Children lose 80% of their fitness during school summer holidays. This is the worrying finding of research by UK fitness association ukactive.
It measured 400 pupils before and after the summer holidays and found that, after the summer break, the children were able to run a significantly shorter distance before stopping with exhaustion than was the case before the holidays.
There was also a big difference between levels of overweight and obesity between the end of one school year and the beginning of the next: 20 per cent of all children were overweight or obese in July, but by September – after six weeks of insufficient activity – that figure had gone up by one-fifth, to 24 per cent.
The good news is that Wexer can help, with a fantastic range of new kids’ programming – perfect both for in-club activities and for parents looking for new ideas to keep their children entertained at home.
Brand new inspiration
The Animal Fu Family collection consists of five martial arts-based classes designed with young children in mind. Led by colourful characters – Boris the Tiger, Patsy the Bear, DJ Fin, Mabu the Monkey and Master Storky – these engaging classes focus on movement rather than combat, with having fun the main objective.
Meanwhile, the iDEA collection includes more than 30 classes, ranging from just a few minutes to an hour long and with something to cater for children of all ages and interests. From hip hop to party-fit dance, yoga to martial arts, it’s all here in iDEA. It doesn’t stop there either, with other fun activities also incorporated: build a drum and then use that to exercise as if you were a drummer, for example. There’s even a chance to learn magic tricks. It’s all about providing inspiration, as well as guidance, to those desperately seeking something different to do with the kids.
Both due to kids’ ages and to the intention behind the content, these two new collections are ideally suited to an environment where there’s adult supervision – whether that’s a summer holiday activity camp in your club, with your team on-hand to keep kids happy and safe, or a value-added resource that parents can draw on to lure kids away from sedentary screen time.
It’s a support tool – a source of ideas for anyone looking after children – rather than the typical adult virtual class where participants can be left to their own devices.
Different, but the same
The hardware and software are, however, exactly the same, with the two new collections already uploaded to the players of all Wexer Virtual customers; new customers will also automatically have these collections on their players.
Meanwhile, there’s a great option for clubs wanting to extend the availability of these activities to any parents in their member base, for an added value at-home offering: the Wexer Web Player.
In just a few clicks, this password-protected, white label web portal allows users to stream their choice of class, any time, anywhere, to any internet-enabled device – the perfect answer to kids’ cries of “I’m bored”.
And of course it doesn’t stop with the kids: with hundreds of classes on the Web Player, there’s something for everyone – which means it’s a great way for parents to stay in shape throughout the summer too, without having to worry about childcare while they go to the gym.
Even better, as it requires no technical integrations, we can launch the Wexer Web Player into your business as quickly as 14 days from signing an agreement, seamlessly embedding it into your existing websites and apps.
To find out more about any of these services – Wexer Virtual, Wexer Web Player, or our new class collections – please contact info@wexer.com