Article Source: The Denver Post

Written by - Linda J. Buch - March 16th, 2009

Start young, finish fit...For kids, play is work.

Children are kinetic beings who love to move. While it might look like child's play, turning somersaults and playing tag involves the whole brain."Play is thinking time for young children. It is language time. Problem-solving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time," writes child-development specialist James L. Hymes in "Teaching the Child Under Six." "It is organization-of-ideas time, when the young child uses his mind and body and his social skills and all his powers in response to the stimuli he has met."

Regular physical exercise helps improve school performance, emotional health and overall well-being, well into adulthood. Government guidelines say that children and adolescents must have a minimum of 60 minutes of daily physical activity that includes aerobic, muscle and bone-strengthening activities. But each child is unique and has individual needs and abilities. Where one child may crave running and kicking, another might prefer tumbling or swimming. 

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