Exercise for fun

The easiest way to get kids to exercise more is "to get kids outside with friends."

"When a group of youngsters get together outside, they're going to exercise," said Jim Watkins, director of activities and athletics for Jefferson County public schools. "They're going to do something. ... They'll chase each other around."

Watkins recommends a simple "exercise" routine, imposed by parents, that goes like this: Turn off the television for an hour and go outside.

My friend Marianne Torbert, director of the Leonard Gordon Institute for Human Development Through Play of Temple University in Philadelphia, was also included in this article. It tells how she observed kids at play while while she was standing in a long line, near a big grassy area:

There was no playground equipment, no gym teacher, not even any organized adult effort to get kids moving. But the wide-open space and the empty time were enough incentive for the children, many of whom did not know each other, to "organize" their own tag-like games, which they naturally adapted to accommodate children of different ages.

They were laughing and running and falling down and were not only getting cardiovascular exercise, but also what Torbert said amounted to physical training for youngsters. Running between other moving children, avoiding contact, trying to pass each other — during all these maneuvers, kids are learning balance, which Torbert called "the keystone of all movement," and spatial awareness.

There is an awful lot going on...and much of it will be of longer-term significance to children than upper body strength — because it will build an ability and willingness to be active throughout life."

Not to mention their experience of community, of social health and shared leadership, of the shifting boundaries of friendship, compassion, fairness, playfulness....