When its too cold to go outside I'm at a loss for how to get Josiah the physical activity he needs. Ideally I'd love for him to go outside in the morning, run around the yard, play with a ball, climb on his slide, etc. Then have lunch, then settle down and take a nap. But when its too cold to go outside I'm just not sure how to safely encourage physical activity.

I try to put on the Laurie Berkner DVD and get him to dance. He isn't much of a dancer. I do have some success when I pull the cushions off the couch and we jump and climb there.

What do you do when its too cold to go outside to run off the energy?

I like Simon Says. And, as an added bonus, if you let him be Simon after he gets the hang of it, it's an easy way for him to have a little control. :aok:

Excellent! I'll give that a try, Sheila. As in, "Simon says: Jump up and down"? That kind of thing?

yes. The trick for this age group is to always say Simon Says.

Jumping up and down, hopping, run in place, wiggle your arms, spin and do the twist are all favorites here. It all depends on how much room you have. And I've found it is pretty good for teaching/reviewing body parts as well.

We play "Gonna get you!". I'll say "I'm gonna get you!" and he runs. Then when I catch him I tickle him and then run off and he chases me.

Love the Simon Says idea! :aok:

Simon Says and Hide & Seek. With the latter, it helps with the counting skills, as well. The kids just love it! Oh - and when they 'seek', they run to come seek. So that is where the energy burn comes in.
We also play 'animals' where we just go around the house, pretending to be different animals. It does wear them out crawling around like lions and cats and whatnot. Plus fast crawling when the lions chase eash other :aok:

We have a trampoline. It is wonderful for burning energy.

I'm assuming you want to stay at home to do this? We've got a gym not that far from our house, that has open gym times- $5 per kid, and they can run/jump/bounce/tumble their hearts out for 2 hrs. :thumbsup:

When we're at home, we do the "I'm going to catch you" game as well. And, since there are three sets of stairs in our house, we run them up and down the stairs. :lol:

Oh, and my kids are into dancing, but they prefer real, "adult" music to dance to. Johnny Cash is a favorite. You could also try some of the more "hip" kids CD's, like For the Kids, For the Kids II, and the Shrek soundtrack.

My kids tend to run around in the playroom playing hockey or baseball. Not a ton of room, but they're moving.

I don't know how big your current house is, but my friend with a house the size of your old one just bought one of these.

http://i.walmart.com/i/p/00/77/89/88/61/0077898861411_500X500.jpg
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2686044

If this isn't the exact one, it's close. It fits inside the house easily. It's a little pricy ($175), but given we live in a cold climate, I seriously am thinking of getting one to help them burn energy in the winter. And of course you can use it outdoors too.

Hide & Seek.

Josiah LOVES Hide & Seek, but in HIS version, he's hiding under a blanket or behind the curtains yelling, "Where AM I Mommy?" :lol:

And Alyssa... I have 3,200 sq. feet or so here in VA and I can NOT imagine that thing INSIDE the house. :woa:

I'm assuming you want to stay at home to do this? We've got a gym not that far from our house, that has open gym times- $5 per kid, and they can run/jump/bounce/tumble their hearts out for 2 hrs. :thumbsup:

I would KILL for something like that around here. Haven't heard of such a thing. We have a Little Gym, but that's different isn't it? A community center not too far has a similar thing, but of course its not at convenient times for us since Nicholas still naps in the morning.

And Alyssa... I have 3,200 sq. feet or so here in VA and I can NOT imagine that thing INSIDE the house. :woa:That's about their house's size. It was big, but it wasn't ridiculous. :dunno:

I would KILL for something like that around here. Haven't heard of such a thing. We have a Little Gym, but that's different isn't it? A community center not too far has a similar thing, but of course its not at convenient times for us since Nicholas still naps in the morning.

The Little Gym is not that different, actually. Check to see if they have open gym times- they usually have tons of mat space, balance beams for the kids to try, a bar to hang off of, and plenty of balls, hula hoops, etc. to play with. Not sure how they price the open gym times, but definitely give a call and ask.

