Where Can You and Your Family be Active?

kid on swing

With the New Year upon us, it’s a great time to start thinking about making physical activity a regular part of your family’s life. It can get boring exercising at the same places day after day. Children especially need variety in their play to hold their interest. If you dig deep enough, you may be able to find a variety of places to play close to your home. These new ideas can help you meet your family’s New Year’s resolutions about health & fitness!

Where you choose to play with your children largely depends on what they want to play. For example, a biking lane or trail wouldn’t be safe for tossing a ball back and forth, but would be a great place to bike together. Likewise, if you want to go for a relaxed walk, choose a sidewalk, track, or walking trail rather than a crowded field where others are playing soccer or throwing a frisbee. Places of worships and schools often have playgrounds, so you can also contact those locations to see if their facilities are available for open-use and at what times. Inside your home can be great for yoga, but if you want to play “Red Light Green Light,” you may want to take the game to the yard or park to allow more room to run.

Some neighborhoods don’t have sidewalks, making it harder to walk safely. Walking trails are great when you want to get a change of scenery while you walk–plus they’re safe from traffic. If you’re looking for more places to walk with your family, visit trail link   to find walking trails near you.

Where else can you and your family be active?


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Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)

North Carolina State University
Agricultural and Human Sciences Department

Cooperative Extension at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES)