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We tend to focus more on adults’ physical activity and forget about the kids. Your kids too need the best physical activities as they are beneficial to them. Today, we will look at the benefits of physical activities for kids and which gym games for small groups would be ideal for them.
The good thing about gym games for small groups of kids is that there is so much to do. These games are good in terms of ease of understanding and should keep the kids engaged and entertained. It is always good to see your kids having a good time playing the games. First, let us see the benefits of such physical activities.
Why Physical Activity is Important for Kids
The games are good for the heart
Your heart is just like any other muscle in the body. Its performance will improve when it is subjected to exercising. The heart responds better to exercise by becoming more efficient and stronger. Strengthening of the heart muscles will ward off different types of heart diseases. It is now best to start helping your kid to lead a healthy life during the early childhood stages.
Keeps the veins and arteries clear
We have mentioned the importance of physical activities improving the heart health above. To make the whole system to be efficient, such activities are also good for keeping the arteries and veins clear. You will find that exercises will reduce the amount of fats and harmful cholesterol in the blood. Your blood vessels will have better flexibility and also you tend to have a lower blood pressure. You will find that such a person would have a lower risk of a heart attack and stroke.
Exercises are good reducing the blood sugar levels
There is no doubt you would like to know that the sugar levels of your kid will be within the normal range most of the time. The last thing you want is to have too much sugar in the body that can lead to other health issues. Since the sugar remains within the normal range, there are less chances of developing diabetes.
Good for controlling weight
Whenever someone lives a sedentary lifestyle, you are likely to gain a lot of weight faster. This is because you are taking in more calories than what you are burning. The unused calories are what can lead to accumulation of fat. As you can see, one way of burning more calories would be to start exercising. That is why we always encourage kids to outdoors and play with their friends. This helps to keep them from gaining weight when they are still young.
Good for strengthening the bones
When you physically stress the bones, they respond through getting stronger. It is why you need the kids playing more often to help them develop the strong bones. It is not just in kids but also adults. You are likely to start losing bone density in your 20s if you do not exercise regularly. With more exercises, you end up with a better bone density. Those who do not exercise tend to lose the bone density and sometimes weaken their bones to fragile status.
Can help to prevent cancer
This is another top reason why you might want your kids to start working out more often in the form of games. The gym games for small groups of kids will help in lowering the incidences of cancer. The last thing you would want is for your kid to end up with cancer. The most common types of cancer that can be avoided include colon, breast, uterine, and prostate cancers.
Exercises are good for improving the energy levels
You can always watch those kids who exercise more often will have better energy levels. They can easily keep running around for long without much of a problem. Having more energy will make them more active and will also reduce the chances of getting tired easily during the whole day. For many kids, they would be looking forward to some gym games for small groups they can play. This is because games are fun for them to enjoy.
Top Gym Games for Small Groups of Kids
Fun Tag Games
True or False Tag
For this game, you get to divide the kids into two equal teams. Put the kids in the play area and make sure they understand the goal is to remain untagged up to the end of the game. A coach can give a true statement such as “A cat meows.” All the true players will then have to run towards their goal while being chased by the false team. Whichever team that ends up with more members when the game comes to an end will win the game. The coach needs to mix up the true and false questions to give each team a fair chance of winning.
Toe and Nose Tag
This is among the gym games for small groups of kids as tag games can be fun to enjoy for kids. The players have to avoid being tagged by holding their nose with one hand and the other hand touching the toes. It can be interesting to see how they will be running around in this position. Once you get tagged, then it is your turn to be the one chasing the others around. The game comes to an end when everyone has been tagged.
Freeze Tag
The Freeze tag game is a nice old tag game that has been around for a while now. You will have two to three players who will be chasing the others to tag them. Whenever someone tags you, then that particular body part freezes. Let us say the player tags your left arm, then the left arm is frozen. As you can imagine, the players that get tagged all over the body will end up having a hard time moving.
To make it interesting, you can have players with the power of unfreezing the same body parts. This should make the game go on for longer.
