Health professionals recommend that kids and teens get sixty minutes of exercise each day, but few of them do – especially young girls.

In fact, by the age of seven, girls are already starting to become less physically active than boys. This disparity widens as they grow from childhood into adolescence with the biggest drop occurring from primary to secondary school. This is attributed to changes in friend groups and declining body confidence.

Regular activity for girls is not only important for health reasons such as reducing the risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes, but it also increases well-being, focus and self-confidence. Check out these fun games for girls to your young girls moving and staying physically active.

FOCUS ON FUN

When kids are having fun, they don’t even notice that they are getting exercise.

Make a list of exciting, active games for your girls and stick it on the fridge for when they get bored. Include a good variety of activities such as some games that can be played outside and some that can be played inside, some that involve a few kids and some that are good for a larger group.

Fun activities to add to the list are hide-and-seek, relay races, bike riding, scavenger hunts and dance contests. And, don’t think that girls won’t like some of the same activities that boys do. Your girls just might love some of these games.

1. The Play-Platoon mini basketball hoop is made to hang over a door for indoor play. Make it a challenge by playing “horse” or hosting a two-on-two basketball tournament for a few friends. Available on amazon.com.

2. Ultrafoam Indoor Bowling Set is bright, safe and perfect for active play both indoors and outdoors. It comes with everything you need to set up your own bowling alley – one ball, one set-up sheet, ten pins, and a carrying case. Available on amazon.com.

3. Glow Battle, the light-up sword dueling game, is an awesome way for a girl to act like a warrior hero while getting exercise. Players wear glow in the dark bracelets and use strategy, teamwork, and their own warrior instincts to team up and take down their opponent. Join the hundreds of Kickstarter backers in this action-packed game! Purchase Glow Battle here.

TAKE IT OUTSIDE

There’s a never-ending list of ways to stay active outside and there are so many interesting things to do outdoors that can keep girls hopping.

Literally, you can keep them hopping with a fun game of hopscotch, jump rope or trampoline tag. You can also keep them moving with some of these entertaining and engaging outdoor games.

1. The Champion Sports Skip Ball Set includes six ankle ring swing balls that are great for skip-jumping. In addition to burning energy, they help improve coordination and motor functions. The hardest part of this set is deciding which of the six fun colors to choose. Available on amazon.com.

2. Capture the Flag REDUX. This fun, futuristic twist on the classic Capture the Flag game is perfect for keeping both girls and boys active as they break teammates out of jail, sneak into enemy territory, protect base and steal the glowing flag to win. Each game box includes two glowing orbs to use as the “flags,” color-coded LED bracelets to differentiate team members, glowing jail markers, and a rulebook. Available for purchase here.

3. Wearable Inflatable Bumper Zorb Balls. It’s hard not to have fun when you are wearing these giant bubble soccer suits. They make for a great physical outdoor activity that encourages coordination, balance, and a lot of laughs. Available on amazon.com.

MIX IT UP

To keep your young girls interested in staying active, keep your activity list fresh and mix it up with all kinds of action-packed activities. If your girls like to hike, find some new nature trails or parks to explore. If your girls like to compete, create your own backyard obstacle course. And, if your girls like to dig in the dirt, plant a vegetable garden. Try different takes on things that they already like to do, as well as introduce them to new things and watch how their love of activity grows. Here are a few new activities that they just might find amazing.

1. Adjustable Illuminating Inline Skates keep girls rolling with cool light-up wheels and easy-to-put-on buckles. Parents will love the adjustable fit and the ankle support that they offer. Available on amazon.com.

2. Starlight Swimming Games are ideal for keeping girls active in a swimming pool. They can play ten different swimming games like Human Whirlpool and Flower Push Relay with the enclosed waterproof glowing games pieces and instructions. Simply twist each light on and toss into the water for hours of fun. Click here to learn more and purchase online.

3. The Floor is Lava game is anything but a sit-down board game. It gets kids jumping, leaping playing and laughing. It comes with 25 colored foam “safety stones,” 27 challenge cards, a game spinner, and instructions. Available on amazon.com.

