Game: Find great activities your family can enjoy
TOPIC
Strengthen your mind and body
Without doubt, families are busier than ever before but that doesn’t mean your own family should put fitness on the back burner. Actually, being fit can help you meet the demands of everyday living by helping to reduce stress, increase energy and possibly give you a better general outlook on life.
Fitness is more than just physical. Your family’s mental fitness is something to always keep in mind:
- Keep your brains active by sharing a hobby
- Share a chuckle together to help keep your family mentally fit
- Volunteer with a local charity to help bring balance to your lives
Easy ways to keep family fitness alive
Once you’ve completed our Family Fitness Match Game, use these tips to keep your family focused on enjoying fitness together:
- Plan for and schedule regular family fitness time each week on a family calendar for everybody to see (use stickers and colourful pens and markers to keep it lively)
- Take turns picking a family fitness activity every week
- Choose toys for your kids that involve some type of physical activity such as pushing, pulling, climbing or pedaling for the younger ones; older kids can receive sport-specific equipment (baseball glove, ice skates, skipping rope etc.)
Your family fitness match game starts now!
This interactive tool is easy to use and will help you filter down activities to match your family’s needs.
Keep in mind that you DO NOT need to answer all three questions. Simply answer as many as you wish to filter down the activities that match your family’s needs. Once you have your matches, remember to scale these activities to the abilities of your family.
One last thing: Before starting any exercise program, get approval from your healthcare professional first.
Family Fitness Match Game
Are you looking for indoor or outdoor activites?
Please make a selection.
Are you looking for age-specific activities?
Please make a selection.
Are you looking for activities that can be done when you only have less than two hours or when you have more time?
Please make a selection.
NOTE: All of the suggested activities can be done at any time! The ones we flagged for longer time periods involve set-up/take-down and clean up time, travel outside your immediate neighbourhood, or may be hard to schedule during a busy weekday.
Once you’re ready, click on the submit button below and get your family fitness matches!
| Activity | Indoor | Outdoor | Kids | Older Adults | Less than 1.5 to 2 hours | More than 2 hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Badminton | ||||||
| Ball hockey | ||||||
| Balloon fun (blow up balloons and toss or volley them to each other, or see who can pop the most balloons by sitting on them) | ||||||
| Bike riding around the neighbourhood | ||||||
| Billiards/pool | ||||||
| Bird watching (either alone or join a group) | ||||||
| Board games | ||||||
| Bowling (5-pin or 10-pin) | ||||||
| Brain exercise video game | ||||||
| Build an igloo, snow fort or snowman | ||||||
| Calligraphy | ||||||
| Canoeing or rowing | ||||||
| Celebrate a birthday being active (roller skating, ice skating, splatter ball) | ||||||
| Dance class (tap, hip hop or ballroom) | ||||||
| Dance at home with the family after dinner (take turns picking songs) | ||||||
| DVD exercise routine | ||||||
| Family card-games | ||||||
| Family comedy time (take turns reading from a joke book or watch a funny video or DVD) | ||||||
| Fencing | ||||||
| Fly a kite | ||||||
| Folk/cultural dancing | ||||||
| Gardening | ||||||
| Gentle stretching | ||||||
| Go camping | ||||||
| Go fishing | ||||||
| Go to an indoor climbing gym | ||||||
| Go to your neighbourhood park and swing, slide and climb | ||||||
| Have a hula hop contest | ||||||
| Hide-and-seek | ||||||
| Hopscotch | ||||||
| Horseback riding | ||||||
| Household chores (turn up the music and make them invigorating!) | ||||||
| Indoor golf (check to see if there’s a facility near you) | ||||||
| Jigsaw puzzles | ||||||
| Jogging | ||||||
| Join a charity walk, bike ride or fun run | ||||||
| Join a choir | ||||||
| Join a community or park clean-up group | ||||||
| Join a historical or architectural walk in your city or town (most are free or ask for a small donation) | ||||||
| Jump rope | ||||||
| Keep a “family happy memories” scrapbook (glue in funny photos, drawings or event stubs) and revisit it regularly | ||||||
| Lawn bowling/bocce | ||||||
| Line dancing lessons | ||||||
| Low-impact aerobic classes | ||||||
| Mall walk | ||||||
| Martial arts class | ||||||
| Miniature golf | ||||||
| Museum or art gallery tour | ||||||
| Obstacle course (backyard or indoors) | ||||||
| Organize a weekly neighbourhood walk | ||||||
| Orienteering or geocaching | ||||||
| Outdoor fitness class (e.g. bootcamp-type fitness in a park) | ||||||
| Paint (finger paint on paper or on a canvas) | ||||||
| Physical video game (Wii Fit or Dance Dance Revolution, for example) | ||||||
| Pick fruits or vegetables at farm open to public | ||||||
| Play "hot potato" | ||||||
| Play charades | ||||||
| Play croquet | ||||||
| Play Frisbee | ||||||
| Play horseshoes | ||||||
| Play tag | ||||||
| Pottery class | ||||||
| Shoot hoops | ||||||
| Skiing, snowboarding or snowshoeing | ||||||
| Snow removal | ||||||
| Soccer | ||||||
| Stationary cycling | ||||||
| Swimming | ||||||
| Tai Chi | ||||||
| Take a cooking class with the entire family | ||||||
| Tennis | ||||||
| Throw a baseball, softball or football | ||||||
| Tobogganing | ||||||
| Treadmill walking or jogging | ||||||
| TV commercials family fitness | ||||||
| Twister | ||||||
| Ultimate Frisbee | ||||||
| Visit a public garden | ||||||
| Visit the zoo | ||||||
| Volleyball | ||||||
| Volunteer as a family | ||||||
| Walking or hiking | ||||||
| Wash the car | ||||||
| Water aerobics | ||||||
| Weight lifting | ||||||
| Yoga |
Looking for a complete list of activities? Click here!