Homework is a priority but you need to mix up the after school activities so your child doesn’t get burned out. Everyone wants healthy, active, fit children. It’s hard to keep your children busy when they are drawn to video games or loafing around.

I suggest doing these activities before your children settle in to doing homework because they need to burn off some energy after riding the bus home. You can also do this after homework and snack, but before dinner.

Walk around your neighborhood picking up garbage. Children have a natural affinity to pick up lost items or garbage for no reason. Now give them a purpose. Once a week cruise your neighborhood with a plastic bag and pick up trash. Your child will feel like they are making a difference in the world and keeping their community clean.

Organize your own zero to 5K plan for kids in a combination of running and walking. Hold training sessions three times per week with two after school and one weekend event. Invite other children in your neighborhood to participate so it’s a group affair where children can support and cheer each other on. For the finale sign up for an official 5K (3.1 mile) race. It will take at least two months to get fit enough to reach the 5K distance, so do this each semester either increasing distances or aiming to improve performance.

Pretend you’re a scientist. Roam your neighborhood with a pencil, paper and observation skills documenting the environment. Take notes and draw pictures of the wildlife and greenery they see. Make observations about the animals and their behavior. Do this once a week and keep a binder of the observations so children can see how the environment changes every week.

Hold a scavenger hunt. Provide a list of items children must collect with some easy and some difficult items from nature. Give children a prize for accomplishing the task.

On rainy days, realize that not all video consuls are made alike. Young children – especially those who are 5 to 7 years old – love to dance. In the half hour before dinner while the meal is being prepared, set up the Wii Consul with Just Dance Kids edition games or Zumba. While you are in the kitchen, the children are getting their wiggles out and dancing up a storm, burning calories and having fun. Children love to do the dance competition, but you may want to have the settings on a joint score to avoid hurt feelings.