Fitness fun for kids at home

If you're a parent at home trying to entertain your kids while giving them the opportunity to get fit and burn off some steam, here are some simple, fun and inexpensive ideas to help.

Paper plate hop scotch: Take five to ten paper plates and print large numbers on them. Place them on carpeted floor or grass in a straight line, or scatter them out in random order. Have kids jump from plate to plate in numeric order. If your child can not count yet, forget the numbers and simply have them jump from plate to plate

Plastic cup relay races: Place five cups at the edge of your largest room several inches apart from each other. Start your child at the opposite side of the room. Have her race to get each cup individually and place them on her starting side of the room. For a greater workout, use more cups!

Freeze dancing: Turn on some fun music for your children. When the music plays everybody should dance. When the music stops everyone needs to freeze. To make this game tons of fun, encourage everyone to dance really wild and freeze in their silliest pose possible. This will keep them entertained and interested in dance for longer periods of time.