The importance of being active as a family

Aurélie Plourde and Marjorie Dubois

Getting active as a family: 2 very simple concepts!

1. Move: Teach our children to love moving! It is through movement that we progress, and it is by progressing that we achieve great things! Moving is not just an activity, it is a healthy habit that is learned from a very young age.

Yes, physical activity contributes to good health, but it has far greater repercussions in the lives of our young people. The development of motor skills (balance, coordination, strength, endurance) impacts other areas of a child's development: fine motor skills, social skills, and cognitive skills.

For example, doing sports helps to have better muscle tone, therefore better posture sitting in class: a basis for good pencil handling when writing!

We can also consider the fact that developing coordination from a young age ultimately allows one to ride a bike, an activity that later allows the child to move from point A to point B, to gain autonomy and that can even help develop social skills through the adventures that will be created with other children in the neighborhood.

These examples are just a few of the benefits of having an active lifestyle. This also doesn't include all the essential values ​​for the success of our young people: patience, resilience, endurance, guidance, social skills, effort, and teamwork.

2. As a family: The group effect plays a significant role in establishing healthy lifestyle habits! If we want our children to be active, we must set an example and, above all, support them!

Experiencing adventures as a family (away from screens) allows you to spend quality time together and create memories that will last a lifetime! Siblings can learn about each other and discover each other's strengths: "Thomas has the most stamina, but Alice is the best at finding her way!" That's what it means to be a real team!

Based on these two principles, we created the game "Our Good Times — Getting Active as a Family *". The goal of this game is simply to help you find fun ideas for getting active! Here are a few examples:

The most important thing is to go outside, use your imagination and get moving!

So, in this beautiful autumn season, we leave you with this simple phrase: Go play outside!

For more information on Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines for children aged 0-4, click here , and for children aged 5-17, click here .

* The game "Our Good Times - Getting Active as a Family" offers 48 simple, fun, and quick activities to encourage parents and children to be active together. Whether outdoors or at home, any excuse is a good one to have fun! Available as a physical copy or as a download .