Aidan & Colin have been invited to birthday parties at places where they teach gymnastics classes. They also seem to have toddler classes and free gym times at off hours from gymnastics class. Maybe there is something like that near you?

Like Stef's kids, mine will only dance to adult music. Johnny Cash is also a favorite, as is Jock Jams (had to dig that one out from college :lol: ) , Natalie MacMaster (irish fiddle), and the Pulp Fiction sdtrk.

We have open gym places like Stef & Alyssa talked about. The places that host gymnastics class do it. They dont advertise about it, but if you dig enough, you can find out about it. Most of the places either do around 10 or 11am, and one place does a 3pm. They go for an hour and charge $4 or $5 per walking child.

OK, my dumb kid just looked at me funny when I tried to teach him Simon Says. :lol: I started out with 'put your hands up in the air' and after some prodding, he did it. but then everything thereafter, he just looked at me funny. I told him it was his turn to come up with the activity, and he just contined to stare at me.

Great. Nitwit. :lol:

My kids are big on chasing each other around the house, so I tend to not have to do anything to get them to burn off energy, although I have thrown a ball up my hallway a gazillion times while they "fetch it" and bring it back to me like dogs :lol: they really love doing that, but be prepared for injuries cause they push to get to the ball first! :lol:

My husband started a new game the other day that wore the kids out. I really don't like running in the house but at times I give in, especially if it means they will sleep better at night.

I guess you have to wait until they are a bit hyperactive and make it a race to see if they can run before you throw the ball and hit them with it. Kinda like dodge ball I guess. We used a soft medium size ball. My husband would yell "GO" and they would take off running. He would try to hit them and if he missed, they would bring the ball back and run at top speed so he couldn't get them.

I'm also a big fan of chase and tickle. Yesterday all 3 of my kids were chasing each other around the kitchen island.

I used to tell my nephew, "I bet you can't run to the other end of the hall". So he would do it to prove me wrong and I'd keep telling him, "bet you can't do it again". That worked great on him and he would wear his little tail OUT.

I play music... the best one is Polka music. As much as it annoys the hell out of me - the kids love it and will gladly dance around. I pull out my bin of stuffed animals and let them roll around in them too. Amazing how long kids will play in a pile of stuffed animals with polka music playing in the background :lol:

I was at a playgroup today and the host was formerly an OT. She had something like this in her playroom, but it was nicer:

http://www.shopping-emporium-uk.com/tpsport/images/tp1folding_tramp.jpg

The kids LOVED IT. OMG. Elliott must have jumped for like 20 minutes straight. And its better than one of those circular things...this thing has some serious bounce!!
She is going to let me know where she got it and I am all over that like white on rice!! Elliott & Norah both passed out the moment they got in their cribs, which is a rarity in winter!

Susan called her kid dumb :lol2: We usually do what everyone else suggested. We have the issue when it is to hot not to cold though.

I was at a playgroup today and the host was formerly an OT. She had something like this in her playroom, but it was nicer:

http://www.shopping-emporium-uk.com/tpsport/images/tp1folding_tramp.jpg

The kids LOVED IT. OMG. Elliott must have jumped for like 20 minutes straight. And its better than one of those circular things...this thing has some serious bounce!!
She is going to let me know where she got it and I am all over that like white on rice!! Elliott & Norah both passed out the moment they got in their cribs, which is a rarity in winter!


Dude. I'm ALL over that! (Would my 15 month old kill himself on it, though?)

Dude. I'm ALL over that! (Would my 15 month old kill himself on it, though?)Having a kid in a cast generally doesn't slow them down. :awink:

Karri - sign me up for learning more about that thing. :aok:

Having a kid in a cast generally doesn't slow them down. :awink:


Ah, perhaps not, but it would give him yet another weapon with which to smack his brother. :lol:

Ah, perhaps not, but it would give him yet another weapon with which to smack his brother. :lol:Which is exactly why Colin *had* to break his leg; they each needed a weapon. :catfight:

When I was a Nanny The people I watched had one. I had the kids on that thing half the day in the winter. It was awesome and they had a blast on it.

