For almost ALL kids, there is nothing like the last day of school before summer break. The classes, homework, and strict schedules quickly become a thing of the past. This aspect is great in the mind of the kids, but when summer begins, it can cause parents to push their panic buttons.

During summer breaks, kids will have hours upon hours of free time. The concern among parents is figuring out what to do with all that free time. Sitting in front of the television or computer is a common way that kids tend to spend their summers, but you don’t want that for your kids, plus, studies have shown that kids who spend their summers being sedentary, experience an unhealthy amount of weight gain.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that your child gets at least 60 minutes of exercise per day. Helping your kids stay fit and physically active doesn’t mean that they have to resort to a treadmill every day. There are things that your kid can do to stay fit and still have fun… even make a little extra money on the side too! If the aspect of fun isn’t enough to get them on the active wagon, then they’ll definitely want to hop on the money train!

Check out these different ways to beat the summer boredom and help keep your kids active and fit this summer.

Give them a Good Work Ethic with Summer Side Jobs

The summer is the perfect time to instill a good work ethic in your kiddos. Whether they’re 5 or 15, they can definitely be physically active and still learn the value of a hard-earned dollar.

For smaller kids, around the age of 5 to 9, they are at an age where they can help out with chores around the house. That’s an age where they actually don’t mind helping you out… they may not want to do it but they don’t mind doing it.

To give them more incentive to help you out, you can offer them $3 per chore they complete that passes upon inspection. Some chores for them would include cleaning their room, sweeping the porch or patio, and folding laundry. Stuff that they’ll be able to do pretty easily without you having to go redo it after them!

For your older kids, they can take their services to the streets. Let your friends, family, church members, etc know that your kid is at their disposal for the summer! Tell the potential clients everything your kid can do. Mowing lawns, cleaning the house, washing cars, and walking dogs are all easy jobs that your older kids can pick up this summer to earn a little extra cash.

Teach Them an Important Survival Skill with Swimming Lessons

With the goal being to keep your kids active this summer, swimming lessons will do wonders for your kids! Swimming is an aquatic sport for one, so in learning how to swim, they’ll be working every muscle in their body, which will contribute to their overall fitness.

Secondly, swimming is a survival skill needed in case of emergency situations. Accidents happen all the time and summer months are when death rates due to drowning are the highest. Swim lessons for kids can spread over the course of a few months, it just depends on how fast they progress in the class (usually dependent on how comfortable they become in the water).

So, you can definitely count on swim lessons occupying a portion of your child’s summer break, but keep the lessons going outside of the classes. Once they learn, take family trips to your local YMCA and spend time in the water with them. The more comfortable they get in the water, the better off they’ll be.

Encourage an Interest in Sports

With it being summer, it’s the perfect time to get them involved in outdoor sports! This is the best way to get them active! A great sport to get them outside, running, and thinking is the great sport of soccer.

Soccer allows your kid to incorporate every part of their body with this sport. If you see that your kids have really taken a liking to the sport and actually has some impeccable talent in this sport, consider enrolling them in additional training camps. This will enhance their soccer skills tremendously and take their physical fitness to a whole new level!

Spend Family Time

Spending time together as a family is a no-brainer. But, spending time together doesn’t have to be typical or boring either. This time together can be spent traveling the world, learning new recipes, or simply taking time out to do nothing… Just remember, it’s always better to do nothing together than to do nothing alone!