DIY FitBall: A Fun Fitness Activity

Photo by Kayla Colgrove
Photo by Kayla Colgrove

By Kayla Colgrove, Extension Educator in Lancaster County

Families who are active together, get healthy together. Children need 60 minutes of physical activity per day while adults should aim for 150 minutes per week. The most important thing to remember is to make physical activity fun! To help get everyone moving and sitting less, play this fun fitness activity, called FitBall. It is easy to play since it is similar to the hot potato game and uses little equipment. The person holding the ball when the music stops chooses a fitness activity for all to participate. All ages will enjoy playing this fitness activity!

HOW TO PLAY FITBALL
Supplies:
• DIY FitBall (see instructions below)
• Music on a device
• Speakers to play the music
• DJ – A person in charge of starting/stopping the music during the game.

Directions:
1. Participants arrange themselves in a circle.
2. The DJ starts the music and participants will hand or toss the beach ball from one person to the next while the music is playing.
3. When the music stops, the person holding the beach ball picks the activity closest to his or her right thumb for the group to perform. Make sure everyone has the appropriate space before starting the activity.
4. Return to your group circle and continue playing the game as time allows.

Additional Tips:
• If an exercise is chosen that has already been done during that activity, the participant can select the closest exercise that has not been completed.
• Participants will be tempted to hit the ball like playing volleyball and may cause the activity to become louder due to everyone getting excited.

Source: https://food.unl.edu/free-resources/newsletters/family-fun-run/diy-fitball-fun-fitness-activity

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MAKE YOUR OWN FITBALL

SUPPLIES
• Beach ball, approximately 12 inch
• Permanent marker
• List of fitness activities for beach ball

DIRECTIONS
1. Air up beach ball.
2. Using a permanent marker, write 3–4 fitness activities per color panel on a beach ball. Modify or change activities as needed, depending on the age of the participants. For younger children, use activities such as jump like a frog, hop like a bunny or walk like a penguin. Here is a list of activities you could use for each panel of the beach ball:

Yellow Panel:
• 5 Squats
• 10 Toes touches
• 10 Arm circles (backward)

Orange Panel:
• Run in place for 10 counts
• 5 Push-ups
• Stork stand (hold each leg for 5 counts)
• 5 Side-to-side jumps

Green Panel:
• 5 Jumping jacks
• 10 Sit-ups
• Butterfly sit (hold for 10 counts)

White Panel:
• Straddle sit (left, right, center for 5 counts each)
• 10 Lunges (alternating legs)
• 10 Shoulder rolls (forward 5 times & backward 5 times)

Red Panel:
• 10 Arm circles (forward)
• Side arm stretch (hold each arm for 5 counts)
• 5 Forward and backward jumps

Blue Panel:
• 5 Jumps to the sky
• Hop on 1 foot (5 hops per foot)
• Upward arm stretch (hold for 10 counts)