Looking out the window on a cold winter’s evening can make you want to just curl up on the sofa and stay there until spring. In winter, it is especially important to stay active – as the chilly weather takes its toll on your immune system and you hear sniffles and coughs everywhere you go, getting your 60 minutes of exercise a day will help stave off even the strongest flus, and keep you and your Super Troopers fighting fit all through the winter months. Why not try some of these simple, fun activities to sneak some exercise into your family time?

Watch and Move

This is a great way to spend some time together on a winter evening while keeping active!

1. Pick one of your favourite holiday movies to watch together.
2. Write down a list of things that feature in the movie – for example, you could pick words or phrases that are said a lot, actions that characters do multiple times, or locations that feature in the movie.
3. Assign an activity to each of these things, for example: do 5 jumping jacks, jog on the spot for 10 seconds.
4. Pay close attention to the movie; every time something from your list comes up, do the corresponding action.

This will help to use up some of your kids’ leftover energy at the end of the day, and adds a fun element of exercise to an otherwise stationary activity.

Snowman Sprints

This is a classic Super Troopers activity with a new holiday twist! Put on some of your favourite holiday tunes and have your Super Troopers jog around the room slowly. When the music stops, everyone freezes in place and pretends to shiver, like a snowman. Play for 10-15 minutes, or until you’ve listened to all your favourite holiday songs.

Snow-Free Snowball Fight

Who said it needs to be snowing for you to have a snowball fight? Ireland’s weather might not always make it easy to take part in traditional winter activities, but with a crafty mindset, you and your Super Troopers can make replica ‘snowballs’ that are just as fun. You could try:

• Sticking together cotton balls
• Crumpling up white paper
• Stuffing white socks with tissue paper

When you have enough ‘snowballs’ made, try this simple game to add a fun challenge to your snowball fight:

1. Divide children into two equal teams. You will need one person to time the game.
2. Mark a line in the middle of your playing space. If you’re playing indoors, make sure to be careful of any valuables or furniture.
3. Start a timer for 60 seconds. Each team’s goal is to get rid of as many of the snowballs on their side of the pitch as possible.
4. At the end of the 60 seconds, count the snowballs on each side. The winning team is the one with fewer snowballs on their side of the pitch.

As always, we’d love to hear how you and your Super Troopers keep active this winter! Let us know what you get up to by emailing us at supertroopers@realnation.ie.