Our top tips to get your children active over half-term

75% of children in the UK spend less time outside than prison inmates.

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Clearly, this statistic needs to be changed, but why is an active lifestyle for a child so important?

Well, aside from the obvious physical health benefits that exercise brings, eatright.org reports that ‘moderate to vigorous physical activity also helps boost critical thinking skills, grade point averages and school test scores’.

That's why, in the midst of the half-term holidays, now is the perfect time to get your child moving.

Here’s our five top tips for getting your child active, healthy and happy during the holiday period.

The best things in life are free

There are plenty of ways to get your child active and healthy without having to break the bank. 

A trip to your local park for example, doesn’t cost anything and can create hours of active fun. 

The NHS lists bike riding, walking and playing frisbee in the park as three fun and easily accessible activities families can take part in. 

Or, if you don't want to get caught up in yet another storm, local leisure centres host a range of free indoor child friendly classes during half-term.

The possibilities are endless. 

Healthy competition

One of the best ways to get your child active in the long-term is by letting them join a sports team. 

As well as the regular weekend exercise sport brings, there are also huge mental benefits from participating in a team sport. 

A report from activkids.com highlights a number of positives, such as an understanding into cooperation, sportsmanship, respect and leadership.

Clearly then, there are huge physical and mental benefits when getting your child active through team sports.

Football, rugby, netball, basketball, cricket are just some of many sports to get your children involved in, to help them build key skills and keep them healthy in a team environment. 

Be a role model

If you want to get your child active, then you need to lead by example. 

So get active with them!

This not only provides your child with an inspirational figure, but also gives you your vital exercise too.

The British Heart foundation lists everything from a trip to the swimming pool to something as simple as hide and seek as ways to spend time together as a family. 

Make getting active a weekly or even daily family activity, staying fit and most importantly, having fun together. 

We are here to help

Of course, the Orfi Active app has plenty of sessions available for children and teenagers. 

Take the TagRev basketball camp for example, which took place over the course of three days during half-term. 

Or, the child-friendly running sessions, along with a host of other activities.

Perhaps you could even create your own event, and invite multiple families to join in with your active lifestyle.

After all, active is for everyone. 

Now it's up to you

So there you have it, our top tips to keep your children active over the holidays.

If you need a bit of help getting started, Orfi Active can help you find a wide range of sessions, so if you are unsure as to which fitness activity to take part in, download our app now and get started.