Chase bubbles and dance

Parents’ primary goal should be to find a way — any way — to encourage homebound offspring to get up and move, at least a little, said Stuart Phillips, the director of the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Health Research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

“Getting some kind of physical activity every day greatly improves their mood, sleep and, of course, their health,” Phillips said.

Federal physical activity guidelines recommend that children and teenagers exercise for at least an hour a day, while preschoolers between the ages of 3 and 5 should be up and whizzing about for three hours or more. But, for now, young people “should just try to get out of breath once in a while,” Juutinen Finni said.

To that end, the researchers recommend that, in technical parlance, you let the wild rumpus start.

“Hopping, skipping, ball toss, bear crawls and crab walks can be fun ways to engage younger kids,” said