Fun ideas

Here are some fun ideas for physical activity in the home:

• Dance to your favorite music.

• Turn cardboard boxes into train cars, slides, playhouses.

• Have a parade or pretend marching band in your home.

• Have pillow fights.

Our family also finds it refreshing to get out of the house and do some of the following:

• Swim or exercise at the local indoor pool/gym.

• Take brisk walls at the mall.

• Patronize establishments with indoor play areas.

• Assign the children to do outdoor work, if possible.

• Bundle up and enjoy a winter nature walk.

Get exercise

One thing our family has started doing when watching a favorite football game is whenever there are commercials doing some sort of exercise in that time frame, such as push-ups, sit-ups, etc.

It seems the most fun to the kids if I, the mom, am the one who chooses what the kids do. — Lori Thornton, Kuna, Idaho

Make memories

From the time that our children were small, we have played outdoors in the winter to ease the toss'n tumble dog-piling indoors. We built snowmen, learned to play "fox and geese," and progressed to ice hockey in the local pasture when roads were not navigable to the distant indoor swimming pool or the bigger snow hill by the elementary school.

On days free from after-school drama, art or science activities, we extended our fair-weather sports activities like soccer and football into the winter months in our backyard (with our L-shaped home as a windbreak).

We took the opportunity (as a result of school sports sales) to learn to cross-country ski and later found that biking alongside our runners in the evening is much more fun when wearing safety flashing lights.

We continue to watch our youth participate in Church volleyball and basketball programs and dribble our way through the cold season as a family, though the fresh air becomes very crisp and the patio light sometimes "blocks a shot" as we unstress and make memories.

And we still build snowmen! — Naomi Christiansen, Mukwonago, Wis.

Keep warm

During the winter months my children like to play outside. They enjoy the snow. Sledding and skiing are fun winter physical activities.

But if children play outdoors during the winter, they need to be properly dressed to prevent injuries due to chilling temperatures.

I bundle my children in layers of clothes that they can remove as they heat up from physical activity. This allows them to remain comfortable. Good boots and gloves are vital to keep feet and hands dry and prevent frostbite.

A hat is especially important to protect ears from frostbite and keep the head warm.

If their body warmth is maintained, children can enjoy a wealth of physical activities outdoors during winter. — Diana Eckersell Janson, Rexburg, Idaho

Charitable acts

Have challenges! Make believe! Have contests! Do charitable acts!

A couple of my children had been born by the time we moved to attend BYU. Snow was a new experience. Scraping snow and placing birdseed around the neighborhood and carrying warm apples to cold horses are fun winter activities.

Now that we're living in California, we like having breakfast in the rain on the ocean beach.

We also enjoy sneaking through the misty Redwoods, hunting deer to feed rice cakes to. We also feed oatmeal flakes to fish up at the lake. We have yelling contests in the canyon and climb trees.

Going outdoors becomes a compelling and good habit. — Francine A.M. Griffiths, Santa Rosa, Calif.