The best healthy family activities

What do swimming, ten-pin bowling and horse riding have in common? They’re all healthy activities that the whole family can enjoy.

With modern life becoming increasingly chaotic, finding time for being healthy, having fun and spending precious time with the family is more important than ever.

We’ve compiled a list of seven healthy activities for heaps of unlimited family fun.

Horse and pony trekking
Most kids love animals. This is why horse and pony trekking is an entertaining way for both children and adults to keep fit and healthy whilst bonding at the same time. Whether you and your family want to learn how to ride a horse or you’re an experienced bunch of jockeys, it’s a great health-boosting activity for both novices and experienced riders. Walking and trotting through the countryside is the perfect way to view the beautiful surroundings and fill the family’s lungs with fresh air. Participants build core body strength, lower leg strength and improve overall co-ordination skills – couple this with the feel-good factor and the rosy-red cheeks brought about by the fresh air, and horse riding is the perfect option for a healthy family activity.

Family rollerblading
Rollerblading burns roughly the same amount of calories per hour as running, and gliding uphill allows you to burn even more. The side to side movement uses almost every muscle group in your legs, including the inner thigh and glute muscles. Up the fun-factor for children by adding an alphabet theme; encourage your troop to spot something on your roller-route that begins with each letter of the alphabet and you’ve mastered the fun, fitness and education aspects of exercise – just don’t mention the word  ‘exercise’ and you’re onto a winner!

Fruit picking
For a seasonal approach to keeping healthy with the family, why not arrange a fruit-picking trip? Foraging for fruit helps the family to bond and fills everyone’s lungs with fresh air. If you want to pick blackberries, arm yourself and your fruit-picking troop with plastic containers in September and head for the hedgerows. The season for strawberries tends to last from May to August, and there are many other fruits and vegetables to forage for too. Why not go a little more unusual and pick some mange tout in June or pears in October? If you’d rather the fruit has already been found for you, there is an abundance of it just waiting to be picked at one of the many fruit farms across the UK.  Eating the hard-earned fruits at the end of the day makes for a healthy, yet satisfying treat.

Ten-pin bowling
A strike if you’re lucky, a couple of stray bowling balls rolling down the gutter, a good dose of competitive spirit: you can’t go far wrong with a good bowling session. Bowling is an anaerobic exercise that works tendons, joints, ligaments and muscles in the arms and, alongside the physical benefits, it helps the family to bond and boosts confidence in younger players. It’s a rainy day? No problem! Bowling’s your answer.

Water sports
Skiing, surfing, body boarding – these are all part of a growing trend for adventure-packed family activities. If pursuing the depths of the ocean is your kind of thing, try snorkelling and scuba diving. Those who’d like to skim across the sea, sailing, kayaking and body boarding are great ways to be active and get some fresh air. There are classes to suit every age and ability too.

Family football
From small children to those of the fully-grown variety, a competitive kick-around never fails to get the heart racing and the competition heated up.  In an age where technology seems to trigger less physical interaction, it’s becoming increasingly important to step away from the football on the television, and put it into practise yourself. Arrange a mini match to get the competitive spirit flowing and the blood pumping – voila, a fun way to a healthy day. Who knew the healthy lifestyle could be so much fun?

Swimming
The opportunities for healthy family fun are endless when it comes to swimming. The varieties of strokes – from butterfly to doggy paddle – work a broad range of muscles in your body and can burn up to 300 calories per hour. Swimming is also a sure-fire way to build upper body strength and give the heart, lungs and all other major muscle groups a fantastic workout. Get creative and make up your own fun activities for the whole family to take part in, or play a classic game of tag in the water – this really gets the adrenaline pumping as players frantically swim through the water trying to dodge the ‘tagger’. Whether you’re going for some water-based fun at your local pool or at the water park, pool-based activities provide a satisfying blend of fun and fitness for everyone.