Those Runner Kids is weekly toddler exercise class that introduces children to concepts of running and fitness in a fun and engaging way. During each class, participants work on various age-appropriate skills that are designed to help them master the basics of movements to get them moving and to set them up for athletic success in the future.
Skills taught at Those Runner Kids include motor skills, balance, spatial awareness and agility. These skills and more and discussed in detail below.
An introduction to running is the core of this class. Children learn running form including arm swings and proper footstrike, landing softly on the mid-foot. They learn to use their breath and work on speed via sprints and use teamwork to pass the baton for an intro to relay races. This is not a racing program or running class similar to track or cross country. For these ages, we work on the fundamentals of running so they can excel in organized sports as they age.
Those Runner Kids class work on core strength and balance using age-appropriate obstacle course equipment. This includes stepping stones and floor balance beams. Kids are encouraged to crawl under the rainbow bridge and squat down to help sort colors in other fun games for muscle strength and conditioning using play. The goal is a full body workout to increase overall muscle strength that benefits both their health and also their ability to succeed in sports.
Youth are also introduced to speed and agility training. This includes acceleration and deceleration when playing games using cone drills and agility using hoops hopscotch-style. Agility is an important skill to work on because it is needed in order to perform sports like soccer injury-free as they age.
Cooling Down
Each class ends with a cool down period that includes breathing exercises and a children’s book in the health and fitness space to further open them to concepts of living a healthy life. This further teaches them other lessons in the health and wellness space such as controlling emotions, what is yoga, and the importance of eating nutritious food.
MEDALS FOR ALL!
Each little runner ends the program with being awarded with an official Those Runner Kids medal at the end of class.
Those Runner Kids 