Childhood obesity is a concern for parents and health professionals alike. In an effort to combat it, doctors recommend making sure your children learn to be active at an early age so they’ll continue being active as they age. Teach your child these eight fun games for preschoolers to keep them active for child development.

1. Hopscotch is a game that children have played for years. Draw a pattern of eight to twelve squares on the sidewalk with chalk. The children will place a rock or button in the first square, hop over the square with the rock, and then jump in the rest in sequence. At the end they’ll turn around and return, picking up their rock on the way. They’ll try to get the rock in each square until they get to the last one. They lose their turn if they step in the square with the rock.

2. Duck Duck Goose is another game you can play with your preschooler. Start with friends, family, or stuffed animals, sitting in a circle. One person is chosen as “It” to go around the circle, tapping each person on the head as they say “duck.” When they say the word “goose” that person gets up and chases them around back to their place, and they become it.

3. Most children have played Simon Says before. A group of children, or adults, stands in a line and “Simon” gives them instructions. As long as the phrase “Simon says” is given before the instruction, the group does what Simon says. If Simon says to do something but fails to say “Simon says,” the person who still does it is out. This continues until only one person is left and they then become Simon.

4. Tag is another game that’ll get your preschooler moving. Several children are chased by one child who is “It.” This child will try to tag the others, which will make the tagged child it. The children can play for as long as they’re having fun.

5. Bug Hunt is a game you may not know. Find pictures of bugs (ladybugs, ants, crickets, butterflies, etc.) and glue them to index cards. Give each child two or three cards and let them try to find those bugs.

6. Traffic Light (Red Light, Green Light) is a game where children are lined up on one end of a yard and another child plays the “stop light.” As soon as that child turns away from the others and yells “green light,” the other children move forward and try to reach him. The children must stop when the stop light turns and says “red light.” The child that reaches the stop light first then becomes it.

7. Help your child with a Treasure Hunt. Hide a gift and then create a treasure hunt where they’ll have to go around the yard or house, go through boxes, up and down stairs, to find their treasure.

8. Musical Chairs is another game that children love to play. Of course you’ll want to have a number of children (or adults) to play, as well. A circle of chairs are placed in a room, seats facing outwards, with one less chair than the number of children. Music starts and the children walk around the chairs; when the music stops the children try to find a seat. The one left standing is out, another chair is taken, and the music begins again.

Take time to play any of these eight fun games for preschoolers to keep them active. You’ll both have fun and your child will learn how to remain active and fight obesity.

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Many preschoolers are active from the time they get up until the time their head hits the pillow at night. Perhaps you don’t have trouble motivating preschoolers to be active, but are they moving at an appropriate child development level? Will their movement help build their body or are they merely whirling dervishes?

By motivating preschoolers to be active when they’re young, you may be able to encourage a love of fitness that can last a lifetime. How do you go about doing so? Here are some ideas which may lead them to love being active.

Activity at Home

In the same way you may go to work, play is a child’s work. Allow your preschooler plenty of free time to play and use their imagination. Actually, you probably won’t have to do much motivating to get your preschooler to be active, but are they active for a minimum of an hour each day?

Find things your preschooler will have fun doing that will keep them active. Instead of taking them on a stroll around the local track, why not take them on a hike through the woods. Help them notice the different animals in the woods, toss rocks into a stream, or collect different leaves. This will make the walk much more enjoyable than trudging around a track.

Take into consideration your child’s skill level when trying to find activities for them. You wouldn’t ask a toddler who’s barely walking to run up and down a basketball court. Teach them to throw and catch large balls before encouraging them to catch a baseball.

Activity at School

Does your child have access to a playground if they attend preschool or daycare? Maybe all they have is a large yard. That’s really all they need if there is room to run, roll, and dance around. It’s not necessary to have several pieces of athletic equipment - a couple of large balls, hoola hoops, and plenty of space is enough.

The Need for Activity

One of the main reasons preschoolers need to be active is that being active helps their body on many levels. It helps build strong bones and muscles. Activity also improves large and fine motor skills as well as encouraging preschoolers to be healthy.

Consider games you played as a child. Many of them had you running, jumping, and skipping. Think about the fun your preschooler could have playing Hide and Seek, Simon Says, Follow the Leader, and Freeze Tag. There are so many great active games; you are sure to find one your preschooler will enjoy.

You may not really have to do much when it comes to motivating preschoolers to be active. The problem may actually be in getting them to stop. Help them have fun while they’re active and they’re very likely to develop a love of physical activity that will translate into a love of being fit as an adult.

