go there, to just run around for an hour or two. This can be accomplished during the week if planned.

Even a nice family walk after dinner three times a week is good.

And yes, swimming lessons is a great idea.

Watering plants and play a bit outside with the hose,
Playing with bubbles,
Swimming lessons (or joining a swimming team?, it is work but that is exactly what kids need now days and get a sense of achievement!)
My kids still ride their bicycles/scooters or play basketball outside with friends during this time; they just get a little break and drink water and then go back outside until dinner is ready.
When the weather gets more comfortable:
Jogging or walking together as a family (15 or 20 min is good!)
Raking leaves and gardening (still so much to do during Fall!)

Are you within a mile so that your boys could bike to/from school? That would be my first suggestion: drive less and walk together or bike together as a family. We walk to/from school every day. Now that we are still in the summertime, we go for 'a long walk' (at least a mile or more) each day to run an errand or hit a destination; our last couple walks found us exploring the houses in a nearby neighborhood. Was fun. I also have my son come along with me on various grocery trips on his bike; I just carry the load in my backpack and help him with the curbs/crossing streets, etc. We do this at least three times a week, as I like to buy fresh fish/ fresh produce for dinner or we run out of bread, etc. We are a one-car family (my husband needs it for work) so this is a way of life for us. One the weekends you can bike to meet up with other friends at the park as a family, etc.

When he gets a bit squirrelly, I also send him outside to run to the end of the block and back a few times. Seriously, it does him good. I 'time' him, counting, 'how fast' he can run.

Go for an after dinner family walk or bike ride.

If it's hot, put them outside with the water hose to play with. There all kinds of fun water toys to hook up to the hose, or pick up water balloons and water guns to play way war with. Even a sprinkler is fun to run through.

And if inside is the only option some days, I've always kept a small trampoline in our home for bouncing around on. Plus we play lots of great dance music and I keep our LR very clear for lots of rough housing, wrestling, dancing, etc.

And chores are great, like vacuuming and sweeping.

Honestly, I just take my son outside. Running around, bike rides, etc. Kids don't need much more then that. At least, they shouldn't.

my younger wasn't much on self-motivated exercise either, and it wasn't until he was high-school aged that he really got into taking charge of his own health regimen. we were in the exact same boat with the trampoline- he wanted one but my nerves wouldn't take it. he liked the pool okay, but he sure liked video games better. dance dance was a great option and he really used it a lot. i also went to a fair bit of trouble to find odd stuff that he liked to do. medieval sword-fighting was one. tree-climbing was another. it was interesting to have this challenge, as my older one was the energizer bunny (whenever he wasn't an utter coach potato, that is.)
now that they're young men, my older is a slug and my younger is a gym rat!
:) khairete
S.

Honestly I find organized sports to be well worth the expense. It is guaranteed weekly physical activity while learning and benefiting from being part of a team.

Lots of organized activities where they move.
If it's not organized...well, they don't get enough exercise. It's $$$$ since we do it about every day but worth it. We vary the activities. Soccer is great! Doesn't have to be a team; could be a class.
I agree injuries are too high for trampolines.

I don't think ages 6 and 8 should even get homework after SITTING in school for hours (sitting being one of the worst things a body can do). Mine do 10 minutes tops. I help them a lot and don't push it. I do not believe in homework at this age. When they get older, sure, to reinforce math, etc. it will be needed.

I would NEVER consider a trampoline. Major cause of injury - including spinal injury. See the American Academy of Pediatrics statement about them.

DS is 7. DH or I will throw a ball with him, play soccer with him, take him bike riding up the street (we have no sidewalks and he is not quite good enough to safely ride up a real street yet) or to the park. He will also go outside and simply run around on his own. Maybe move homework until after dinner so that they can play outside during the best part of the afternoon (especially as it starts getting dark earlier).

Check out your local library. Ours often has activities after school for kids. One that ours has is a Legos building class and another is arts and crafts. It usually lasts an hour. Otherwise, if your city has programs, that might be a good option. Some of our kids do a form of karate through our city parks and rec division. It's the only way we could afford it. They go twice a week for an hour each time and have advanced 4 or 5 belts now. They eventually want to get their black belt. But they have other programs too besides sports. Finally, if you are open to church, I just recently found a church in our area that has a youth program every Tuesday night. The kids absolutely love it. They play games, sing, do crafts, and of course learn about the bible. I drop them off at 6:30 and pick them up at 8 and they have a blast.

I am not sure about where you like but museum\city trips are the best! My husband and I will take the kids to the city and hit up a few museums, on a saturday or sunday, we try to avoid taxis and such and we end up getting a huge amount of exercise. Another thing I love to do is a no wifi night where we unplug the wifi and actually go outside. (It ends up being more difficult for the adults then the kids) but we will just play tag or soccer.

