The benefits of exercise for children

We know how important it is for us as adults to exercise but what about children and toddlers? Can they really benefit from exercise at such a young age? The answer is YES! Toddlers and children are at a stage in their life when everything is new and an adventure. Children learn habits for the future are learnt in this early stage, that’s why it’s important to incorporate exercise at a young age to help with development and social skills.

Exercise for children should be a fun and exciting experience, its a chance for them to use their imagination and learn positive messages about the body. Here at Little Angels, we believe that exercise for children is incredibly important so we have partnered with Stretch-n-Grow to bring a fun exercise experience to our children.

Stretch N Grow

Little Angels is proud to work with Stretch-n-Grow Exercise Programme, the world’s leading health and fitness programme for children. Stretch-n-Grow is all about establishing positive habits at an early stage. Our wonderful practitioner, Nora Scott, attends the setting once a week to hold the class with children from as young as 12 months. Stretch-n-Grow teaches children how exercise and keeping fit can be fun while assisting their physical development. The building blocks of a Stretch-n-Grow class are fundamental motor skills linked with the components of fitness.

A typical Stretch-n-Grow lesson starts with an imaginative warm-up story, to stretch the children’s muscles and get them ready for exercise. This is followed by an aerobic session with an exercise in balance and coordination and finished with a cool-down exercise. All of the steps are set to fun music and guided by Nora. Learning about health and fitness while receiving positive messages about their bodies in a fun creative environment is crucial during these early years. Learn more and see one of our Stretch-n-Grow classes in action below.

Why Little Angels Love Stretch N Grow

Keeping It Fun 

Stretch-n-Grow is a fantastic programme as children are engaged throughout the whole class. We encourage the children to use their imaginations, dance to fun music and warm up to storytime all as part of the class. This is so that both their brains and bodies are engaged. We deliver a new lesson each month so getting bored isn’t an option. There are always new things to learn, songs to sing and exercises to enjoy.

Positive Messages

Exercise and physical activity at such a young age allows children to start a positive relationship with keeping healthy. Stretch-n-Grow teaches children and toddlers about how their bodies move and how important it is to be active. 

Learning and Exercising 

We love that this exercise programme allows children to learn about their bodies. They learn about the different muscles and bones they have while exercising and discovering other health-related topics such as eating healthily. It’s great to see what the children learn during the classes. Parents often tell us how their children look forward to the next class and share what they’ve learnt with them!

Social Skills 

Being part of a group while doing an activity is a great way for children to build and develop their social skills. They get to laugh and learn as a group, developing personal, social and emotional skills as they participate.

Watch our Stretch N Grow video below to learn more about the classes and our instructor, Nora Scott.