How To Turn Everyday Objects Into At Home Fitness Equipment!
Here at Hey Kanga, our ethos focuses on the importance of taking care of our bodies. After all, it’s where our mind lives, so it’s essential to participate in regular exercise and fun activities to get the blood pumping!
If you’re reading this as a home educator, we also know it can sometimes be tricky to come up with creative ideas to incorporate physical education into your home learning environment. Space issues, a lack of at-home fitness equipment or even creativity dips can all contribute to a lull in engaging PE activities…
That’s where we come in! We’re dedicated to providing teachers with the tools to provide a full and rich well-being curriculum - one that creates lifelong healthy habits and attitudes to exercise.
Our incredible resources and videos align with the SEAL approach to learning about health and fitness, which aligns well with the US national curriculum.
But, Hey Kanga, we hear you ask, what does this mean? Fear not, we’ve got you covered.
SEAL stands for Social Emotional Active Learning. We are dedicated to ensuring the aim that every child fulfils their full physical, mental-emotional, and academic potential - regardless of ability. This means providing opportunities to move freely, joyfully and expressively: fitness that fits everybody. The learning SEAL of approval!
So, with that in mind, let’s get started with our topic of the day - creating at-home fitness equipment to suit your home school environment.
It can be incredibly easy to turn household items into effective fitness equipment. You just need to tap into your creative side and use common household items to enhance your at-home learning environment.
Before we begin our blog, we’d like to remind readers to always stay safe when taking part in physical activity or handling heavy equipment. Remember to plan ahead so all of the activities are as safe and well organised as possible, and for our younger readers, make sure to always complete these tasks with an adult or guardian!
Transform water bottles or filled jugs into weights.
Don’t fancy spending hundreds of dollars on sophisticated weights or barbells? We don’t blame you, especially when you can take advantage of daily items. Encourage kids to work on their strength and endurance levels by using filled water bottles or milk jugs as weights. You could take advantage of our holistic curriculum of interactive videos and present students with some exciting exercises, such as bicep curls, overhead presses or weighted squats. Perfect for teaching physical literacy.
Hey Kanga Top Tip -
A gallon of water weighs around eight pounds. To switch up the exercises, add or remove water to adjust the heaviness of the ‘weights’. Kids can build up their strength and keep a progress tracker of the different amounts of water they may be using. Twinkl’s wide range of resources can help kids with learning about measurements and conversions.
Use towels as sliders for core exercises.
Did you know, 75% of kids don’t get enough exercise? This means their social, emotional and physical development is at risk. It’s essential to use at-home fitness equipment to integrate the ethos that exercise is fun, easy and can be slotted into every day. So, with that in mind, run up to the bathroom and grab a towel, as they’re a key component of our second equipment idea! Towels can be used for resistance or as core sliders on hard floors. Children can work on exercises such as:
Mountain climbers
Lunges
Side-Lying V-Sit
Bear Plank
Down Dog
Plank-To-Pike
When kids use towels as sliders, the intensity of their workout is heightened. This is all down to the fact that the gliding motion of the towel against the floor puts tension on all core muscles and challenges balance and stability.
Hey Kanga Top Tip -
Always test out the important variables of the activity, such as the slipperiness of the floor, before letting pupils use at-home fitness equipment. You could use different floors as different kinds of challenges to increase or decrease intensity levels. You could also use different-sized towels!
Take advantage of chairs or couches to support body weight.
A strong chair or a stable couch can serve as fantastic pieces of at-home fitness equipment. They can support your weight and also stay secure for balancing exercises, serving as the perfect vessel for yoga, pilates or core exercises. Chair-based exercises can build muscle across important parts of the body like your arms, legs and core.
Looking for an example? Check this out! Kids can sit on the edge of the chair or couch with their feet about shoulder-width apart. Encourage them to lean forward at a 45-degree angle, keeping their head and neck in a straight line with their back. Then, students can slowly lift their arms simultaneously until they are in a straight line with their backs. This is known as the ‘IYT’ exercise.
Hey Kanga Top Tip -
You can encourage kids to focus on goal-setting by building reps up with each exercise. Make sure students are considering their own goals and not comparing themselves. Hey Kanga removes the focus on competition and being a stereotypically ‘sporty’ person. Instead, we teach kids the joy of movement and personal best, how great our mind feels when we move freely, and that anyone can love fitness - regardless of ability!
Use rolled-up mats or blankets to improve balance.
Have you ever been to a gym and seen the funky machines that people stand on, and sometimes they even move about? They’re called balance trainers and they have a myriad of amazing benefits. They can improve balance and coordination, whilst also improving proprioception, which will help students to become more aware of their body’s movements.
This can reduce the risk of falls and injuries. As well as this, they can also enhance posture and strengthen muscles. But Hey Kanga, we hear you ask, how can I use this as an example of at-home fitness equipment? Fear not, we’ve got the answer! You can use a rolled-up yoga mat or just a thick blanket to create an unstable surface. Kids can focus on loads of interesting activities such as squats, push-ups or single-leg deadlifts.
Hey Kanga Top Tip -
If you’d like to increase the intensity of the exercise, roll up the mat to be thicker. You could also add a few different blankets of different shapes and sizes, and use different materials too! There are so many ways to use at-home fitness equipment, the opportunities truly are endless.
Use books to create platforms for cardiovascular or plyometric exercises.
You can stack books securely to create a step platform for lots of fun exercises for students to follow. Use the book stack for step-ups, toe taps or box jumps. You could even use the books to create an obstacle course or use a heavy book for weighted exercises, such as Russian twists or overhead presses.
Check out this page-turning plank idea - Students can start in a push-up position with the book open and on the floor below them. They can lower themselves onto their forearms and engage their core. Encourage students to hold for 30 to 60 seconds or make a goal to stop after they’ve read a certain amount of pages.
Hey Kanga Top Tip -
Students can pick their favourite book to read or find a new one that aligns with the national curriculum. They can then keep reading after the workout session is over, meaning they’re using their at-home fitness equipment and taking up a hobby!
Check out our Fall Promotion of a FREE one-year subscription to Hey Kanga when you purchase DrumFit Equipment!
FAQS
What is Hey Kanga?
Hey Kanga is a platform that aims to get everybody moving joyfully, expressively, and effectively, while helping children discover their full potential. It provides educators with a range of tools, including quick movement breaks, dances, mindfulness meditation, fitness games and comprehensive physical education curriculums!
Is Hey Kanga suitable for homeschooling families?
Yes, we have lots of homeschool families who are enjoying the Hey Kanga platform with their homeschooling students.
Does Hey Kanga follow the national curriculum?
Yes, Hey Kanga physical education lessons and videos follow the national curriculum for physical education, health and social emotional learning and specific learning outcomes for each. Core skills and vocabulary are progressive and reviewed each year and increase in complexity.
Is there a free trial available for Hey Kanga?
Yes, Hey Kanga offers a free trial for new users. This gives teachers the opportunity to explore the platform and experience its benefits before making a commitment. The free trial allows you to see how Hey Kanga can enhance your classroom wellbeing activities.
Can international schools use Hey Kanga?
Hey Kanga lessons are designed around the UK National Curriculum and the US National Curriculum which we have found to be relevant with systems used in most schools around the world.
How many videos does Hey Kanga have?
Hey Kanga has over 1000 videos for children ages 3 years to 18 years. Videos can be easily filtered by age, difficulty, genre and music type.