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Exercises for morning exercises for children
Last reviewed: 03.07.2025

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Morning exercises for children are gymnastic techniques that a child should perform after each awakening to maintain health and good physical activity. Given the prevalence of excess weight in modern children due to poor nutrition and lack of physical activity, the issue of morning exercises is very relevant.
Why does a child need morning exercises?
The child's body develops most actively in the first three years, and all the habits that were developed in the child before the age of three form his character. Therefore, it is necessary to accustom the child to morning exercises from the age of one year. Of course, this is not a full-fledged gymnastics, but if you develop a habit in him, then over the years you can simply change the set of exercises and their complexity.
When talking about the benefits of morning exercises, we should not limit ourselves to physical development. If a child wakes up and does exercises after hygiene procedures, this first of all disciplines him. During the exercises, muscle tone is activated and receptors from the muscles go to the motor center of the brain. This is a signal to awaken many internal organs. After all, the digestive system works due to the contraction of smooth muscle fibers, which are already toned in the presence of such a dominant center in the brain. Therefore, if a child does exercises, this awakens the internal organs, primarily the digestive system, which prepares the child for breakfast. After such a set of exercises, more gastric juice is produced and intestinal peristalsis is enhanced, so breakfast is very well absorbed.
Technique for performing exercises
A set of exercises for morning exercises for children depends on age. Starting from the first year of life, you can start to accustom the child to exercises. When the baby wakes up, you need to smile at him and wait a few minutes without lifting him from the crib. Next, you need to take him by the arms and, lying on his back, make movements in the form of a greeting, opening and closing hugs. At the same time, you need to talk to the child and smile at him so that he gets pleasure and likes it. Next, you need to move on to the legs, and bending them at an angle of ninety degrees, you need to bring and take them to the tummy and back. After such a warm-up, you can lift the child out of bed and put him on the floor. You need to ask the baby to come to mom or just walk with him by the hand. These three exercises are enough at the initial stage to form a habit in the child. In the future, he will wake up and wait for such gymnastics. Then you can add exercises that your baby likes.
Starting from the age of three, you can teach your child to do exercises on their own, but it is very important to do it every morning and with them or show them to repeat it. The first exercise should not be difficult, but at the same time, it should awaken the child's body and excite them. Therefore, you can start morning exercises with squats. Five squats are enough for the first time, but you need to make sure that their technique is correct. The legs should be placed at the width of the child's shoulders (not the mother's), and during squats, the knees should not go beyond the line of the toes. At first glance, this may seem difficult, but if you show the child how to do it by your own example, then at three years old he can easily repeat it correctly. Then, when the child has warmed up, you can move on to exercises for the arms and legs. The arms should be bent at the elbows by ninety degrees and put in front of you, placing one on top of the other. Then you need to spread them at the shoulder joint also by ninety degrees. You can also do five of these repetitions. The next exercise should be started by placing the handles on the waist. You need to bend to the sides, but not too quickly and without bending forward.
To get the legs working, you can offer your child a fun running exercise. To do this, you need to run quickly, bending your legs at the knees and lifting them as high as possible to your chin - as if running forward along a ladder.
These three exercises will not make the child tired, but will make it easier to wake up. If mom or dad sees that there are not enough exercises and the child wants something new, then you can change some to more complex ones. For example, you can squat, and when the child stands up, you can offer to raise the arms up.
For preschool and early school age children, a set of exercises of at least five is recommended. If the child gets used to doing gymnastics from an early age, then five exercises in the morning before school will not seem difficult for him. You can add torso turns to the sides, as well as the "windmill". In general, whatever the parents have enough imagination for, everything can be included in the morning gymnastics set. Then you need to rest for five to ten minutes, as a rule, this is the time for the morning toilet or watching a cartoon, and then you can have breakfast.
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What happens in a child’s body after physical exercise?
Physical exercises activate the nervous system. When impulses from the muscles come to the brain, then the tone of the sympathetic nervous system, which "rests" at night, increases. Due to this, the heartbeat increases, the sensory system is activated and the child is ready for a new day and the perception of new information. In addition to all this, gymnastics activates the immune system through a large number of biologically active substances. When a child sleeps, all the functions of the body seem to "sleep" too. The immune system always works, but at night there is only non-specific immunity protection. After waking up, some time is needed to activate the immune defense, because many mediators and substances that take part in activation are synthesized with the help of vitamins and enzymes in the cells. And for this activation and the beginning of the respiratory function, the cells need oxygen. Physical exercises in the morning make the respiratory system work more intensively, so there is enough oxygen for each cell. And then the child's immune system is fully activated before he leaves the house, and the child is protected from many infections.
The respiratory system is also activated during morning exercises and the synthesis of mucus, interferons and surfactant is enhanced, which also protects the respiratory system from viruses and bacteria.
The most important function of morning exercises is to prepare the child and instill in him a love for sports. After all, such exercises should be done in a good mood, which always sets the mood for a good working day. If the child already goes to school, then the whole day spent at the desk and passively doing homework at home does not contribute to sufficient physical activity. And simple morning exercises can help develop the child's interest and love for gymnastics or sports. This is always good in terms of keeping the child busy and developing his interests.
Therefore, exercises for a child are needed to wake him up in the morning, activate the work of the brain and all internal organs. A simple set of exercises in the morning has a good effect on health and increases the immune potential of the body.
Morning exercises for children are those simple things that will help your baby grow up healthy, strong, develop a love for sports and wake up in the morning with pleasure. But do not forget that children completely copy the behavior of their parents, so you need to show them a good example and do sports yourself.