Increase Physical Activity with Choices

Recent research indicates that when children are given choices of what toys to play with physical activity time increases especially in girls.  One aspect of the study gave children one active toy to play with which resulted in boys increasing active play time by 1.3 times more than girls. Another part of the study gave the children a choice of active toys which resulted in an increase in physically active time by nearly 200 percent for girls, compared to an increase of just 42 percent for boys. The active toys that were used included mini hockey, bean bag toss combined with tic-tac-toe, mini indoor basketball and jump rope. In a second study researchers looked at the intrinsic motivation in children for physical activity time. Using exergames (ie Wii), the researchers concluded that combining choice with mastery of a game resulted in the greatest increase in physical activity time.

Reference: Medical Express. Kids get more active when given more toy choices, studies show. Retrieved from the web on 4/18/12 at http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-kids-toy-choices.html

Need some active play ideas?  Check out our Sensory Motor ebooks and the Bilibo.