Raising happy, healthy kids is at the top of every parent’s todo list. That means making sure they eat well, get enough exercise and sleep, and are given enough opportunity for learning and growing in a fun, supportive environment. In today’s digital world, it’s easy to skimp on physical activity in favour of more screen time, both for us adults but also for our children. Which is why ParticipACTION, a non-profit organization whose mission it is to help Canadians sit less and move more, launched a new program called Build Your Best Day. Build Your Best Day is an online tool that let’s kids build their ideal day. Based on the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (aged 5-17) and allows kids to interactively experience these guidelines for themselves.

They can choose from 180 different activities to add to their best day from normal everyday activities like dancing and helping with chores, to really fun and imaginative ones like sailing on a pirate ship or swimming with mermaids. It then lets kids know if their choices provide enough physical activity and sleep for that day or if it means too much recreation screen time or otherwise being too inactive. Such a great idea for kids to learn about their own physical needs as well for discovering new ways to get moving in a fun, interactive environment.

Let’s talk a little bit about the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines. A healthy 24-hours period for children aged 5 to 17 is all about high levels of physical activity, low levels of sedentary behaviour, and sufficient sleep each day.

A 24-hour day is broken down into the following four movements: 

1. Sweat . It’s all about getting at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous (aka heart pumping) physical activity. 
2. Step . On top of an hour of sweat-inducing activity, several hours of light physical activity are also key and spending that time outdoors is ideal. 
3. Sit . Avoid sitting for long periods of time, and try not to spend more than 2 hours per day on a screen.
4. Sleep . Make sure you’re getting enough sleep! Aiming for 9-11 hours for ages 5-13 and 8-10 hours for ages 14-17 is best. If you’d like to read more about the 24-Hour Movement Guideline as well as what Build Your Best Day is all about, check out ParticipACTION’s website here.

I always love to hear personal tips from other parents about how they make these guidelines work for their own family, so I want to do the same for anyone who’s in need of a little inspiration. Some of my favourite ways to make sure Isabelle and Nicolas are getting enough physical activity and sleep per day as well as not being sedentary for a long period of time are:

• Do housework together . My kids love cleaning and other household chores and I attribute that to the fact that I’ve made sure to include them from an early age. Everyone has a to-do list a mile long and having kids help means everyone is moving and you’re actually getting some things done because your kids are happily doing these tasks with you.
• Go for a walk first thing in the morning . I find it’s really important to get out of the house as early as possible in the day, even if it’s just to run errands or walk to school. Starting our day walking outdoors usually means we’ll be more active for the rest of the day as well.
• Have high quality outdoor gear . With the cold winters we have in Canada, it’s easy to stay holed up indoors. But getting outside is key for everyone’s sanity, so I never skimp on quality when it comes to winter and rain gear as well as footwear. The more comfortable that everyone is, the more likely they’ll want to be outside longer.
• Bring the kids’ scooters . My kids love their scooters and they can last so much longer scooting than they can walking. Plus since they’re so fast, we can actually cover quite a bit of ground in a short period of time which is great for running errands or for discovering playgrounds that are a little further away.
• Be active yourself . When I’m taking care of my own fitness, I naturally run and play with my kids more, which in turns means they’re running and playing more as well. We love jumping rope together, playing tag in our background, and just jumping around and being silly.
• Enroll them in organized sports or dance . We currently have Isabelle enrolled in soccer and will be adding gymnastics and tennis to her extra-curricular activities this year. It’s great for getting them moving but also for team building, improving fine motor skills, and growing more confident.
• Play music . We have so many impromptu dance parties and I think that’s in large part because we’ve always got music on in the background. When a favourite song comes on, we just naturally start dancing.
• Have a little screen time at the same time each day . We definitely allow our kids screen time which usually means watching one of their favourite Netflix shows (right now they’re big on Paw Patrol). I need that little bit of downtime to catch up on e-mails or work and just to have a bit of time not being “on”. We schedule screen time at the same time each day, which works well for us because they then don’t ask for it outside of that period.
• Have a consistent bedtime . My kids go to bed at the same time every day (7:30pm) and our bedtime routine is always the exact same (save for bath time that we do 1-2 times per week). Having that routine means they know when sleep is coming and they’re less likely to fight it.
• Use a sleep clock . For younger kids that aren’t great at telling time yet, a sleep clock is amazing! It’s blue when they need to sleep and yellow when they can get up. It works really well for both of my kids, especially with not waking up too early in the morning.

 What are some of the ways you and your family Build Your Best Day?