My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Covid

Taking children out for excercise.

41 replies

ThisMustBeMyDream · 10/04/2020 18:52

How are others doing this? Mine haven't left the house other than 1 day in school (key worker) since 18th March. I took them for a walk today, I made them clip boards and put some scavenger hunt sheets on there. Me and DP marked the sheets as they pointed out things they spotted. The children were on scooters. We walked for 2.5 miles in the local area from our home. We observed the social distancing guidelines, although many others had no such courtesy.

My other half felt we weren't sticking to the guidelines as he felt that the scooters and "scavenger hunt" weren't "in the spirit".

To be honest I don't think we will do it again as other people were walking far too close. We constantly stopped and stepped aside for others although no one else did the same. It didn't feel comfortable as I felt worried constantly, although I don't think we did anything wrong by going for a walk in the way we did. DP now feels we should have just walked the main road up and down for a bit. The children would have complained about that though, it would be boring for them.

What do you think? What are you doing to keep children active?

(FYI the children don't scoot ahead before anyone mentions it. They have never been allowed to as one has autism and adhd, and the other is only 4. We didn't stop beyond letting others past who were coming in the opposite direction).

OP posts:
Report
ColourMeExhausted · 10/04/2020 18:58

We are going out for daily walks with them! We are lucky to have woodland very nearby and everyone we see (not that many people) keeps their distance. Of course we arrange treasure hunts, nature trails and games - it's the best way to keep the kids amused and engaged, and take their mind off the fact we see doing more or less the same walk, daily...

I think it's so important that young children have daily exercise. As long as you are observing rules and common sense, I don't see there's any harm? Tbh our solo trips to the shops when we have to go feel way more risky. Fresh air and exercise is keeping us all sane and healthy. But I do get that our circumstances (non built up area, not high risk family, proximity to a large park and woodland) help with this.

Report
ColourMeExhausted · 10/04/2020 18:59

I say treasure hunts...it's a check list of what we have seen on our walk, no unnecessary touching of things...

Report
Whiskersandtwitch · 10/04/2020 19:02

We are going for scoots and walks as well but live rurally so don't meet others. Some days we just play in the garden and they run about enough for me to consider them exercised. I think the scavenger hunt was a great idea. You are allowed to go for exercise and whether your children are looking for daisies and things on their way is nobody else's business. If they enjoyed it I would do it again and don't worry about what others are thinking. They are also out exercising so should not be negatively judging anyone else doing the same and keeping their distance.

Report
whodunit3 · 10/04/2020 19:08

We are rural but within a active village

We have ponies and are riding daily, DC have been out on bikes and we have also done scavenger hunts, races etc.

As long as you are adhering to the one activity a day and safe social distancing I don’t see how it matters how you keep active.

Report
TabbyMumz · 10/04/2020 19:10

Do you have to give them clipboard and do "hunts". Just take them for a walk and let them use their own imagination. Dont walk up and down a main road, find a circular route through housing estates that are quieter, or drive them to a nearby park or common if there is one near you.

Report
managedmis · 10/04/2020 19:11

I have no idea how you have coped with being so cooped up for so long. Your DH is crazy if he says no to scavenger hunts!

We have been going for long walks and bike rides every day, along with most days in the garden, weather permitting.

Report
Fidgety31 · 10/04/2020 19:11

Mine will quite happily not exercise at all !

Report
BackforGood · 10/04/2020 19:13

My dc are grown up now, but i've been going out for daily walks and see other families doing the same - walking, on scooters, or on bikes.
Everyone steps aside to pass on paths etc.
Seems a lot of faff to be making scavenger hunts - just walk / scoot / run / ride. Let them count how many hops it takes to get to the next driveway or time how long it takes to run to the next lampost if they really need a challenge.

Report
FinallyMrsE · 10/04/2020 19:13

We are going for walks each day and our local park has closed the playground but have fun things for the kids, they have put up boards for them to attach pictures to, they currently have an egg hunt with Easter eggs printed and hidden all the way around. I don’t see why you would think a scavenger hunt or scooters are breaking the rules

Report
Delatron · 10/04/2020 19:14

Are you doing anything else for exercise?

We’re all going out once a day but are lucky to live near countryside. Still busy though. We often need to jump in bushes!

We’ll either do a 5k run or walk each day. We have a dog though that needs waking too.

Report
user1635896324685367 · 10/04/2020 19:19

he felt that the scooters and "scavenger hunt" weren't "in the spirit".

For pity's sake.

The rules aren't there to ban fun. They're there to reduce disease transmission. That was the intention of parliament, so your actions were in the spirit of the rules.

Scooters are exercise. You're following the rules.

