Kids' exercise ball good for fun and fitness

Of all the toys we've tested this year, the one that gets the most consistent and varied play is a kid-sized exercise ball from First Fitness. Not only is it good fun to roll around the basement, it encourages both of my kids to bounce, stretch and move...all welcome when we're stuck inside. Bouncing is more than just good fun; it can be extremely calming for kids who have a hard time sitting still. In fact, many adults use exercise balls instead of desk chairs for this very reason. I imagine this 18-inch ball would be a ideal for a fidgety homeworker at a low desk.

I will admit that the first time I saw First Fitness products -- exercise equipment for kids -- I found the prospect of mini-treadmills and mini-exercise bikes depressing. Since when do we have to compel our kids to move? Why teach kids exercise is something to do rather than something to love? Other First Fitness products are ill-conceived, such as the exercise stretch band -- seems a safety hazard given the obvious slingshot potential.

But the fitness ball and the play parachute are good, multi-purpose products that kids can use any number of ways. We're certainly having a good time around here.

Win it! I've got an exercise ball to send to one of you -- just answer the following question in the comments. I eagerly await your ideas -- we tend to get pretty stir crazy during winter break.

How do you keep your kids active indoors?

I'll pick a winner at 5pm tomorrow, 12/12. Good luck!

Comments

[Holly]

2 words: DANCE PARTY!!! as long as mama's digging it, the littles will dance with me.

[Jess]

My daughter has been known to run circles in the house, do gymnastics and karate moves, and even (not that we want her to!) play ball in the house. Fortunately, she's also content to curl up with me and a book!

She's recently learned to do pushups thanks to karate, and all the parents joked that that was a good way to tire the kids out when they couldn't go outside!

[AmyH]

We either play real games, like Hullaballoo or Mommy's dance game (aka Dance, Dance Revolution) or else we suspend all the house rules and play some crazy made up game of tag/pillow fight/jumping on the beds/pirate/wizard thing that my kids have made up and named the Glippity Glop game (for no special reason that I can figure out.) The exercise ball looks fun!

[Ross]

Since my daughter is only 2 and a half, the entire inside of our house is still one big playground to her. Things I do to wear her out indoors:

- Play "follow-the-leader" around the living room - we go in a big circle around the living room, and the leader has to pick an animal (cow, owl, dog, etc) to pretend to be, and make noises and walk like the animal. The others follow suit twice around the room, and then swap places (with a new animal).

- Dump out an almost full toy-box. when the novelty of the toys wears off, do a clean up activity (e.g. pretend to be robots [complete with sound effects] picking up toys and putting them back in the box) - the constant squatting and standing is more of a workout than many exercise classes I've seen!

- Turn off the TV, turn on some upbeat music, and DANCE! My daughter does a great John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever) impression.

- Do an actual indoor workout. When I get down on the floor and do stretches, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, etc, my daughter immediately wants to follow suit. She'll keep it up as long as I do, as long as I keep varying what I'm doing. Plus, as an added benefit, I get in 20-30 minutes of exercise out of it!

[Rini]

We have a GIANT beanbag from JCPenney's (seriously, huge - the entire family can sit on it together with no lap children), and the kids absolutely adore jumping from the couch onto it. It takes careful supervision to keep them sharing nicely, and it worries their father sick - but oh boy, what a blast!

[TerryG]

It is kind of adult intensive, but we will set up an obstacle course that runs throughout the house. This usually involves shimmying under and over bets, a chair let tunnel, and lots of hopping on one foot, and a balance "beam". If we are feeling particularly adventurous, we will blow up a bunch of balloons and make a balloon tunnel under the dining table.

[Rach]

We have an old overstuffed chair that I let the kids pull the cushions off of and jump on - they also like to jump from the chair itself on to the cushions. But I think they get the BEST workout but doing laps (we have a kitchen/living room/dining room loop), usually with each of them pushing a dolly in a baby stroller. They could do that all night.

[Nancy]

We blow up balloons, then try to keep them out of the "mud" or whatever other dangers my 4 yo comes up with.

[TheAngelForever]

We do lots of dancing to CDs and DVDs. My son loves to wiggle and dance along to Sandra Boyton songs, the Wiggles, Sesame Street and lots of others. We also bought him the new Smart Cycle from Fisher Price that makes him pedal the bike to play video games. He loves this. And when all else fails the entire family likes to get some exercise with our Wii that helps us all bond and work up a sweat - really it does!

