When I was a kid I could not tell you much about fitness. It was a word rarely used outside of gym class. It certainly was not thrown around in the media as it is today. I don't recall a single instance where kids' fitness was even a concern- our excess sugar intake was a bigger concern to our dental health than it was to our wellness. In fact, I doubt the word "wellness" even existed when I was a kid.

Okay, so I am shadowing my age-maybe some of you can relate while others of you are wondering on what planet I was raised. Today, fitness is used to sell everything from milk to shampoo. So just what is fitness? I think in our industry we all have made the mistake of thinking (and promoting) fitness as the use of some sort of resistance machine within the context of a specified, well-defined workout routine which lasts X amount of minutes and works at least Y sets of muscle groups. While this may be at least partly true for a fitness patron at a local health club, I think it couldn;t be further from the truth when it comes to kids' fitness.

Kids' fitness is active play! More importantly, kids fitness is active play fueled by an active imagination. Think about it: When we were young, we left home to play with the neighborhood kids in the morning and except for meals were not required to be home until the street lights came on. What were we doing all day? Getting (or keeping) fit! Climbing trees, playing kick the can, building dams down the creek, scrambling over and under rocks looking for the best hiding place, hopping through the hop scotch maze, escaping fom the threat of incoming water balloons, riding our bike to the local fishing hole, chanting a rhyme while skipping rope, and racing to first base during a kickball game. (Makes you want to be a kid again doesn't it?!)

Contrast that to today's youth: video games, TV endless movies, internet exploring, text messaging, PSP players and yes more video games. It adds up to inactive play! Not to mention a serious drain on our promotion of self-imagination. (This may be as serious a concern as the lack of fitness for future generations.) The point is, we as youth fitness professionals need to promote active play and self-imagination to the children we serve. While there is definitely room for technology to aid in the advancement of children's health and fitness, it should be part of the stick that holds the carrot, not the carrot itself. The carrot that should lead kids to active, healthy lifestyles is the child's imagination. 

We need to promote rooms like the Franklin County YMCA in Virginia. At this facility, you walk in the door and are met with life-like climbing boulders, a 30 foot tree with rope bridges leading to a real tree house with lookout stations, lateral climbing walls in three difficulty levels, hollowed out trees with climbing ropes mounted inside, adventure obstacle courses and mini circuits of workout equipment, in bright appealing colors. All of this and more in a safe, inviting atmosphere.

In Massachusetts, the Weymouth club is developing a similar type room that includes a life-size, climb-on bulldozer, as well as an obstacle course that connects a tree house to a kids' clubhouse, through the use of bridges, rope climbs, cargo nets, climbing ramps and crawl tubes. In one area of the facility you will find a rack of colorful swiss exercise balls for kids to use in both a classroom setting as well as imaginatively on their own. The facility uses technology as a means to motivate (not the answer itself), by placing cameras on the high use areas through video feeds that run to a "Junior Jumbotron." This system allows kids to see themselves on the big screen and lets them be the star of their world! Similar facilities are being built at day-care centers where parents have begun to ask what types of fitness activities are available for their preschoolers.

What you will not find in these rooms are video games or high-tech gadgets. The entire room is designed to encourage children to actively and imaginatively explore their own world of play! As fitness professionals serving the children of our generation,how can we use active play to promote the imagination, fitness and health of our future?