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I doubt that I’m overreaching by saying that the last year has brought about some significant challenges for, well, pretty much every single person in the entire world. And without minimizing or the struggles of others, I feel like the parents of young children have been impacted in very unique and challenging ways.
We’re all familiar with the old adage, “It takes a village to raise a child,” and even though the makeup of that village has changed significantly over the years, it’s still as true as it ever was. Back in the day that village might have been made up mostly of your neighbors and relatives, but play groups, daycares, dance classes, soccer leagues, and other organized forms of social interaction have taken their place for a lot of parents.
Or at least they did before all of this Covid stuff showed up and turned our world upside down.
This pandemic has presented the parents of young children with several obstacles to overcome, but me being a sleep expert, I’m going to focus on what I know best.
Now, I like to think I’ve got as much energy as the average mama out there, but there’s no way I can keep up with my little ones on a physical level to the degree that another child can. Kids have so much energy, and the best way for them to burn it off, in my opinion, is by playing with other kids.
Of course, with the moratorium on gathering together in groups of more than five or six people, most of us are locked out of the usual meet-ups we typically rely on to get our kids some exercise, and without those play dates and playground time, they’re likely not getting nearly as much physical activity as they used to.
So what does that have to do with their sleep?
It’s a commonly-held belief that getting a lot of physical activity helps people sleep well at night, and evidence certainly supports that theory. A 2009 study from the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Auckland found that every hour of sedentary activity during the day resulted in an average of 3.1 minutes more in sleep latency, or in layman’s terms, the time it took the child to fall asleep after going to bed. Higher rates of activity resulted in less sleep latency, but the formula they used to come up with the times is a little trickier to follow. (—1.2 minutes per 102 movement count per minute, p = 0.05, for you scientific types out there.)
Those numbers might not seem astounding, exactly, but over a few nights, this can actually result in a bit of a vicious cycle. Your child isn’t getting a lot of exercise during the day, so they have a slightly harder time falling asleep at night. That leaves them feeling a little lethargic the next day, which leads to even less activity, which leads to even less sleep. You can see how this can start to spiral out of control pretty quickly.
Another commonly-held belief is that once we get really tired, we tend to fall asleep earlier to compensate, but a lot of people are surprised to learn that overtiredness actually has the opposite effect. Our brains fire up our cortisol production in an attempt to provide energy for whatever emergency we’re staying awake for, making it even more difficult to fall asleep.
So with all of that in mind, here are a few suggestions for some fun activities you can engage in with your little one while we plod our way through what we can only hope are the last few months of this awful pandemic.
Dancing
My personal favorite, and the favorite of a lot of kids as well. Throw on a YouTube video of a kids’ zumba routine and let your little one go to town. I know, okay? We’ve all heard “I Like to Move It” enough to last us several lifetimes, but this is for the greater good. My boys LOVE our nightly "dance party" ritual...it happens between dinner and bedtime routine and is a GREAT way for them to get out some final energy before bedtime.
Bike Rides
When it comes to socially distanced outdoor exercise, you can’t do much better than the good old fashioned bike ride. Kids have to pedal faster and harder than adults to keep up the same pace, so you can hopefully burn off their energy around the same time you’ve hit your limit. Plus the changing scenery will help keep both of your minds off the fact that you’re exercising. Balance bikes are a great introduction to cycling for those kiddos who aren't quite ready for pedals. Most kids can start to manage a balance bike around 2 years of age, maybe even a tad sooner. Solomon is so fast now, that we're able to go on (very short) bike rides together ("You ride your bike mama, and I ride mine," is a daily request).
Yoga
Oh yeah, kids can absolutely do yoga, and a lot of them actually love it! They’re naturally flexible so they’re able to get into a lot of poses their parents can’t which is always a thrill for them. Counting how long they can hold the poses gives them a goal to work towards, and
practicing mindfulness and serenity is something that’s beneficial for people of any age. Check out Cosmic Kids Yoga for some really exceptional videos. The instructor incorporates popular kids stories into her routines and, well, it’s pretty great. Another great bedtime book that incorporates yoga is Good Night Yoga by Mariam Gates.
Hello Neighbor
This is a really clever variation of tag/hide and seek that I heard about shortly after the lockdown started. If your little one has a friend in the neighborhood, ideally only a few houses apart, you and your neighbor each hide an extra key somewhere outside and tell the kids whoever finds the key and unlocks the other’s front door first is the winner. It keeps them apart from each other but still running around with a goal.
Chase
This one is as easy and cheap as they come and if my own kids didn't initiate and LOVE this, I wouldn't be here putting it on my list. If you have enough space in your living room for your children to run a bit, just DO IT (sure, pun intended since we're talking about physical activity and all). My oldest started wanting to "run" in the house after dinner when he was about 18 months old. On those rainy days or crazy hot Texas nights you'll find us following him in circles around the couch. Just push a few things out of the way, maybe turn on your child's favorite song, and GO! Kids love to run, period.
Wii Sports/Wii Fit
This one requires a bit of an investment, and I know that some parents think that video games and exercise are polar opposites, but the Nintendo Wii is a different beast. The sports games actually involve a significant amount of movement, and when it comes to keeping kids engaged and wanting more, this guy is the heavyweight champ. You can get a refurbished one for around $200, which if you think about how much they’re likely to use it, is a pretty good deal.
However you choose to ensure your little one gets enough physical activity, don’t shrug it off with the thought that we’re (please oh please) coming to the end of this Covid situation, and that they’ll be back playing soccer with their friends soon enough. A commitment to an active lifestyle is something they’ll learn from their parents, and the benefits it will have to their sleep, mood, and overall well-being are learned behaviors that will last a lifetime. What's your favorite physical activity with your children? Leave your answer in the comments!