City dwellers - what do you do to encourage your child to be physically active?

[Earlybird]

....other than walking everywhere.

I suppose the easy answer is to sign them up for sports of some sort, but that is limited as it is perhaps only weekly, and entails someone taking them there and back.

With little outdoor space, and little ability to go outside independently (to a park, etc) for safety reasons, it seems far too easy to ignore meaningful physical activity.

Why ask city dwellers especially? IMO children living in the middle of nowhere are far more likely to be ferried around everywhere in the car

we walk to school (a mile away) 3 days a week....... I know you said other than walking.....but it's still important!

to be honest, I don't think country dwellers would be any different - wouldn't they be driven around a lot more?

there is a nice children's playground on our walk to school, mostly when weather is warmer we stop off there before going home. It burns off loads of energy and saves them from watching tv bewteen school and supper.

Thinking about outdoor space - v v lucky where we are (West London) lots of fab parks and paths along the Thames. My kids aren't really at the stage where they are going out independently, so you'll (hopefully) get other more helpful responses.

Do you have parks nearby?

I would keep prioritising going out at weekends (or after school in the summer) -cycling, swimming, roller skating etc.

And maybe find out about going swimming after school more often, and that sort of thing, and keep making sure it happens.

Walking everywhere is a good start though.

we've always lived in a city, and always had a reasonable sized park nearby. IMO it's better than playing in the garden, as there's almost always other children to play with in the park.

Walking
Play Centers
Playgrounds
Activities - DD goes to baby ballet

What we actually do is walk where possible - and we can get to some sports activities on foot. In summer we go to the playground after school which has woods next to it. We have lots of parks within walking distance and when they are older they can go to the one on our road by themselves if they want.

There is also much rampaging through the hose which burns off lots of energy! (and there's always Wii Sports )

We walk to school (on days I don't work) we swim at the weekend, we ride our bikes - take a rucksack with a drink in it and go off and "have an adventure" (as DS puts it), I teach them road safety while we're at it.

DS goes to Beavers and DD goes to Brownies both of which involve running around and games, DD does ballet once a week. We also go to "Family Fitness" at the church on Saturday mornings which is games, like obstacle courses and parachute games etc. Costs £1 !!

House!

We walk a lot. We bike a lot. We swim. We go to our local climbing wall, sometimes. We kayak sometimes.

We also limit sedentary play - well, TV and video games, anyway.

Both my boys are very active and healthy.

Perhaps I am wrongly assuming that country dwellers have outdoor space more readily available so a kickabout/game of tag/tree climbing etc are more part of everyday life. Wrong assumption?

Depends on the city and area. When we lived in Manchester there were 3 parks close by, plus we had a big garden and cycle routes nearby, it wasn't hard to be active with children there. Similarly when we lived in Exeter. But I realise that some cities aren't like that.

Obv if you live on a farm there is more space to roam safely within your own property but the families I know who live in rural villages don't tend to let their dcs roam freely any more than those living in towns/cities (I suppose gardens might be bigger though)

We are city dwellers (south west London) but have bags of outdoor space right on our doorstep, so no problems keeping children fit annd active. City doesn't automatically mean limited outdoor space.

We have a recreation ground (fenced and safe) directly opposite our house and we're within 10 minutes walk of Richmond Park, which is 2,500 acres. And we're 25 minutes by train from central London.

What is wrong with walking everywhere as an answer?

We do walk a lot - school, shopping, errands, to and from the park etc. It is cheap, it is predictable (no traffic jams), it is incredibly healthy (because you do a little exercise several times a day every day rather than one or two big bursts per week). What's not to like?

My dds do roam free now we live in a little village, more so than they could have done in the cities we've recently lived in. But in terms of access to physical activity, we've had it in the cities and the village environment. Here in the village it's easier for the children to roam free, climb trees, make dens, paddle in the streams. But we don't have as good cycle routes. So we have more outdoor unstructured free play, less cycling.

It's an issue for us, of course, EB.

A couple of important factors, though (which aren't connected to city vs country at all) are:

• what kind of physical activity school provides; and

• what kind of a child you have.

If you've got a school, wherever you are, which gets them properly running about for at least an hour a day, then you maybe don't need to be concerned about more activity?

And as to walking/vs other activities, some children just are more "active" than others whatever they do - so, "walking" for some children involves bouncing and skipping and running; for others it means dawdling and plodding. Obviously the former kind will be a lot fitter than the latter (and it's a self-perpetuating difference too, which is a shame for the dawdler/plodder sort).

Dd is, of course, one of the former kind, so we just don't do much extra beyond school for her (apart from weekly ballet); ds is one of the latter and I do masses for him, as the vicious circle really is getting visible - the slower he is, the heavier he gets; the heavier he is, the more effort it is to get moving. (We are currently running an economy where time for computer games has to match time spent on a trampoline.) Poor ds.

Anna - absolutely nothing wrong with walking everywhere. I agree it is an excellent way of healthy/active city living. But, sometimes weather/distances get in the way. Also, think that it perhaps is not aerobic enough for dc, and does little to develop coordination.

Bink - sounds as if you've got dd sussed! Even though she is almost 8, she still skips everywhere. School gives her recess time (she always opt for outside activities rather than more sedate indoor options), and she also has daily P.E.

Her interests outside school are (currently) not physical - music, art, chess - so am looking for ways to integrate more active physical playtime. Btw - trying to imagine ds dutifully/valiantly bouncing as required!! Points to you for city-life resourcefulness!

Come to think of it - I should focus on finding more ways to encourage myself to be physically active on a regular basis!

Depends on age of kids, really. Playgrounds worked well for us when dds younger. Now we try to go to the ice rink or swimming pool every Saturday. That's in addition to regular school sport, and "ad hoc" things like jumping on the bed, doing handstands against the sofa, racing each other up the stairs, beating each other up (wrestling, anyone?)

Help! One of the oldest and best adventure playgounds adjoining Ashmole junior and infants School, off Claylands Road, Lambeth
SW8, is under the imminent threat of closure.

It has very popular and devoted playleaders and is a place where parents and grandparents
can meet and/or leave their children to play
off the busy streets and allowing children
to enjoy independent play and adventures.

This is one of the earliest and best playgounds set up by a great pioneer for childrens adventure playgrounds some 52 years ago. This great woman has recently died and Lambeth Council instead of celebrating her life and devotion to the needs of children has refused to renew the lease thus effectively cutting off the Grants which keep it in existence.

Lambeth has a huge number of children in
flats without gardens and this provides
a safe and happy environment for independent play and provides a social meeting place of great value to many parents.

Protests to Lambeth Council, the Minister
for families, schools and children, have
not been supported although the Minister's website has pages devoted to the value and need for such playgrounds.

The situation is urgent, can mumsnet readers
in Lambeth rally round and suggest ways of
retaining this historic adventure playground?

sincerely, Aldra

I drag them to the gym with me on Saturday morning instead of letting them sit home and watch telly... much to their dismay.

School PE is a joke. So I certainly rely on that. Also sign them up for sporty after school activities (DD takes dance and DS will do footie next year when he is in year 1)