Physical Activity

1. Write down your goal.

   Set a goal that suits your life and activities you enjoy. A goal might be to:

   • Be active together as a family three times a week.
   • Go for a family walk every evening after dinner.
   • Go for a family bike ride twice a week.
2. Make a plan
   Decide when, where and what you will do. Write it on a calendar where everyone can see it.
3. Keep track of your family's activities
   • Tracking helps you keep at it.
   • When you reach your goal, celebrate your success.

• Set a family goal and be active together.
• Look for new activities.
• Keep track of your family's activity.
• Celebrate your successes.
• Set goals that are achievable.
• Do your best to stick with it because it can take two weeks to two months to form a new routine.
• Use an app to keep you on track and organized. If you do a search you will find lots of options from helping you to goal set, tracking your activities, to helping you make a plan.

• Be active for short periods of time (e.g. 10-minute activities).
• Have a healthy snack before your activity.
• Drink water before, during and after being active. 
• Eat healthy.

Just 10 minutes at a time counts.

Look for ways to add activity into your day:

• Park in the far corner of the parking lot.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• When watching your children play sports, such as hockey or soccer, look for ways you can move too such as walking around while watching.
• Walk for 10 minutes or more on work breaks, after work, before or after dinner.
• Walk or cycle for short trips to the store, to get mail, to work/school or to visit friends.
• Walk over to talk to your co-worker, friend, or neighbour instead of sending an email.
• If you take a bus, get off a stop early and walk the rest of the way.

After you eat, sugars and fats get in your blood. Muscles use the sugars and fats as energy. When sitting, muscles use very little energy. The longer you sit, the faster fats and sugars build up in your blood. This strains your body. Having too much fat and sugar in the blood can:

• Lower good (HDL) cholesterol.
• Puts stress on the pancreas.
• Creates insulin resistance.

Over time this may lead to obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, some cancers, mental health problems and early death.

Screen time is time spent on digital screens. This includes televisions, computers, smartphones or tablets.

Why is screen time harmful?

Screen time is harmful for two reasons:

1. People sit for long periods of time with very little movement when using screens.
2. Screens can affect young children's development. This is because their brains need feedback and responses. Screens can be informative, but they do not react based on a child's response. If a child finds something funny and laughs, there is no feedback or response from the screen to confirm if laughing was appropriate or not.

Tips for parents to reduce screen time with kids

• Infants can be active through interactive, floor-based play with a caregiver.
• Take children outdoors every day to play.
• Be a role model and enjoy being active with your children.
• Limit time spent sitting in the car and on the bus. On long car rides, plan stops for stretching and active playtime.
• Instead of driving, walk to school with family or friends.
• Keep TVs and computers out of bedrooms.
• Have rules and limits on time spent watching TV or playing video games.
• Instead of screen time in the evening, go for a family walk or bike ride.

Tips to help lower sedentary time

• Stand when you can such as while talking on the phone.
• Fold laundry or clean while watching TV.
• Stand up and stretch every 30 minutes.
• Replace leisure sitting time with going for a walk or being active.
• Plan regular breaks to stand and stretch during travel.
• Keep TVs and computers out of bedrooms.
• Have rules and limits on time spent watching TV or playing video games.
• Choose an app for your computer/phone/device that will notify you to take a break.

Town of Ajax

• Ajax Community Centre 905-427-8811
• McLean Community Centre 905-428-7711
• Audley Recreation Centre 905-427-2468

Township of Brock

At school: Photo taken and passes distributed by the Township of Brock Recreation.

Municipality of Clarington

• Courtice Community Complex 905-404-1525
• Clarington Fitness Centre 905-623-3392
• Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex 905-623-5728
• Newcastle & District Recreation Complex 905-987-5667
• South Courtice Arena 905-435-1061

City of Pickering

Pickering Recreation Complex 905-831-1711 or 905-683-6582

City of Oshawa

• Legends Centre 905-436-5455
• Oshawa Civic Recreation Centre 905-436-5454
• South Oshawa Community Centre 905-436-5474
• Donevan Recreation Complex 905-725-3536
• Oshawa Mary Street YMCA 905-438-9622

Township of Scugog

Scugog Arena 905-985-8698 - remember to bring a current photo (one inch by 1.5 inches)

Township of Uxbridge

Uxpool 905-852-7831 - remember to bring a current photo (one inch by 1.5 inches)

Town of Whitby

• Whitby Civic Recreation Complex 905-666-1991
• Brooklin Community Centre and Library 905-655-2010

Download a list of recreation centres in Durham Region where you can use your pass.

• In Canada, 93 per cent of children five to 11 years old are not physically active for 60 minutes each day. This is the Canadian minimum guideline.
• Levels of physical activity tend to drop for both boys and girls as they reach higher grades.

• Encourage your child to walk or cycle to and from school.
• Allow your child to help choose activities.
• Plan family activities.
• Keep TVs out of kids' bedrooms.
• Try to spend more time outdoors after school because it lowers anxiety, anger, tiredness and sadness.
• Stop at the park after school every day.
• Encourage your child to try out for sports teams at school.
• When your child plays, encourage active games like skipping, hopscotch, or tag.
• On special occasions, give gifts that encourage activity like a soccer ball or skipping rope.
• Sign your child up for low cost or free recreation programs.
• Clean the house with some upbeat holiday music.
• Encourage both unstructured (bike riding, hiking, creative play) and structured play (sports, games)
• Role model healthy active behaviour because their eyes are always on you.

Help your children develop physical literacy. This means having basic movement skills. When your child has these skills it helps them develop confidence in moving. They'll stay active through life.

Practice basic movement skills like:

• crawling
• hopping
• running
• throwing
• catching
• kicking a ball
• balancing
• swimming
• climbing
• skating
• dodging
• cycling
• jumping

Resources and links for physical literacy

• Infographic about physical literacy from ParticipACTION
• Infographic and information about physical literacy from Active for Life
• Physical literacy web page from ParticipACTION

• Increased social skills.
• Lower risk of becoming overweight or obese later in life.
• Healthy development.
• Improved self-regulation of their emotions.
• Improved skills to deal with stress.
• Opportunities to build resiliency skills.
• Kids are more active when they are outside.

• Learning to play and playing to learn resource
• Move and Play Every day resource
• Outdoor play calendar
• 2016 ParticipACTION Report card
• Canadian kids are inactive and they may be losing sleep over it - Infographic