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After the infant and toddler days of your kids, now it is time to accept that they are now called young children. They are now on the stage of being preschoolers. Living with preschoolers is never dull. They are funny to watch and even funnier to listen to. They have great imaginations and tell wonderful stories. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s hard to tell if their stories are lies and if what they say is wishful thinking or a need to feel good about themselves.

One day you may hear them running around claiming to be able to fly and walk through walls. The next day they’re blaming the cat for taking all the pans out of the cabinet. You may not know whether to laugh at them or scold them for not telling the truth.

Unfortunately, children will lie occasionally. It’s a natural part of their development, but that doesn’t mean it’s cute and can be overlooked. In fact, as a parent, you want to teach them to be honest. You want to know why they choose to lie and how to get them to stop.

Preschoolers can come up with some wild stories and they’re not trying to be deceptive when they tell stories. They merely have great imaginations and can’t easily tell the difference between reality and fantasy. So, when your child tells you a purple race car made the mess in their room, their intent is not to lie; it’s just their overactive imagination getting the best of them.

Children this age lie for a variety of reasons. They were caught drawing on the wall and wish they hadn’t been caught. Instead of getting angry with them, calmly tell them that the rules of the house are to draw on paper, not walls. Then offer to help them clean the mess up but make sure they do the majority of the work.

Tease them if they come up with a wild story. If they tell you a gorilla visited them at school, ask if it was a story or if it is the truth. Most likely they’ll admit they were joking. You can then ask them what would really happen if a gorilla had shown up at school.

If you catch them in an actual lie, explain to them the importance of telling the truth. Don’t come right out and accuse them of being a liar, but encourage them to always be honest. Reassure them you won’t get angry with them if they tell you the truth. Explain that honesty is always the best policy. When they do come to you with the truth, be sure to praise them for their honesty.

Remember, if you expect your preschooler to be honest, you’ll want to model honesty for them. Even though it may be difficult, this means you’ll want to be aware of any “little white lies” you may tell to spare someone’s feelings. If they hear you lie after you’ve told them to never tell a lie, they’ll be confused.

You may think your preschooler is too young to teach them about honesty, but it’s really the best time to start. They may tell stories that are wishful thinking or a need to feel good about something, but they need to know that lying is wrong. The earlier you start, the more time they’ll have to practise honesty.

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Every year families are torn apart by accidents involving school buses. Research is currently ongoing to determine how to make buses that transport our children safer than they currently are. If you’ve ever wondered how safe your child’s school bus is, take a look at this.

Some school buses have specially designed seats that act as a form of protection even if seat belts aren’t available. Other buses have seat belts that are reported to offer additional protection. The problem, in many cases, isn’t whether these protection devices are available but whether they are used and used properly. Another thing to consider is if the bus is properly maintained and whether the driver behind the wheel is properly trained and certified to be driving the bus in the first place.

Depending upon which state you live in, school buses may be required to have seat belts. Some states that require seat belts don’t require that they are used; they leave that up to each individual school district to decide. In fact, the jury is still out as to whether having seat belts on school buses makes them any safer.

School buses, unlike many things in a child’s world, are actually designed with children in mind. They have been designed with nearly forty federal safety features. The frame helps the bus remain intact if it rolls over during an accident, there is a protective cage around the fuel tank to prevent leaks, and there are burn resistant materials used throughout the bus. The height of the bus off the ground means the possibility of children being injured due to a side impact accident is reduced. Even the color of the bus and the reflective paint on it are there to help keep your children safe.

Every school district across the country is required to maintain their buses properly to ensure the safety of its passengers. They must do a pre-trip inspection each morning before allowing students onto the buses and immediately report any safety defects that may make the bus unsafe.

Anyone wanting to be a bus driver is required go through training to receive a commercial driver’s license (class 1 or 2, with a B or C endorsement) before they are even allowed to get behind the wheel of a school bus. The school system will also require any additional training to keep their drivers up-to-date. Drivers are also required to pass a yearly physical to ensure they are healthy, have good eyesight, and are able to perform their duties as a driver.

Your children are important to you, that’s a given. What may surprise you is how important their safety is to the school district that transports them to and from school each day. They do everything within their power to maintain the bus and train the driver so your children are protected.

While it would be great if school buses, as well as any other vehicle your children ride in, were 100% safe, there are too many outside influences to guarantee that safety. However, the school bus manufacturers, school districts, and drivers are all concerned about your child’s safety and will do everything within their power to get them back to you safe and secure.

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