Mumsnet users share with Sainsbury's what would get their children up and active

[EllieMumsnet]

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We all know it’s hard to get our children to keep active, especially during the holidays when sitting inside watching TV and playing computer games seem like the more appealing options. Sainsbury’s wants to get to the bottom of this and understand what barriers parents face during the summer holidays in getting your DCs active and in an ideal world what would it take to help you to get them up and about?

Sainsbury’s says: “We want to understand what challenges you and your family face when keeping active in the holidays. We know there are plenty of reasons, but we’re particularly keen to identify the types of support that would help your kids to get active. Do you want to send your children to a local sports camp, but there isn’t one nearby? Or would you like to see more frequent family park runs happening in your local community? Whatever would help your kids to get up on their feet this summer, we want to know!”

Let us know the barriers you face and any suggestions you have to get your children active on the thread below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £300 Sainsbury’s voucher.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

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I have limited mobility so can't take the kids for long walks (or indeed short ones) to the park etc. We have a few playgrounds we can drive to that are a short walk from the car park so I can sit on a bench while they play but the eldest is 10 so getting a bit old for the playground.

A sporty camp would be great but they are very expensive and because I only work term time and have holidays off, it's hard to justify the cost.

I have a toddler and an 11 year old. I find it harder to motivate my eldest due to his age the parks are mostly aimed at younger children or have age restrictions meaning he is too old to play on them but he still wants to be a child and play however the parks locally don't cater for him now he is 11. I would love to see parks have sections for different ages for kids. Lots of people moan about kids hanging about but when they get to a certain age they aren't catered for.

The barriers would be weather really and space in the car to get to places.

If it’s too cold, wet etc none of us are up for it so we tend to go to museums to stretch the legs and just dance around the kitchen. Sometimes when I’m really desperate a soft play. We do go swimming and tend to turn to this as an option when the weather is bad.

Space wise, if we want to get out to the country, day trips can work at a push but no longer due to massive travel system pram, two car seats and picnic stuff. We are national trust members, so we tend to get out to those for a day out from home to stretch out legs.

They like cycling so more off road and segregated cycle tracks.

Aside from the Scottish weather, I find that many of the summer camps don't tie in with working hours - eg 10-3 - when I work 9-5.

My youngest DC isn't the best on her bike, so we can't get far or fast - and fitting 3 bikes in the car is a challenge - so I walk alongside her, helping - whilst my DS goes ahead. I'd love to be cycling with them both, at a reasonable pace - that will come in years ahead.

Youngest DC also whinges when walking, making it a painful experience for all!

We found geocaching to be a great way of getting children outside and walking without realising. Download the app and away you go. It’s like a secret treasure hunt. You can do it anywhere, town or country. Always something new to find and you can walk miles without realising.

My two love water fights and are always up for a game in the garden. We don't have much money spare, so holiday clubs and other activities are out of the question for us!

The weather and location are the biggest problems for us. We live in a very rural area and it takes ages to get anywhere, I also hate driving so rely on dh to do all the driving.

Sunshine and other kids are the main things needed to get my kids active. :)

We are a large family so going to corporate activity centres are a very expensive option for us but being honest we are more of a outdoor family(weather permitting) but very lucky we live near the coast so make use of living near and we love to camp so take advantage of the woodland areas near we live and as my boys are so active we take walkie talkies so we can communicate and the boys go crazy climbing trees and playing hide n seek.
My girls are easy picnics,pamper nights,movie nights and family board games with monopoly locked away in cupboard lol x

The barriers I face are a fixed budget, so when it is school holidays I tend to search the internet to see what events my local council is putting on, what events are free to enter (museums petting farms and workshops), I will invest in a weekly family bus pass to we can get out and about, even a long ride on the top deck of a bus seeing new things, houses, rivers and countryside can pass a morning and keep everyone amused. So with some planning things can be done and a minimal cost, after all memories are priceless and time is free.

The barriers I face is transport, and having out of school clubs for different age ranges, I have to plan starting and finish times with the clubs. A family bus pass can help for the holidays. My school runs OOSH - out if school clubs, which some parents volunteer for, and when we do, our child can attend at a lower charge. It is a great way to have a focus for your day, keep them entertained and on their feet with football skills, rounders and tag rugby games. If he weather is bad then the hall is used for fun gym. We also go swimming to our local pool which has a fun swim with music, and floats to keep them jumping in and out. On a nice day we will take the bus, a cricket set and a packed lunch to our largest park and after I have spend a few hours fielding and refereeing decisions we take to a boat on the boating lake as a distraction. I tend to use my wall calendar to plan days out, and my family can read and know where their next outing will be.

