Get active, Get out & Play!

Eating well and being active is Good for Kids.

Being active is fun and a great way to make friends.

Kids need at least an hour of energetic activity a day (the sort that makes them huff and puff).

Here's some tips for getting active

• Make it fun!  Look for enjoyable activities to work up a sweat (eg netball, football, jogging, skipping) but don't push it hard all the time
• Free is good.  Explore new places - parks, trail walks and local sports facilities.
• Break it up.  Getting an hour a day is easy; 15 minutes dancing to music, 20 minutes playing backyard cricket, 15 minutes riding the bike to school, and 10 minutes skipping and you're there!
• Friends can join in!  Having someone else to play with, whether it be a friend, or a family member, or even a pet can make the world of difference. 
• Mix things up.  Look out for new sports and activities to try. Start with something you might like to do and build from there.
• Inside, outside!  It's easy to get active anywhere, indoors (dance, climb stairs and even housework) and outdoors (throw a frisbee, rollerblade or explore your surrounds).

Turn off the box!

There are only so many hours in the day, and the more time that kids spend sitting down watching television, DVDs and playing computer games; the less time they have available to be physically active!

To allow kids to be physically active, try to limit the time they spend watching TV, DVDs and computer games for fun to no more than two hours each day.

Try to set time limits for TV watching, computer games, internet surfing and online chat.  An easy way to cut back today is to take TVs and computers out of kids' bedrooms.