Family fitness is great. After all, what better way to enjoy being with your kids and promote health at the same time? Let's take things one step further.

Week Five Activities

Foster independent exercise habits In addition to the fitness activities you can do together, a fitness-friendly household encourages developmentally appropriate fitness activities for each member on their own. Whatever the ages and stages of your children, there's something to fit the bill.

• Check out the classes at your local children's fitness or gymnastics center. There are “little gym” type businesses sprouting up all over the place that offer fun-filled ways to get great exercise. Even your local health club may have special programs for kids – a perfect way to get them active while you work out!
• Encourage your kids to participate in an organized sport each season. It's a great way for them to get some exercise while learning a new skill, sportsmanship and making new friends. With practices and games, you'll have the peace of mind that your child will have workouts already scheduled twice a week.
• Shoo them outside to shoot basketball in the garage, kick the soccer ball in the backyard or ride their bikes practically every day. Most schools have outdoor recess unless it's below 32 degrees, so don't be afraid of the cold. After all, as a mom you're practically required to say “Go out and get some fresh air!”
• Limit the amount of time your children are permitted to watch TV and play video games. In order to make it work, it helps to get specific with rules such as “TV is allowed only on the weekends” or “video games are allowed after dinner only, provided that homework is completely finished” or “computer games are allowed on Saturday mornings and Wed afternoons.” Again, the exact schedule is not as important as creating parameters. The kids will grow accustomed to the schedule and you won't have to deal with constant begging and decisions on the fly.

Here's what you do: Once again, write down three time slots for family fitness on the calendar so everyone knows it's on the schedule. This week, it's Laundry Basket Scavenger Hunt. Each child gets to pick a type of item to search for and off you go. (Set some ground rules so breakables are off limits, of course.) Let's say the first child wants to hunt for stuffed animals. Mom carries the laundry basket and, as a group, you run through every room of the house looking for stuffed animals to put in the laundry basket.

Once the basket is full, each member of the family who can manage it takes a turn lifting the laundry basket up over their head eight times! Little ones will take one item out of the basket and lift it overhead eight times. Count your items to see how you did, then run back through the house to put them all back!

Maybe the next child will decide to search for items that are the color blue, and you start your travels again. What else could you search for?

Results: As you reach the end of week five you should be feeling great about five consecutive weeks of consistent exercise! You may have burned another 150-200 extra calories per workout again this week, and feeling those muscles starting to tone .

I hope all goes well for you to meet your goals this week. You can do it! See you next week.

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Get more exercise ideas in our 20-Minute Park Workout and Stretching guide. Plus, get tips on finding time to exercise.