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PrintRingling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey® Circus Inspire Kids to Get Moving.
With childhood obesity—and its preventable weight-related illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease—on the rise, we all know that keeping kids fit is more important than ever. But keeping your child motivated and interested in fitness and healthy living can be a challenge. Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey® Circus is meeting this challenge with their new CircusFit® program designed to motivate and inspire youth by using fun circus activities.
In order to perform their amazing feats, circus performers must maintain a high level of fitness. Their stretching, strength building and aerobic activities will motivate kids to get “circus fit” themselves. This national youth fitness program also offers educators a unique, customizable curriculum to get kids excited about exercise and healthy nutritional choices.
The CircusFit® program is part of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS). Schools and after-school programs are invited to participate in CircusFit® as part of their involvement in the annual President’s Challenge.
Jumpstart your child’s fun and fitness summer on Friday, June 1 at 1 p.m. when Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey® Circus and SkyKids Fitness present a fun, free CircusFit® event. The special presentation will take place at the center court of Tulsa Promenade Mall near JC Penney. Ringling Bros. Circus performers and SkyKids Fitness will present “astounding acts of bravery, astonishing athleticism, and side-splitting antics!”
After viewing the CircusFit® event, children will have the opportunity to see the circus performers in action June 2-3 when Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey® Circus, “The Greatest Show on Earth,” opens in Tulsa at the BOK Center. For more information, or to purchase tickets to the circus, visit www.bokcenter.com.
Here are Family Fitness Tips For Parents from CircusFit:
• Schedule a regular time throughout the week for physical activity.
• Take turns selecting an activity for the family to do each week, and make sure you adapt all activities to suit those with special needs.
• Designate indoor and outdoor play areas where rolling, climbing, jumping and tumbling are allowed.
• Purchase toys or equipment that promote physical activity.
• Limit the time your children spend watching television programs, videotapes and playing computer games.
• Use physical activity rather than food as a reward (e.g. the family goes in-line skating).
• Prepare nutritional snacks and meals for school lunches, family outings and weekend trips.
• Keep fresh fruit and vegetables washed, cut-up, chilled and readily available for post-exercise snacking.
• Encourage your school board and administrators to make physical education and activities a priority.
• Enroll your kids in an after-school program that involves physical activities, such as a local community center or sports program.
• Volunteer with an after-school program that focuses on physical fitness, like Little League, karate, dance, or soccer.
• Explore the outdoors. Take your family hiking, camping or for a bike ride.
• Assign household chores to kids that involve physical activity, such as shoveling snow, raking leaves, planting a garden or walking the dog.
• Use your family’s video camera to create a family workout video.
• Plan a vacation around physical activity, such as whitewater rafting, snorkeling or hiking.
• Limit eating meals at fast-food restaurants.
• Organize a neighborhood soccer, baseball or basketball game with other families on your street or block.
• Quit the “clean plate club.” Allow your kids to stop eating when they feel they have had enough.
• Be a good role model for your kids. Eat nutritionally, drink lots of water, be physically active and limit your time on the computer and in front of the television.
Check out www.circusfit.com for getting a CircusFit® program started in your school or youth program. The website also offers healthy recipes, fitness tips, family games and interactive activities for kids.
Sky Fitness & Wellbeing of Midtown will be available at the CircusFit® event to answer questions and give tours of their new facility located on the West side of Promenade Mall. Their youth program, SkyKids, offers a healthy, active learning area for your little ones to play and feel comfortable while parents work out. According to Marsha Pogue, SkyFitness personal trainer, group fitness instructor and creator of SkyKids Wiggles and Giggles program for preschoolers, “We don’t just want kids to watch T.V. while their parents work out. We want to get them up moving and having fun at a young age.” SkyKids classes are free for kids with a parent who is a paid member. Families are invited to try one visit free.
Sky Fitness & Wellbeing is located at 4103 S. Yale Ave. Sky of South Tulsa is located at 10121 S. Sheridan. (The Wiggles and Giggles preschool program is currently only offered at the south location.) For more information, visit www.sky-fit.com.
