Activities Children Can Do to Strengthen Their Heart Muscles

Playground Exercise

• Some kids can't resist the sight of ladders, swings, climbers and slides, so bring your youngster to the local playground for a little cardio exercise. While you sit back and relax on the park bench, your child will be busy climbing stairs, sliding down slides and taking advantage of every other play structure at the park. Seek out a few different parks in your area to keep this activity fresh. There may be different pieces of equipment -- or at least a few color differences -- at each one. You can bring along a picnic basket of healthy snacks to help keep your child's energy up. Play a game of tag or hide-and-seek to get involved in his heart-healthy fun.

Indoor Activity

• While your child might be happy to splash about in puddles while the rain pours down, if you'd prefer him to jump in drier conditions, use blankets, pillows, toys and the like to build an obstacle course in your house. Building the course will give your child a little bit of exercise and then he'll get a fuller workout by hopping, jumping, crawling and slithering through the course. You can turn on music and play a game of freeze dance inside or organize a little scavenger hunt or treasure hunt to get your child dashing from one find to the next. You can even work on a few chores together, such as taking laundry room to room, and sneak in a little heart-healthy exercise in the process.

Young Explorers

• Venture outdoors and explore to help your child get a little workout. You can take your child on a brisk walk around the neighborhood, picking up pine cones, leaves and other nature finds for craft time later or race to a neighbor's house for a surprise visit. If you have a conservation area nearby, take your child on a nature walk or go for a hike in a nearby wooded area. To make the physical activity more engaging, bring along a camera and show your child how to take pictures of plants and wildlife.

Sporty Exercise

• You can give your child an opportunity to develop new interests and learn about teamwork with a physical activity he can look forward to every week. Look for local sports offerings and sign him up for a season of baseball, soccer, football or basketball. In between practices and games, the new sport will encourage your child to get more heart-healthy exercise as he practices new skills and techniques. If your youngster isn't an enthusiast of these traditional sports, look for other team or individual sports that might catch his attention, such as tennis, volleyball, disc golf, swimming, martial arts, skiing or gymnastics.