Helping Kids Stay Active Indoors
To protect families from the recent spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, many school districts are heading back to online learning, sports activities are being canceled, and recreation facilities are setting restrictions. While it may be the right move to keep the community-at-large safe, these restrictions limit physical activity and make children restless when cooped up indoors. But there is a simple way to mitigate this problem – exercise. 
Youth sports and learning experts at Skyhawks Sports Academy and STEM Sports®recommend turning exercise into a fun activity to capture children’s interest and keep their bodies moving. One example is Playing Card Fitness, a fun activity that includes simple exercises that is enjoyable for the whole family and can be played indoors in any size room.
Skyhawks and STEM Sports® Playing Card Fitness: How to Play
Do not underestimate how fun and challenging a workout can be using a deck of cards. Playing Card Fitness is a great cardio-based, full-body routine that only requires a deck of cards and a few square feet of open space. To play, each participant picks a card, and depending on the suit and value on the card, everyone completes the exercise. Every suit represents a different exercise and the value on the card represents the rep count. Simple right? Now, let’s understand which suit means what exercise and how to assign values.
- Numbers 2 - 9 = values (i.e. reps)
- Face card = 11 reps
- Ace = 12 reps
- Hearts = pushups
- Diamonds = jumping jacks
- Clubs = sit-ups
- Spades = squats
For example, if a participant picks a card that is 10 of hearts, all participants need to do 10 pushups. To make it a good workout session, have each participant pick one card each and complete the round, and then go for three rounds.
Bonus – Teach Children the Concepts of STEM
Along with the physical benefits of Playing Card Fitness, this activity can also be the catalyst to introduce STEM concepts to children. This activity is a perfect opportunity to introduce the concepts of heart rate, calorie burn, and calorie intake to older children. It is also a great way to keep children and families in the habit of taking time each day to keep their bodies healthy physically and mentally. And it’s fun!To learn more about the concepts of STEM-learning through sports and to register for Skyhawks Winter 2021 Programs, visit www.skyhawks.com.
About Skyhawks Sports Academy
Skyhawks Sports Academy is a youth sports camp organization based in Spokane, Washington. Skyhawks was founded in Spokane in 1979 as a soccer program for children to learn sports in a fun, safe and non-competitive environment. Skyhawks currently offers programs in more than 11 different sports including Soccer, Basketball, Flag Football, Baseball, Multi-Sport, Tennis, Mini-Hawk, Lacrosse, Golf, Volleyball, Cheerleading, and Track & Field for children ages 4-14 across North America. The formats of our camps and programs include traditional weeklong summer day camps, year-round after-school programs, sports leagues, and clinics. For more information, visit https://www.skyhawks.com.
About STEM Sports®
STEM Sports® provides standards-aligned, turnkey K-8 supplemental curricula that use various sports as the real-life application to teach science, technology, engineering, and math skills in classrooms, after-school programs, and camps. Our double-play combination of physical activity and cognitive thinking provides a comprehensive, inquiry-based educational experience and a solution for crucial STEM literacy for students. As a result, students develop critical thinking, collaboration, creative problem-solving, and leadership skills that can be applied throughout their education and future careers.
Aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and National Standards for K-12 Physical Education, our curricula will cultivate and promote participants' STEM engagement and retention. STEM Sports® provides all of the necessary and relevant sports equipment along with the entire list of supplies called for in the teacher/administer manual and all of the items have a long-lasting shelf life. Learn with us at www.STEMSports.com.
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