Tail Tag
For this to be among the gym games for small groups of kids, it must be a fun one for the kids. The game will have the coach provide the teams with strips or flags to act as a tail. The players will insert the strips of cloths into their belt, waistband, or pocket. So long as it is visible, then no problem. The players will then chase each other with the aim of trying to get as many tails from the other players. They have to do this while at the same time protecting their own tail. When the game comes to an end, the player with the most number of collected tails wins. This one tends to be a fun and frantic game that many kids would enjoy playing.
Games Involving Balls
Octopus Ball
It is one of the best gym games for small groups of kids because it can be interesting for the kids to try it out. Many find it being the sit-down version of the dodge ball game. The players will begin the game while in a standing position, but then sit down once they are tagged with the ball. They also now become part of the octopus. The players who are sitting down can also touch the standing players who also have to sit down. The game will only end when everyone in the game gets tagged and sits down.
Continuity Ball
This is another interesting game that the kids will like to try out. For this game, you will need up to three beach balls. Scatter the players and throw one of the balls into the air. The players need to keep the ball in the air as long as possible. However, to make the game interesting, the coach can introduce two more balls into the game. Now the kids have to keep all the three games in the air. If all the balls fall to the ground, you need to begin the game again. As they continue playing the game more often, you will notice that they improve their ability of keeping the balls in the air all the time.
Crab Kick Ball
For this type of game, the coach will set up two goals for the teams to reach. It can be a chair, trash can or a lot more. The teams have to be divided into two equally sized teams. Place a seat in the opposite side of the gym with a ball at the center of the room. The coach then gives the signal for the players to start moving towards the ball and the goal. Well, the trick that all the players will have to crab-walk towards the ball and then kick it towards the opponent’s goal. If there will be a player who does not maintain the crab walk, then the opposing team will get a point. The coach will set the number of points that are needed to win the game.
Gymnastics Games
Below, we now focus on some gym games for small groups of kids who participate in gymnastics. The games are interesting and should be so much fun to watch the kids playing them.
Adventure Trail
For this game, it is considered a warming up exercise for the gymnast students. They use this type of exercise to work out the various muscle groups. It also combines several exercises to ensure the whole body gets the workout that it needs. You need to divide the students into teams of six to eight members. They will now have to workout using moves such as bridges, toe touches, forward tumble, handstands, and butterflies.
The number of stations will determine how long the kids have to go through the warmup exercise. Allow the teams to spend a certain amount of time for each station. With the blow of a whistle, then they have to switch stations.
Coach Says
This is another top consideration for anyone who wants the best gym games for small groups of kids. For this game, it will challenge the participants to follow what the coach says. This helps them to work on their gymnastic skills and follow the directions as directed by the coach. Depending on the line up of exercises, the coach can command them to do exercises such as chasse four times, forward roll once, leap forward once, take one step back, and much more.
When the coach calls out a skill without mentioning “Coach Say” then a participant performs the skill, then such a participant must return to the start line. The coach might say names quickly to help make the game even more challenging.
Pretend Animals
This can be a nice game that will get many kids interested in it. They can now pretend to be some of their favorite animals. Whenever the coach calls out the name of an animal, you will then have to mimic its movement. This means that you can mix exercising and creativity. Let us say the coach calls out crabs, then the participants will have to crawl on their hands and feet with the stomach facing up. When he calls out kangaroo, the participants move by jumping.
Talent Routines
Gym games for small groups of kids involving gymnasts such as this one aims to help the students showcase what they have learned. The coach needs to be present during the talent routines to help the kids get better at the various routines they have been practicing. There can be spectators during every performance so that the kids can get the votes for their performance. The winning team is the one with the most votes for showcasing the best teamwork and creativity in the routines.
Final Thoughts
It is always good when you can find the best gym games for small groups of kids. All the games we have mentioned above should be enough to get you started. These games are going to be ideal for kids of different ages. Just make sure to not overdo some of the games to avoid injuries. There is no doubt with all the games the kids will have the best fitness and end up being healthier too.
