🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 🤝 Social Skills & Teamwork — Physical games with partners or groups teach children to cooperate, cheer for others, follow a leader, and recover from competitive disappointment — the social-emotional skills that classroom cooperation requires.
• 💪 Strength Building — Age-appropriate strength challenges — climbing, pushing, carrying, and holding body weight — build the muscle development that children need for endurance, injury resistance, and the hand strength that fine motor tasks require.
• 🎵 Rhythm & Timing — Moving to a beat, keeping rhythm in marching or clapping, and coordinating movement to music develops the temporal processing that underlies both musical ability and the phonological timing needed for reading.
• 🏅 Physical Confidence — Successfully completing a physical challenge — climbing something scary, jumping a gap, learning a new skill — builds physical self-efficacy: the belief that effort leads to capability, which transfers to all learning domains.

The Alliance for Children & Families reminds us about the importance of spending quality time together during National Family Week. National Family Week is held November 19th – 25th and focuses on strengthening families and communities.

Making Fitness a Family Priority

With childhood obesity becoming a real concern, participating in activities that promote movement and exercise are critical. During National Family Week, make time to show your children the value of exercise and fitness. When you lead by positive example, your children will better understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Encourage Fitness Activities During National Family Week

Take the opportunity to enjoy fitness activities with your children during National Family Week. Exercise activities don’t need to be elaborate – just make them enjoyable for everyone. The health benefits will just be a happy side effect of spending quality time together as a family. Start now and show your child how everyday fitness can lead to a lifetime of good health.

Community Activities to Consider

Check your community’s calendar of events, as there may be specific National Family Week activities that you and your family can enjoy. For example, many YMCA’s across the country have planned events for the week, including swimming, fitness classes, family carnivals and games, food drives, potluck dinners, and movie nights. One of National Family Week’s objectives is to build strong families in supportive communities, and the YMCA organization shares that commitment.

National Family Week Activities to Benefit the Community

There are a variety of activities you and your family can participate in that promote fitness while helping the community:

Walking in your neighborhood to collect recyclables from neighbors – the money can be donated to a charity.
Organizing a food drive – make a family activity out of working together to gather canned goods and non-perishables from neighbors.
Participating in community clean up projects – enjoy a picnic in the park or time at the playground, then work together to clean any litter in the park!
Volunteering for local gardening projects – many community gardens love to have volunteers help with weeding, planting and winterizing.

These are just some of the many activities that you and your family can participate in during National Family Week.

I'm Wendy Michaels, the Preschool Fitness writer and associate editor for PreschoolRock.com. With an active preschooler of my own, I've experienced how easy it is to include exercise and healthy habits into a preschooler's daily activities. I'd love to hear more about your ideas for promoting fitness with your own preschooler. Please contact me with any suggestions, ideas or questions.