1. Have simple, active toys around – and use them together.  Balls (lots of them, in different sizes). You can buy glow-in-the-dark soccer and basketballs (which add a fun twist to fall and winter evenings), bats, goals, basketball courts.  A volleyball or badminton net is also really fun.
2. Get a dog.  The two or three daily walks are a great way to exercise as a family and dogs also teach responsibility, empathy and compassion.  Don’t have a dog?  Go somewhere you will see them or, if you have an elderly neighbor with a dog, offer to walk it once a day or a few times a week.
3. Use chalk to mark up your driveway for hopscotch or ball-bouncing games or to make an obstacle course for little ones on bicycles.
4. Go swimming - See who can tread water the longest dive under each other’s legs in the water. Play sea monster: Lie in the shallow water, holding yourself up with your hands. And then move yourself using your hands (with your feet floating behind) to chase down your little guys as they run up onto the beach and back. (Be warned: Lots of screams and giggles!)
5. Explore.  Local parks, beaches, national parks, take hikes, climb rocks, do scavenger hunts, visit museums, pick your own fruit farms. Walk across bridges, up mountains, along the waterside.
6. Use music as a cue. Can be fun to get your wiggles out after you’ve been driving around or while you are cleaning the house or just to dance.  Challenges: Can you clean up all the toys before the song is done?  Can you jump up and down for the duration of the whole song?  Disco nights.  Funny songs.
7. Morning and evening stretching and yoga poses
8. Classic games from your childhood – Simon Says, Mother May I, Red Light, Green Light, Tag
9. Buy inexpensive pedometers and reward the family member who racks up the most steps in a week.
10. Walk or run for charity as a family.  If a family member, friend, neighbor or classmate faces a health challenge, such as cancer or another type of chronic disease, signing up as a fund-raising team as a family promotes many good values, including fitness.

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