One of our fitness goals as a family this year is to walk 250 miles. One of the main reasons we wanted to do this is to start teaching our kids about setting goals, being consistent, and reaching them.
My husband started “training” with the kids in 2018 before we went to Disney World. While we still brought the stroller, they didn’t use it as much. We went back in 2019 for a day and didn’t even bring the stroller.
Since there no traveling for us 2020, we probably already walked over 200 miles with the kids, since we explored a lot of hiking trails and walking in our neighborhood a few times a week anyways. We figured setting a goal of 250 miles for 2020 was achievable and it would give them a start at setting annual goals. Here’s our plan to get there.
2021 Family Walking Plan
First, I talked to the kids about breaking down 250 miles into a weekly goal. I asked my second grader, “Let’s plan for walking 50 weeks out of the year. How many miles do we need to walk each week to get to 250 miles?” He did the math in his head and said “5 miles.”
Since we usually take a longer walk on the weekends, our plan is to walking 3 times a week for at least 1 mile and then do a longer walk (at least 2 miles) on the weekend. If we get behind during the week, we can take a longer walk on the weekend to make up for it. I’m sure it’ll happen at some point and that will give me an opportunity to talk with the kids about what to do if you get behind on something.
Keeping Kids Motivated
I’m using two things to keep them motivated. First, are toe tokens. Alex’s school (when it was in person) would give out these cute plastic feet for every 5 miles you logged at school and/or at home. Since school is virtual now, I bought a bag of these feet from the school directly to keep their motivation going. You can use this link to buy toe tokens and you’ll get 15% off your purchase!
I also found this cool 50- and 100-Mile Challenge tracker online and I’ll print out to use throughout the year. I love the idea of having them cross off the number of miles they walked and to visually see their progress.
Are you making any 2021 goals with your family? How about for yourself? Let me know in the comments!