They have something like that at Leaps and bounds (http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?itemID=367766&itemType=PRODUCT&lGen=detail&iMainCat=118&iSubCat=85261&iProductID=367766&change=118)

http://www.onestepahead.com/images/product/detail_views_jpgs/11959-dv-1.jpg

Very cool Jayne, thanks for the link!

It says ages 3 and up. My guys are now 16 months and 2 years 9 mo. Should I wait to get one?

We bought one of those as a gift for our neighbors. They LOVE it! My kids went on it as early toddlers, so you don't need to wait. It's a perfect solution for you!

Thanks, Jayne!!! I am getting it!!!!

Susan...Norah and Elliott (29 mos and small for their age) were totally fine on it. And there were kids that were younger than them there that were on it and were fine. I'd say that as long as they're supervised, its totally AOK.

I need one of those trampoline things too! Jackson would be all over that.

I don't have any new ideas for you, but I wanted to chime in that Jackson prefers adult music as well for dancing. A couple times I have put on MTV and let him dance to that. He really likes that Kanye West song with Pam Anderson in the video :blush: (is that bad?).

I also take him out to burn off energy, we have a great play area at the Mall, and a couple other indoor play areas around. Our YMCA also has open play in their gym, as does a local gymnastics club. I have even taken him to the mall and let him walk laps.

I saw that trampoline thing in Leaps and Bounds too. I'm very interested in getting it!

I just ordered it from Babyage.com for $129 and free shipping. It was one of the very few places that say they have it in stock right now. I'm mostly finding them backordered until the end of April at least. I'm half expecting an email from Babyage saying "Oops... backordered...sorry." In which case I'll cancel my order since I found it cheaper elsewhere but didn't want to wait. :lol:

where else did you find it cheaper, susan? do you mind sharing?

[QUOTE=Alyssa]

http://i.walmart.com/i/p/00/77/89/88/61/0077898861411_500X500.jpg
[QUOTE]

Susan, one of my neighbors in our old house had the sponge bob one and used to put it in her garage in the winter, still cold but at least it was dry and not windy. Off course for us here in TX is in the sizzling hot summer that we suffer the cabin fever and the playing in the garage will not work unless you have one of those huge fans to cool you down :shuffle:
I love that trampoline! Though I doubt I can get it, I know my kiddos would go nuts jumping on it :nod:

where else did you find it cheaper, susan? do you mind sharing?

http://www.teachersupplyusa.com/galt-toys/educational-play-ga2500h.htm

Okay so I went in search of it even though I can't buy it right now :(

www.babyoffice.com (http://www.babyoffice.com) has it in stock soon/ first come first served for $119.95 plus $13.02 S&H (to my zip code) BUT right now they're running a 10% off any over $99 orders so that care of the shipping pretty much... the total I would have to pay including S&H would be $120.97

Some other cool trampolines though they're more expensive, they actually have the folding one for $96.59 but you can't order it now http://store.platinumgalleria.com/atoytrampo.html

http://www.teachersupplyusa.com/galt-toys/educational-play-ga2500h.htm
That is a great prize Susan, thanks for sharing :aok:

thanks!

We do most of whats already been posted. Our favorites are the dancing (we have a 'Dance Revolution' CD with songs like 'The Train' that the girls love) and Morgan LOVES to do her Yoga video for kiddos.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot... we have a Musini with an extra cartridge. My kids love music and dancing so we use this one often.

What is it with little ones liking to dance to Johnny Cash's music? We've had many of those dancing sessions too :nod:

That tramp looks cool! They do have one of the small circle ones at Kalyssa's school and they take turns on it but the bar seems better.

I've seen something like that in a catalog somewhere. The First Years maybe?

Musini? What's that?

It plays music and the lights blink at the tempo that you move.
I got it for the kids at Christmas and we've had a lot of fun with it.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000065CKT.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Musini - MagicSensor (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000065CKT/sr=8-1/qid=1143545864/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-2251077-9918453?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance)

ETA: It has settings for different kinds of music... latino, classic, etc.