I have a treadmill. My son has to do 20 mins 3-4 times a week to earn is computer time. He does PE at school 3 x per week. He is not naturally active, hates to ride his bike and dislikes most sports. He doens't have a sibling near to him his age (sister is only 5) You have two similarly aged boys, who should be able to entertain each other without organization. Think back to when you were a child, were you "entertained" with organized sports? I know I wasn't, me and my sister played tennis outside, or rode our bikes, made obstacle courses and all kinds of things. It's hot here too though, and nobody feels like going out in 100 degrees no matter how many hose pipes you have. Which is why you get a swimming pool! We swim every weekend day, and sometimes after school.

Since it's so hot, try a slip n' slide or medium size inflatable pool. We made a slip n' slide using strong black plastic and a sprinkler. The kids used floaty raft toys to slide on their tummies. When it cools down, you can do more bike rides, or walks. One other thought is set up a fun, photo scavenger hunt that they can do in the backyard while you cook. You can take pictures of items in the yard and they have to find them and take their own picture or bring you the item you have hidden. I'll be doing that with my kids before summer ends. If you have an area where they can safely ride bikes outside by themselves, get some razors or 360 RipRiders. My kids use those almost everyday and they weren't too expense when on sale. Even my non-sporty girl is active with her RipRider.

My kids are signed up for swim lessons for September. This will be 2 evenings a week. My son will do ski team once there is snow...this is every Saturday. My daughter might sign up for preschool ballet or gymnastics or little geckos (indoor rock climbing)...all of which are once a week. In the spring they both sign up for soccer...this gets a little crazy with homework but we made it work last year. We have a trampoline which they both LOVE (as do many neighbor kids!). They also like to ride bikes/scooters in the culdesac with other kids. On weekends we always do one active thing as a family. Last weekend we did a hike led by someone from our local environmental center who was teaching wildflower names. It was a little hard for the kids but they did it and had fun. Sunday we went rock climbing with friends and both kids took turns. Our son is starting to get good! We also love to bike ride together and in the winter we ski at our local ski hill.

Have them play outside for 20 mins before homework (you can prep dinner during this time).

Then come in for homework. Gives them a break between school &
homework.

They can go back outside to play while you cook dinner.

(You can also have them wash your car etc.)

Eat dinner.

Then we all go outside for a walk together as a family after dinner.

I like the idea of the Wii game.

We don't do organized sports yet.

I'm not personally a fan of trampolines.

If it's too hot outside, have them do the vacuuming & sweeping for activity.

If you have time, you can always drive to the mall then "walk the mall" for exercise. Go from one end to the other & back. No shopping or buying anything. Just air conditioned walking at a good fast pace. This can be done after dinner then come home. It costs gas but at least you can get exercise indoors.

Live by a nearby gym? Sign up your family if cost effective. Then go as a family after dinner for some exercise.

Buy or check out from the library some exercise videos for them to do while you cook dinner. Choose fun ones. You can, also, by some inexpensive ones online from Amazon.

We have a rebounder, a type of personal trampoline for my son. He loves to bounce on it while playing video games or watching TV it's a good way for him to keep active. In addition, he plays with the dogs.

We don't eat until between 7 and 8:00pm. They get home from school, eat a snack and go outside to play. That is in addition to the gym classes they have at school and any bike riding they do otherwise. My kids also like to walk and will take long walks with each other on the weekends, to local parks, to visit their Nana, etc...

A trampoline is the #1 cause of injuries in kids at home. They are so dangerous some insurance companies will even cancel your homeowners insurance if you have one on the property.

Google information about how dangerous home trampolines are. Kids die on them. Don't get one. The ones used in gymnastics are being supervised by professional instructors, they know how to use them, kids can be bouncing with you standing right there and fall down breaking their neck. They can die with you standing right there when they are bouncing.

That said. It's easy to find activities to keep the kids busy. If you don't want to take them to gym, dance, sports, YMCA, or other places where they can learn new skills and be active then buy a Wii and get a bunch of active games they have to move to do. Like tennis or bowling. They have to move to get the game to work. They have a lot of activity games at our YMCA, the kids can go up to that floor with an adult until they're 9 then they can go up by themselves.

If it's REALLY hot, they can play with the hose, sprinklers, water guns, stuff like that. Do you have a pool nearby? We belong to a swim club so we often went several times a week when it was hot. I usually sat in the shade while the kids played and swam for an hour or so.
You can also go out later in the evening as a family, for a walk, bike ride, scooter, skating, whatever.
Or maybe a family project, like building a playhouse, or tree house?

Do you have a local natatorium? Mine are on a swim team and practice 3 nights a week... hubby and I cycle or swim while they practice... we are all training for triathlons, so we run and cycle with them on weekends as well.

My kids have gymnastics once a week year round, and will be having swim lessons soon for 8 weeks. He does soccer once a week during soccer season (fall/spring) and games on Saturday. Otherwise my kids just play outside everyday while I am making dinner. We have a play structure, a trampoline, sandbox, or they usually ride their bikes. They play outside for a couple of hours, come in for homework, eat dinner, watch one show and we start our bedtime routine.