Ok, so I am aware I am late in posting this. I had the best intentions of getting it out there at for the beginning of October but holiday excitement took over! Better late than never though right? It’s still not too late to join in with International Walk to School Month.
If you are a parent, walking to school is an easy way to add more outside time into your days. International Walk to School Month was set up to encourage us to do just that. Parents though, are rushed for time in the mornings. Some need to quickly drop off their kids before driving to work while others live too far away to make walking to school a possibility. There are many reasons why walking our kids to school isn’t actually that easy. So in celebration of International Walk to School Month, I have put together 5 ways to incorporate walking to school into your life.
In the 1970’s 70% of children used to walk to school. This has dropped to just 48%. Less than half of all pupils walk to school regularly.
What does that mean?
Well firstly, walking to school is movement. The World Health Organisation recommends children aged 5 – 17 years of age should do at least an average of 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous intensity, mostly aerobic, physical activity, across the week. A walk to and from school each day can take up a considerable chunk of that. Our children are not getting enough exercise and this is leading to childhood obesity and health related issues including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes to name a few.
More cars on the road also leads to poor air quality. Poor Air quality can also lead to health conditions such as asthma and breathing difficulties. Highly congested areas around schools can come with safety issues and can also mean going by car does’t save you any time. It is also much harder to teach our kids about road safety from inside a car. Lets not forget about the environmental impact and the fact that there are studies to show that children who walk to school concentrate better.
So if you would like to join in with International Walk to School Month but are not sure how you can, here are my suggestions to help you do the school run on foot. You can fit it into your life even if you can not walk there and back every single day.
Walk one of the ways to or from school
If you can’t fit walking both ways into your schedule how about just walking one of the ways. The journey home often doesn’t need to be so rushed.
Drive some of the way, walk the rest
If you live to far from school to walk, drive some of it. Park as far away from the school as you can in order to be able to walk the rest of the way.
Ride your bikes or scoot
Getting young kids anywhere fast on foot can be a challenge but give them wheels and they go much faster. They get less distracted too. It can also be a good option for covering more distance if you don’t live very close by.
Take it in turns with a friend or neighbours
Like a community walking group! If you cant walk your kids personally every day, team up with a trusted friend or a neighbour and take it in turns. Plus for kids, walking with friends can make it much more appealing.
Walk on the days you can
No local friends or neighbours with kids at the same school. Just walk on the days, mornings, afternoons you can. If that means only once a week. Its better than not bothering at all.
If you are interested in how you can add more outside time to your life in general – you might find my blog post on how to get outside more and also my post on Instagram which is more along the lines of how to add more outside hours into your kids lives. It is aimed more at working parents…
Let me know in the comments below if you will be trying to walk to school in October for International Walk to School Month!