How to keep active in the school holidays with the kids off

This year my youngest started school, so it has been the first time in nearly 8 years that I have had both of my children in school and a bit of time to myself in the day. Over the past year I have built up quite a good exercise routine in term time, but that always goes on pause when the holidays come around.

I have been so excited about having the children off school for 6 weeks and we have so many fun things planned, but I have also been a bit anxious about not being able to keep my fitness up. I know I will be eating out lots so I wanted to come up with some ways to try and balance out those extra calories and I have also found that exercising is really good for my mental health too.

So here are a list of a few things I will be trying to keep my activity levels up, that I can do either with my children or with the children around.

Online Exercise videos

I have dabbled in exercise videos on YouTube a bit in the past, but I have been so blown away by the amount of content and the quality of everything on YouTube at the moment. I can choose exercise videos from 5 minute quick sessions to hour long dance classes or aerobics sessions. I have been trying to make the most of not having to rush out on the school run in the mornings and doing a video first thing in the morning, before I shower, so I can get it done and then the day is free. My little ones often love joining in with me on these too.

One of my favourite people to follow at the moment is Growwithjo

Brain Break Activities for kids

I am really making the most of YouTube at the moment and these Brain break activities are a great way to get the kids up and moving and they are great fun for adults to join in with too. A lot of them are designed by teachers and are aimed at getting children up onto their feet for short bursts of physical activity in between doing other things. There are so many different themes of activities, the Encanto and Minecraft ones are big hits in my house at the moment.

Taking the dog for a walk with friends in the Evening

In term time I aim to try and walk our dog for a good 5k a day, which I do straight from the school run. My children are only 7 and 5 so they aren’t really up for doing long walks like that every day, even if they are it is generally a much slower pace so I don’t feel like I get a good enough walk. A few friends and I have decided to make the most of the lighter evenings and our Husbands being at home after work to get our dog walks in the evenings instead

Walk instead of drive

In term time I find I am always rushing from one place to the next, so simple super market trips are always done in the car, often in between stops to various places. This week we have made the most of have no time restraints and I walked to Sainsburys with the little ones and they took their scooters. It earned me an extra five thousand steps that day and also meant I couldn’t buy the things I didn’t actually need but normally get sucked in by as I had to carry it all home.

Fitbit challenges

If you and your friends have a fitbit each then there are some great challenges you can all do together to keep you motivated. Even if it means you are running up and down the living room to keep up with your friends, it is still keeping you active! We actually bought my son a children’s fitbit recently and he is the most competitive of all of my fitbit friends! It often sounds like a herd of elephants is running about in his bedroom,but it’s keeping him active too and stopping him spending so much time on video games, which is great!

Get creative in the swimming pool

I love swimming and when I can go on my own I like to try and do about 30 lengths or so, which is fairly impossible when I have my little ones with me. What I have found though, is that exercising in the pool is a great way to get lots of extra steps and moves in. It feels much easier bobbing about in the water, so I will actually just keep moving. It may be walking on the spot or up and down the pool, bouncing about and moving my arms backwards and forward. Think about moves you see if aqua aerobics sessions, these are all easy to do while your children play.