Ways to Get Your Family Moving This Month

Exercises to keep you active in November!

                                    Don't be a turkey, get up and move!!

It is so important to stay active! You will feel better, release stress, and improve your heart and muscles! Let's stay active this November with the family! Here are some fun activities to do this month!

1.TURKEY FEATHERS!
* Draw a turkey (no feathers) on a piece of construction paper.* Cut out 20-30 feathers (fall colors: reds, oranges, etc).* Every day in the month of November do an exercise as a family. Examples of exercises: 25 Jumping jacks, 25 Push-ups, 25 Ab crunches. After completing the exercise, glue 1 feather onto your turkey. Hang your turkey on the refrigerator and glue his feathers every day your family completes an exercise. By the end of November, you should have a turkey full of feathers!

2. TURKEY RELAY!
*You will need a couple bags of candy corn, 2  buckets, a bowl, and a timer.
*Determine a start and finish line. Family members line up at the start line. Divide your family members up and create two teams. Dump candy corn onto a table or in a large bowl at the starting line. Stand next to each other at the start line.  Each team member grabs as much candy corn as they can hold in their hands and must run down to the finish line and drop the candy corn into their teams bucket. Players run back, and the next person in line repeats. Whichever team fills the most in 5 minutes, wins the game! The other team that does not win must run back and forth like turkeys for 1 minute!

Always stretch after your activities. Hold your stretches for at least 30 seconds. This helps release muscle tension and prevents cramps. 

After each activity in the month of November, eat a healthy snack! Try adding cinnamon to a food. Cinnamon is a great ingredient filled with manganese, fiber, and calcium to help prevent diseases. It also helps control blood sugar levels and helps boost brain functions. Many foods in the month of November can be topped with cinnamon. So add a little extra dash of cinnamon to that sweet potato and enjoy!

Alison Cardoza, BS Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and Group Instructor at Baptist East Milestone Wellness Center.