The stress-relieving benefits of exercise for adults is well documented and discussed and we all know that a long walk, swim or exercise class will have us feeling like new after a long, hard day. However, this ‘feel-good’ aspect of sport and exercise is rarely discussed from a child’s perspective.
While we all know the many physical benefits of exercise for children, one thing we don’t always focus on enough is the positive effect exercise has on our children’s mental health and well-being.As parents, the more you understand about the benefits, the more motivation you will have to implement change into your children’s lives to encourage them to be more active.
GO foods are the healthiest, like fruit, vegetables, wholegrains (bread, pasta, rice) & lean meats like chicken. These foods are good to eat almost anytime.
I hope you enjoyed our Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies, Happy Hearts for Healthy Children webinar on Tuesday.
An easy way to encourage your family to eat a wide range of fruit and veg
Here at RINKA, we focus on putting the FUN into fundamental movement skills but mastering these basic skills is a serious business! Why is it such a hot topic of conversation nowadays? The main reason is that the natural habitat of children has changed. Gone are the days of hours spent playing outdoors with balls, skipping ropes and hopscotch and in are the days of structured play and sedentary activity. Children used to master these skills naturally but now they aren’t being mastered at all.
In my role as CEO of RINKA, an organisation that actively promotes the importance of fitness being fun, I am often asked ‘Is competitive sport wrong for young children?’. My answer to this is always, ‘no, competitive sport is fantastic for the children who ENJOY it’.
In my opinion it’s all relative. Is competitive sport good for teaching discipline, drive, motivation, skill and technique? Of course it is. It is harmful for children on teams? Absolutely not, provided they are there by choice and love the sport they are playing. Is competitive sport suitable for all kids? No. Not every child has the drive to be the best and that’s ok!
However, regardless of whether a child wants to take part competitively or recreationally, the emphasis must be on enjoyment.
Focus on teaching your children the importance of family time, the magic of icy cold nature walks, the enjoyment of reading together, the wonderment of telling old stories, the sentiment of age-old traditions and the fun of starting new ones!
When it comes to your child’s diet and health over Christmas remember one simple thing – they can only eat what you provide. Their nutrition is in your hands.
The proprioceptive system is located in our muscles and joints and provides us with a sense of body awareness, whilst also controlling force and pressure. Proprioceptive activities involve providing intensive input to the muscles and joints. In simple terms, it is our...
Recent studies have suggested that if you complete moderate exercise just a few times every week, you can drastically reduce the number of colds that you get every year. Exercise can boost your immune system and help your body fight off harmful diseases and even something as simple as the common cold. Exercise can boost your immune system by providing a boost to the cells in your body that are assigned to attack bacteria and help you fight off colds and flus before they get hold! What better reason to get out and about and get moving?!
I just had to come on and give my thoughts on all of this here today. There's been a number of articles over the last few days that have talked about the...
I started my day today with a brisk 3km walk and after a quick glance at my pedometer, I had clocked up 4,000 steps. I walk every day but if I didn’t make this deliberate move to get in my daily 10,000 steps I would never even come in close! It got me to thinking...
RINKA classes provide an all-inclusive environment where elitism and perfection are not expected, but where the goal is participation, inclusion and enjoyment. Children learn through play and master the skills they need to develop through play, therefore we must teach on their level and in a language they can understand.
According to new research, childhood obesity rates increase during the holidays. We are all too familiar with the festive bulge that attacks our jeans in the New Year but have we ever stopped to think about the impact the extra food, drinks, snacks and lack of routine the party season has on our children?
Parents need to be mindful about the number of treats kids have over the holidays. Here are a few simple ideas to keep your kids feeling fresh and content and allow them to start the new year revitalized after the break.
Here at Rinka we are interested in all things active but that doesn’t mean we aren’t big champions of all things creative too. In fact, our classes promote creativity in an active way. It is vitally important for your child to have outlets for their developing personalities and what better way than sticking, painting, gluing and coloring! But how can you help your child develop their creativity at home?
It is every parent’s familiar battle. The dreaded dinner time groans of ‘But I Don’t Like It’!! Even though they happily munched on their carrots six months ago, now even the smallest nibbles of broccoli seem impossible! But do not fear. As with many things in their early years, their dislike of vegetables and all-things-healthy is a passing phase and in the meantime here are some simple suggestions to help sneak in their five a day.
The most important thing to remember is that your fear is greater than theirs!! This is what we see week in week out with parent’s bringing children to our classes for the first time. We hear the same worries ‘They may not stay if I don’t stay too’…… ‘I’ll just sit over here in the corner until I’m sure he’s happy’….. ‘I don’t think she’s really going to like it but I’ll give this week a go’…… ‘He’s very shy you know, this isn’t his thing’……
As the winter begins to creep in on us, rainy evenings are becoming more and more frequent and the familiar chant of ‘Mammy I’m bored’ can be heard in most homes!! Here is a very simple idea to help entertain even the most bored child at home; creating a rainy day box.
Encouraging children to be active helps them to burn off excess energy and will leave them (and you!) in a better mood.
Here are three very simple techniques you can easily adapt into your weekly routine to bring more action into your children’s lives.
When kids are looking for sugary treats and snacks it can be hard to say no but it is so important that these types of foods are limited and really seen as a treat. Foods that are high in added sugar (soda, cookies, cake, candy, frozen desserts, and some fruit drinks) tend to also be high in calories and low in other valuable nutrients. As a result, a high-sugar diet is often linked with obesity. Eating too many sugary foods also can lead to tooth decay, energy lows, poor sleeping patterns and anxiety problems.
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