The visual scavenger hunt is fun although once you get into regular exercise I wouldn't be doing it every day. But variety is good. Better than marching your kids up and down the same bit of pavement for half an hour. Confused

Why haven't you all been outside for nearly a month?

Report
Gettingo · 10/04/2020 19:23

I go walking, running and biking with the kids. I let them climb trees and do cartwheels on the grass. I make them go out every day whether they want to or not. I even make them go in the rain. I don't care about "in the spirit", they are kids and need to be running around outdoors about social distancing, I remind them 2 meters, but yeah, sometimes people will pass by closer.

Report
catnidge · 10/04/2020 19:24

Sounds fine to me. You can do bird, tree, butterfly checklists.
There may be some pre madde sheets on twinkl if you have a printer.
Scooters etc are fine. They should be getting out every day for some form of exercise.

Report
PolloDePrimavera · 10/04/2020 19:27

I'm a big believer in fresh air so we have been. DD14 goes by herself with the dog , DH, DS7 and I go together. We can walk in a lovely woodland setting so I appreciate we are extremely fortunate.

Report
Parker231 · 10/04/2020 19:27

We’ve been out every day - long runs or walks with the dog. Kept our distance but enjoyed the fresh air and the chance to get out of the house.

Report
Deelish75 · 10/04/2020 19:44

We were going out for walks around our local park every few days, but we had to knock it on the head earlier this week as it was getting more crowded and harder to social distance.
We have an alleyway behind our house (back gates open on to it) so we are taking DD out there to ride her bike. The alleyway is quite secluded, only our neighbours have access to it and they only seem to use it on bin day.

Report
Bagelsandbrie · 10/04/2020 19:47

We go out for a walk everyday. We do live rurally so I appreciate we are lucky in that respect. I have two dc aged 16 and 8 and the youngest has autism so we need to go out, meltdowns galore otherwise. I don’t know how far we walk but I’m easily managing 11k steps plus each day so it’s a fair way. (We walk into fields from the back of our house, we don’t see anyone).

Report
MoonBaby1 · 10/04/2020 19:48

Lots of remote walks complete with tree climbing and make believe games. They are allowed and should be going out daily.

Report
museumum · 10/04/2020 19:48

We’ve been out on bikes most days, occasionally a walk instead and once or twice we’ve done back garden sports instead (tricky as our back garden is on three levels and each is small).

The “spirit” is not about banning fun. Our kids don’t have to suffer. It’s about being self contained and avoiding other families. We’ve biked on residential streets where we can ride in the road to stay away from pedestrians.

Report
Aliceinwanderland · 10/04/2020 19:50

Walks either round the block or in the park. We have also played pooh sticks and gone on bike rides. And walks to the post box down the road. Let youngest do chalk drawings on the pavement. Managed to social distance also had chats to neighbours on the way, again keeping a safe distance. I think it's important to give them some sense of normality

Report
PaulHollywoodsSexGut · 10/04/2020 19:51

My god, you’ve been in the house since March 18?

Unless you live in the Eden Project I’m gobsmacked.

Definitely ignore DH and his “spirit” of things”. Just ensure you

  • socially distance
  • wash/disinfect apropriately
  • avoid popular areas


that’s totally fine.

Can I ask how old the DC are and what the reason is you guys haven’t set foot outside for nearly 4 weeks?
Report
IamChipmunk · 10/04/2020 19:54

My dc are 3 and 5 we have been out for a walk every day during lockdown to get out of the house. We take the dog and do various different circular routes in our village.
We cross the road to avoid others or stand at the edge of the road if safe to make sure we do social distancing.
Some days we look for birds and bugs or hiding stones or spot other types of dogs.
Occasionally they take scooters.

They are quite well trained on not touching things and understand why we cant go near anyone else.
If you can go out safely why wouldnt you?

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Random18 · 10/04/2020 19:56

We try and get out most days. Either with scooters or we go on a bike ride.

Kids like taking frisbee / football with them. We have a few green spaces near us where we can do this. If there are others we just walk to next one.

Report
NellWilsonsWhiteHair · 10/04/2020 19:57

Daily bike rides - it’s about 5 mins via residential roads to a huge open under-used space nearby. It’s actually been a great opportunity to get DS (8) used to cycling in the road, and we’ve definitely kept 2m distance from others - although probably not always the 20m distance I now understand might be needed during exercise.

It’s kept us all sane and physically healthier than we would probably otherwise be right now. And yes, it’s been fun - fun is still allowed!

Report
Hollyhead · 10/04/2020 20:01

The rules are to enforce social distancing not pleasure! Your partner is a fuckwit!

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.