Looking for workout ideas for kids? There are lots of great options on YouTube, plus you can easily create your own Tabata or deck of cards workout to get kids up and moving!
Hi friends!
I’ve been sharing some of our favorite workout ideas for kids over on Instagram lately but I wanted to round them all up in one place so you could easily find them all.
We’ve found several YouTube channels we really like so I’ll link to both the general channels as well as some of the specific workouts we like. Remember that we haven’t had time to work through all the options on each channel so if you like some of our favorites, be sure the check out some of the other workouts on that channel!
These have been perfect for getting my five-year-old son up and moving in a way that gets his heart rate up but is still fun and easy enough for him to keep up and follow along. My three-year-old likes jumping in as well.
Workout Ideas for Kids
Coach Meger Fitness Games – lots of great Tabatas
- Thunder is our fav
Glenn Higgins Fitness – we like the superhero ones:
- Spiderman
- Tony Stark
- Captain America
- He also has lots of Star Wars ones!
Michael Ginicola – our favs are:
Les Mills Move Like The Avengers
This is the only Les Mills one we’ve found like this but he loves it
Go Noodle – Their channel has lots of great videos. Some are more songs/dancing but we’ve found several that have you doing a lot of jumping, dodging, ducking etc.
Make Your Own Tabata
We’ve had a great time lately making up Tabata workouts to do together. We each pick four movements and then we use a free tabata timer on my phone or computer and work through our list doing each movement for 20 seconds, resting for 10 seconds. You can make it harder by making the intervals 30 or 40 seconds of work, or you can just run through the whole thing again once you’re done!
Deck of Cards Workout
We’ve also been loving deck of cards workouts. We pick four movements and assign one to each suit. Then you just toss the cards in a pile, take turns picking one and do the movement assigned to the suit you pick for the number of reps on the card. To make it easier, I often pull out the higher card so we only include cards ace – 7 or 8 when I do this with my five-year-old but depending on their activity level and age…and the movements you pick….they might be able to do the whole deck.
Sidewalk Workout
Sidewalk workouts are great for when it’s nice enough to get outside. Give your child a new movement every 3-4 sidewalk squares. If you don’t have sidewalks you could use mailboxes, light posts or even a timer to change up the movements. Some ideas:
- Frog jumps
- Crab walks
- Bear crawls
- Hop on one foot
- Shuffle sideways
- Run backward
- Skip
- Gallop
- Grapevine
- Lunges
- Sprints
- Wheelbarrow walks
- Tiptoe
Each time they get to a driveway, give them a movement with a set number of reps like 10 squats at each driveway, or make them sprint up each driveway and back to you.
Other ideas:
- Try these 15 animal walks for sensory input
- Do this 7 minute HIIT workout for kids (scroll all the way to the bottom of the post and look for the animal pictures)
- Try this animal workout on Alexa Skills
- Play tag
- Set up an obstacle course
- Have a pillow fight
- Go for a walk, jog, scooter or bike ride
- Have a race
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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