[Lisa]

Since he's only 4 months old right now, not much! But as he gets older, we'll do Dance Dance Revolution and chase games. But this ball looks great for laying him on and letting him practice balance (of course, I'll hold him!)

[Cindy]

I keep my older kid active indoors by letting him exercise when I do. He loves playing follow the leader, and it entertains my 7 month old to watch us, too!

[Gladys]

My kids tend to take care of themselves. They'll run circles around the living room/dining room/hallway loop, jumping off the stairs to the sunken living room. They're pretty happy climbing on their beds (we have a cool Kura bed from Ikea, which promotes climbing either way it's set up) and jumping on their beds. And if I get cranky about that, I set up the GoGoTV interactive computer game (http://www.amazon.com/GoGo-Video-Vision-Main-Console/dp/B00083HI9A) that I got on sale a couple of summers ago. That's good for at least 20 minutes of jumping up and down as they try to kick the balloons on the screen. We're also getting a Wii this Christmas -- that should also be good for some exercise.

[Jessie]

We have a daybed/trundle combination. I pull the trundle bed out, leave it low to the ground next to the daybed, pile some pillows all around, and presto! instant indoor tot gym! He'll climb on the daybed and jump off onto the trundle, jump up and down on the trundle, and do lots of random tumbling. When he needs a break, it's also a good spot for cuddling and reading books.

One caveat: this is a good solution for a two-year old. I wouldn't recommend it for an older kid, so we'll have to find a better alternative once he's big enough to destroy the mattresses by jumping up and down.

We're also big fans of the dance party (Dan Zanes, anyone?).

[mel]

Like other commenters, we do dance parties, Hullabaloo, and laps around the house... but they also love hopping on our elliptical trainer!

[Christel]

We capitalize on my toddler daughter's love of putting things in boxes and baskets by putting a laundry basket or similar receptical as far away from the room (through three interconnected rooms, really) as we can. Then we choose a theme, like animal toys or cars or blocks, and have her take them one at a time, run to the basket, toss them in, then run back for another one. Helps her work on sorting, keeps her moving, and often has her rediscovering toys she had previously forgotten about or otherwise moved on from.

[Tricia]

Hullaballoo! Fun for the whole family. Also, it didn't take long to figure out that they sit and stare slackjawed at Dora and Diego, no matter how much she urges them to "Climb!" or "Paddle!" or whatever. So I get in there and do it with them.

[sara]

My little man is active ANYWHERE! So usually the problem is me keeping up with him! LOL! We do loveto play hide and go seek on cold or rainy days!

[Melanie]

One thing we do is set up a large tower of indoor blocks and have our son run at them full force from the other side of the room to knock them down...then we quick set them up again.

[Heather G]

We set up an obstacle course when my 3 year old needs to burn off energy in doors. Over chairs, under the table, 5 rocks on the rocking horse, jump over the pillow really wears him out after a few times through!

[Shelly]

My kids are still toddlers, which makes it easy. We play "chase", but actually they run and I walk after them. Then we also have lots of different balls that we throw around, kick around and bounce. My husband is good at this one.

We'll also do exercise. I'll do some easy moves from one of my workout videos, and the the kiddos will try and do them. My 3 year old is a hoot attempting step aerobics.

[Julie]

My son's only 16 months old, so "real" games don't really interest him yet. But we'll play the "chair game", where we chase each other around the recliner and then jump out and surprise each other. It's a good mix of hide-and-seek, tag, and peek-a-boo, and always has him rolling on the floor laughing.

[jen]

we do a whole lot of dancing and jumping in the crib. and we climb and crawl a bunch through the pop up tunnels we got at the thrift store. she's almost two and I think she has almost as much fun as me!

[CJ]

An old mattress on the floor makes a great "trampoline". Add music, and we have "bouncy dancing".

[Noreen]

We play monster: someone, usually me, is the monster and chases and growls after everyone else. We mixed it up with the monster sniffing for them and other stuff. My girls can play for almost an hour at a time.

[Barbara]

we set up an indoor maze (couch tunnels, run around chairs, under tables, and such)