How To Get Your Family Active This Holiday Season
The holidays are more than just a time for unwrapping gifts and enjoying delicious meals—they’re an incredible opportunity to connect, laugh, and move together as a family. We know that staying active can feel challenging during the festive season, but what if we reframed exercise as quality time instead of a chore?
Why Family Movement Matters
Physical activity isn’t just about burning calories—it’s about creating memories, building connections, and setting a positive example for loved ones of all ages. When families move together, they boost overall health and energy, create lasting bonds, reduce holiday stress, and model healthy lifestyle habits for children.
Do you want to bring in more movement into your families routine? Here are some easy to try ideas.
5 Playful Family Fitness Activities
1. Holiday Walk/Run Challenges
Create a friendly family competition by tracking steps together. Use free walking apps to make it interactive and engaging. The magic is in setting a collective goal that everyone can contribute towards, turning movement into a shared adventure. Whether it’s grandparents, parents, or kids, everyone can participate at their own pace and feel connected to the family’s overall progress.
2. Living Room Dance Parties
Who says workouts have to be serious? Put on some festive music and create silly dance challenges that get everyone moving. No dance skills are required—just pure joy and movement. These impromptu dance sessions can break up long periods of sitting, get everyone laughing, and create memories that will last far beyond the holiday season.
3. Outdoor Winter Games
Winter provides a natural playground for family fitness. Sledding becomes an exciting full-body workout, snowball target practice adds a competitive edge, and building snowpeople offers active breaks between play. For families in warmer climates, backyard obstacle courses can provide similar excitement. The key is to make movement feel like play, not exercise.
4. Active Gift Opening
Transform gift-giving into a fitness opportunity with simple, fun challenges. Do five squats between gifts, hold a plank during commercial breaks, or take walking lunges to retrieve presents. These small bursts of activity add up, making the gift-opening process not just exciting, but also a chance to move and laugh together.
5. Post-Meal Family Walks
After big holiday meals, a 15-20 minute walk can work wonders. It helps with digestion, provides time for conversation, and gets everyone away from screens. These walks don’t need to be intense—just a leisurely stroll that allows family members to connect, digest, and feel good about moving together.
Pro Tips for Success
The most important elements are to keep things light-hearted, focus on fun rather than perfection, and modify activities for different fitness levels. Celebrate participation, not performance. Remember, the goal isn’t to create Olympic athletes—it’s to create moments of joy, connection, and movement that everyone can enjoy.
Ready to transform your holiday gatherings? Start small, laugh often, and move together!
