WALK LIKE A CRAB GAME
"Children learn from role models," says Liz Donnelly, a family
fitness specialist from Cleveland, who blogs at Family Fitness Guru.
"Grandparents are in a perfect position to [be that] role model" by
stressing the importance of an active lifestyle.
Walking or biking to a destination instead of driving, or even
playing Wii instead of watching TV encourages kids to be active.
Next time you are with the grandkids, use playtime as a way
to get the heart pumping.
Pretend to be a crab: Walk sideways on your hands and feet
with your torso and head facing up. As you and the grandkids
crab-crawl around the room, you'll tone your arms and backs.
Once you get the hang of it, have a race! To increase the challenge,
find out who can crab-crawl the longest, using only one foot, an
exercise game that strengthens the backs of the hips and legs.
Funny walking relays cause a lot of falling down and laughing. The
crab walk, in which two or more teams line up at at starting point.
The first person on each team walks on hands and feet with stomach
turned up to resemble a crab. Each "crab" goes to an end point and
returns to the team walking backward, still with his stomach up.
When a member gets back to the team, the next person assumes
the crab position, and takes off. Or, try a chimp relay with the same
format, except that the players walk bent over, and grasp their
hands with their knees.