Be Healthy and Happy with Outdoor Family Games

If you listen to the experts you learn two things. First, lack of exercise is a problem in our society. We spend too much time sitting in front of the TV, behind our desks, in the car, on the couch, or even at a restaurant. Even though sitting is not a completely bad thing, the problem is we just plain do too much of it. That’s why we’re all getting fat.

Back in the good old days, Americans got much more exercise. Not so today. We need to do more walking, running, jogging or even just moving around–take the stairs instead of the elevator–you know the drill. One recent report from the American Cancer Society says that lack of exercise is just as dangerous to our health as smoking! That’s a surprise! Plus, they tell us that people who don’t exercise are two times as likely to have heart disease as people who are exercising even a moderate amount.

Even back when John F. Kennedy was president, the country recognized that Americans weren’t getting enough exercise. A fad that captivated the nation was walking. Not just walking around the neighborhood, but walking 20, 25 or even 30 miles in a single day. It was such a big deal that there were newspaper articles and news stories about how far people walked in a day. No one is expecting you to walk 30 miles today, but it would be great if we just got outside to play a family game together.

The same experts that tell us we’re getting fat, also tell us that even a small amount of exercise each day has a physically beneficial effect. That’s one reason that outdoor family games are becoming so popular. They are reasonably within reach of even the most tight-fisted consumer, plus they are a good way to add some exercise to our daily routine.

A current favorite game is BlongoBall. It’s fun for everyone to play, it’s easy to set up and play-and it’s even easy to be a winner! No special skills required to thoroughly crush your competition.

BlongoBall uses a bolo made from two golf balls joined by a length of rope. The bolo is tossed so as to wrap around one of the horizontal rungs of a “ladder” type goal. When the bolo wraps around a rung and stays, you score! It’s fun and easy to play.

There are many BlongoBall imitators in the “toss it, wrap it, score” game category. BlongoBall is the original and our favorite. We’ve tested most all of these types of games and our preference is for BlongoBall because it is the only one we think is built to last. Some of the cheap imitations broke almost immediately, so be careful when buying a game if this type.

The second thing the experts are telling us is that we don’t spend enough time together as families. Of course this is probably not going to make you lose weight, unless being with your family puts you off your dinner. But an essential part of healthy psychology and parenting is to spend time together not just working and handling the chores involved with running a family, but doing fun things.

Outdoor family games are perfect answers to the question of what to do for family fun time. Most families will enjoy a game like BlongoBall which is easy to learn and fun to play. Parents of teenagers enjoy BlongoBall because it is interesting and exciting enough to entice the teenagers to participate without being so difficult that younger or even older family members will be discouraged.

We especially like BlongoBall because it’s easy to talk and interact with each other while playing. It doesn’t require intense concentration but is still demanding enough to maintain the interest of the whole family. Players of all ages and skill levels will want to play. In addition, you can purchase soft rubber ball sets to use indoors, so BlongoBall can be played all year long–even when there’s snow outside!

If you want to be in better shape both physically and emotionally, get your family together for a few games of BlongoBall. It works!

Craig Mecham is a marketing consultant during the work day and is a father of six in real life. His family is an ideal test market for outdoor family games. Nothing interferes with their BlongoBall tournaments!

share save 171 16 Be Healthy and Happy with Outdoor Family Games

No related posts.

Try the Zojirushi Bread Machine for delicious home made bread!

Comments are closed.