I find it hard to find things that all 3 of my kids will enjoy. Days over the park are essential as staying in especially with a very active 8 year old and they start to get a bit stir crazy. We take badminton rackets and balls over the local park and go for long walks over a huge park near us that we can get to by bus and have a picnic there. When we were younger we went everywhere on our bikes or roller skates, but the traffic near us is awful, but we have scooter runs in the park which the kids love. We also visit a different art gallery or museum at each half term and go to Hyde Park or Regents Park Swimming is also great in the summer it used to be free for kids when the Olympics were in London which was a great idea. I will be on the lookout for special deals before the holidays as day trips can be so expensive

There are 2 issues with getting my children out & active money (I have 3 children & even the good value activities add up when you times it by 3) & transport. I literally live in the middle of nowhere it's a 2 hr bus ride to the nearest town with swimming pool.
So we have learnt to make the best of our surroundings. Today we went for a long walk up to the woods. There's a massive clearing there which is great for hide ñ seek.
The beach is always a favourite. & just being able to get out & about riding our bikes is great

I have 2 children with autism, so the more crowded the venue, the more stressful and less likely we can go there. I would be very helpful to have more places have autism friendly sessions or times, where children with disabilities can go. It is getting better, but there's a long way still to go on this. Local swimming places have 1 disability swim session per week - usually at a difficult time such at Sunday evening - whereas other children have the opportunity to swim at open sessions throughout the day every day.

We've tried day clubs for sports, but while they often say they are inclusive, in reality, many just are not. Their idea of inclusive is to say that children with disabilities can attend - but there are not that many adjustments made to help them participate.

Ideally, it would be great to see some places hire staff that can aid children with disabilities to make it more inclusive by stepping in to assist them (regular staff are generally too busy but dedicated staff to assist children with disabilities/SEN would be so helpful).

Otherwise, we are left with either avoiding these venues or paying a lot of money (which we don't really have) to get private time such as private tennis lessons or private swimming lessons as they cannot cope with the group sessions.

We go to parks, but try to aim for quieter times, which can be tricky.

Weather is the main factor.

One thing my dd's loved doing when they were younger was collecting things when out walking (twigs, leaves, etc.) and then making pictures when they get home. Afternoon craft activity also sorted

We live in a beautiful part of the UK so have lots of trips out to local forests, streams and beaches. We always take a picnic as I only work term time so money is tight in the holidays. Sometimes we’ll meet up with friends and have a big catch up at a local park or similar.

The main barriers we face are that a lot of venues think they are disability friendly but they are not. Not a lot of places cater for children with disability pushchairs or the kind of autism that doesn't mind noise and lights but verbally stims and flaps and can't stay still. Some people don't understand this never mind venues.

Events in our local parks that are well advertised so more children would join in, my child would go if her friends/school mates go as well.

I don't drive, so am limited to my local parks. We have trouble because there's no council funding to maintain them. Our nearest one has terrible drainage, so the play park floods and the field becomes a muddy swamp at the slightest drizzle. We tend to stick to using balance bikes and scooters on the main park paths.

Having a 5 year age gap, I find it difficult to supervise both children when they are using separate play areas. The 6 year old is not interested in the "baby" area, but the 1 year old cannot safely use the equipment for older children. Nevertheless, both need relatively close supervision - especially as the 6 year old has a tendency to get "stuck" at the highest point 🙄

Planning ahead and knowing what support/services are in your local community are really helpful. Affordable holiday clubs/schemes are often really well run and give our kids amazing opportunities to try out new sports.
It's important to acknowledge that it's not just our DCs that need to be more physically active. Looking at the latest obesity rates from Public Health England (& the rest of the UK), the more we can be more active with our kids, the better. It will not just benefit all family members in terms of physical health but also develop stronger bonds between family members.
I was a big fan of the Sainsbury's bumper book of summer a few years ago as it gave families many activity ideas and stickers/posters/fun stuff to help motivate parents and children.
An activity that has proved particularly popular with my three daughters and their friends has been a good old fashioned treasure hunt which takes a little time to organise, but if done well, can occupy the kids for a good hour, get them running lots and encourage team work and problem solving skills.

My DS is very active at 3.5yo and is desperate to play football, run fast and learn gymnastics (more than the feeble role poly I can show him) but there just isn't the classes near us. The ones that are around for his age are all run during the working week. We work full time, and he's at nursery where he gets lots of opportunity to run about but not to learn and develop skills.
I believe in getting children engaged in exercise and healthy habits from a young age, but don't find theres the resources around us to support it.

We go camping a lot so we often do outside activities.
We are also national trust members and spend a lot of time walking through the woods etc at their various sites.

We spend a lot of time out and about all year round but what really makes summer days out for us is having someone to share it with; at the weekend DH is around to come and play and during the week we are lucky enough to have several groups of friends with similar aged children who are equally interested in picnics at park. So I've got over mums for company and the kids all play nicely together.