How to keep kids active as the weather cools and the pandemic rolls on

Let’s just get this out of the way: Don’t feel guilty. That’s the advice experts offer to parents who are worrying about how to keep their kids fit during the coronavirus pandemic, especially as the days get shorter, the weather begins to cool and options for playing outside diminish. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children get at least 60 minutes of activity a day, when recess is canceled and PE is online, that may not be feasible for many families.

“We have to assume everyone’s plate is extremely full, and we have to give parents some grace,” says Hildi Nicksic, clinical assistant professor of kinesiology at Texas A&M University in College Station, Tex. “We understand there’s a lot of pressure, particularly if their children have not returned to school and they’re wearing so many more hats than they usually do.”

The good news: Children are resilient, says Sofiya Alhassan, associate professor and director of the Pediatric Physical Activity Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “It’s really important not to feel guilty. You have to do what you have to do, without feeling guilty about it.”