STICK TO IT

Most importantly, stick with it. Keep young girls consistently physically active by encouraging sixty minutes of exercise every day, whether it be with an organized sport, fitness class or fun activity.

Encourage them to keep track of their exercise with a fitness journal or activity calendar so they can see their progress. Take pictures of the fun activities that you all have done together and add them to the journal.

And, remind your girls that staying physically active will help them to stay healthy, do better in school and be more confident.

Need some fun games for girls to keep your giggling gals occupied and happy until the sun comes up? Whoever coined the term “sleepover” has never been to a sleepover with a pack of girls ten and under. There’s no sleeping going on. And, if you’re the parent in charge, you’d better be armed with a heavy artillery of fun games and activities. It’s also imperative to have a stash of snacks and a good sense of humor. Check out these top five fun games for girls.

 

1. MUSICAL MANICURES

This game combines two of girls’ favorite things: music and fingernail polish. Before you start the game, cover your table with plastic and use finger nail polish remover to make sure everyone’s nails are clean and free of polish. You can choose to do toenails, fingernails – or both. Then, choose some bright and funky nail polish colors and assign one color to each girl. The girls sit in a circle at the table. Start playing some music and the girls start passing their bottle to the right. When the music stops, each girl paints one of her nails with the nail polish color that she is holding. Keep playing until all of the nails are painted.

 

2. NO EYES FOR ICE CREAM

While you have the table covered in plastic, you might as well move on to another messy game. This one involves kids, blindfolds and bowls full of ice cream. What could possibly go wrong? Simply place two girls opposite each other at the table and place blindfolds over both of their eyes. Give one of them a bowl of ice cream and a spoon. The girl opposite of her must keep her hands behind her back as the girl with the ice cream tries to feed her. You can also play a version where you have a variety of different kinds of ice cream and the eater has to guess what flavor it is. The duo gets a point for every flavor that she guesses correctly. It’s a sweet mess, but its fun and your girls will love it. Plus, the extra sugar will keep them going all night long.

 

3. TRUTH OR DARE

This game is the classic sleepover game. No lie, this game has possibly been around longer than footed pajamas. Get your group of girls to sit in a circle. The first girl asks “truth or dare?” to any other girl. If that girl says “truth” then she must honestly answer whatever question that is asked of her. If she says “dare” then she must complete whatever dare is given to her. When she is done, then she gets a turn to question another girl in the group. To avoid harmful dares or hurtful and embarrassing questions, it’s a good idea for the girls to write down the questions and dares and then let a parent glance over them before the game. Then, put them in two festive bowls or jars, one labeled “Truth” and one labeled “Dare.” You can print out a fun list of silly and G-rated Truth or Dare questions from:
https://www.momof6.com/at-home-birthday-parties/100-truth-or-dare-questions-for-tweens/

 

4. SLEEPOVER SCAVENGERS

The best part about scavenger hunts is how much time they take up. If you are trying to fill a long, sleepless night, you can entertain girls for hours by creating a lengthy list of hard-to-find items. You can also customize a scavenger hunt to fit any age, any location and any theme. Before the party, come up with a list of items and create even teams. If you have either older kids or a few chaperones, you can have your teams go house to house in your neighborhood. You may want to give your neighbors some advance notice of the hunt without telling them what things are on the list. You can also do scavenger hunts for younger kids in your house or your backyard.

 

5. GLOW WITH THE FLOW

When all else fails, pull out the glow sticks for more fun games for girls. Everything is more exciting when it glows. Put on some music, adorn the girls with glowing bracelets, necklaces, ankle bracelets and crowns and turn down the lights for a glow-in-the-dark dance-off. And, no girl can resist a game of neon hopscotch or glow balloons. You can use neon duct tape to make a hopscotch design inside your house or outside, and glow balloons are simple when you insert glow sticks into regular or water balloons. For endless hours of glowing sleepover fun visit: https://happilyevermom.com/glow-in-the-dark-games/.

 

* The featured image for this post is by Courtney Carmody and can be found at Flickr here https://www.flickr.com/photos/calamity_photography/4656461166