Taking children out for excercise.

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

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).

[PaulHollywoodsSexGut]

I get it now @ThisMustBeMyDream

Sounds extreme on paper but when you use the graphic it makes sense.

This is from someone who had COVID, came out of self isolation the day before lockdown and WHAMMLE.

No trips to M&S for lemon chicken for getting through it for me.

[MeadowHay]

I have an under-2. We have 4 parks within walking distance of our house. We go to different ones, take her in the pram. When we get there I get her out and we walk around, climb on tree logs, feed the birds etc. She usually has a snack at some point as she will inevitably demand one, which involves sitting on a tree log or the grass or a bench for a short while. We don't have a garden.

[Beebityboo]

We too haven't been out in a while now but been in the garden as much as possible.
First it was because we were self isolating and now it is because of fear (my fear, namely) because DD and I have underlying conditions and she has been unwell for months.
I know we can't go on like this and I need to get them out but I'm so so scared. We live fairly rurally but there seem to be people everywhere at the moment. Maybe go very early, or later on?

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

(The self isolation rules just in case someone doesn't understand them and wants to jump on my post and insist we should have all isolated for 2 weeks again).

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

We haven't been out as self isolating from 18th march-2nd April. I then had 1 day back at work before my annual leave this week. My DP had a cough on day 13, so he had to do a further 7 days at home which took him to the 8th. I didn't feel happy taking a 7 and 4 year old out alone when one has autism and adhd (only because of the current climate, and because my 7 year old has a cough tic thanks to his adhd meds. I wouldn't ordinarily feel that way).

We do have a decent size garden which we have spent hours in, riding bikes, paddling pool, trampolining, doing arts and crafts outdoors etc.

DP was worried that it it was "too much". He isn't a fun killer usually! He has increased in worry over the last week or so. This will help calm his worries that it is fine to include other things as part of a walk. We have known people be stopped and questioned, so I think that will have been on his mind too.

We got the scavenger hunt sheets from twinkl, thanks to the poster who suggested there though.

@RedskyAtnight we had hold of the scavenger sheets, and the children were in arms length of us (which I said in my OP). They were also drilled about social distancing and why. We were the only ones observing it though.

[livingthegoodlife]

I think it very much depends on your locality. My kids have only been out once each. There are far too many people walking near our house, it's on the way to two leisure areas which are heavily used. Instead my kids ride their bikes in the garden, climb & slide, paddling pool, games etc. They spent nearly all day running around outside today. I don't feel bad about not taking them "out".

[GameSetMatch]

Getting out the house is essential for children as well as adults, I’ve been taking my two for a walk across the golf course every evening. I’ve not seen a single person. Get the kids walking who cares if there’s an added activity sheet in the mix.

[CaryStoppins]

We’ve just gone out to a nearby green space for half an hour with scooters/bikes. Not every day though - they’ve just played in the garden other days.
It’s very quiet though and we rarely pass anyone else.

[Avacadoandtoast]

Also - what does your partner mean by not being ‘in the spirit’?! Surely you want to make the most of the circumstances and keep making life fun for the kids? I know there are a lot of sad things going on at the moment but we aren’t mass mourning across the country?

[Avacadoandtoast]

We go on a walk everyday, done one scavenger hunt which was fun, but other days just a walk and chest about different things we see as we walk. We’d go stir crazy if we didn’t get out on our walk!

[Nquartz]

We've been fit a walk everyday for 30-60 mins depending on the route, we're lucky though because it's really quiet & everyone crosses the road to avoid each other. It would stress me out having people walking too close though. Can you try different times if day to see when it's quieter?

I might steal your scavenger hunt idea, thanks

[OwlInAnOakTree]

We walk down to the local park every morning. I have a high-energy 6 year old and a very small garden and the one day that we stayed home all day was bloody awful behaviour-wise, as was the next morning! So we go out, whatever the weather, just the same as we do during school holidays. We're generally out for about 90 minutes, stay away from other people, scoot around the park or kick a football about on the large field (whilst everyone else runs/walks around on the very narrow paths).

Like others have said, fun is allowed and exercise and fresh air are needed for many kids. My son would be bouncing off the walls if we'd stayed in since lockdown began. Keep doing your scavenger hunts OP!

[RedskyAtnight]

My concern about clipboards and scooters is how quickly the DC will react to move away from other people - particularly if the others are not so good themselves.

I find a walk quite stressful these days as you have to be constantly looking out ahead and keeping an ear out for cyclists and joggers coming past you.

I don't have young children, but I thought the rainbows in windows originated as a fun thing for children to spot? And in our area lots of houses have put up easter eggs at the moment.

This might not be possible where you are, but when I'm out with DD we sometimes play a game where we change direction if we see anyone else, so our walks end up quite random.

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

We're out walking every morning. I feel more relaxed about screen time if we've had a good walk. I'm definitely varying what we do to keep DS engaged, hes 8 and likes being constantly busy. Some days it's a simple walk, other days hes bought out my digital camera and talented photos in the area. We did 4 miles this morning with Pokemon Go. Also have scavenger hunts printed ready. I dont see anything wrong with making it fun for kids as long as you're following social distancing guidelines.

[Waxonwaxoff0]

We go out every day to an enormous field opposite our building. There's hardly ever anyone else on there, sometimes the odd dog walker. We take a football or something and have a run around.

We live in a flat with no garden, neither of us need to shield so I'm certainly not forcing my 6yo to stay inside for weeks on end.

[RuffleCrow]

Your children haven't left the house in 3 weeks?! Were you shielding or self isolating due to symptoms? If not, I don't understand why you would take government guidelines to such an extreme. And why did they only attend one day of school if you're a key worker?

[Hollyhead]

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

[NellWilsonsWhiteHair]

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!

[Random18]

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.

[IamChipmunk]

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?

[PaulHollywoodsSexGut]

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?

[Aliceinwanderland]

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

[museumum]

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.

[MoonBaby1]

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

[Bagelsandbrie]

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).