Video Games to Keep Your Kids Active

It's that time again! Temperatures are falling, street lights are turning on earlier, and kids are indoors more often. Instead of sitting on the couch watching TV, here are some video games that will keep your kids' brain and bodies active.

Exergaming

Exergaming is a term used for video games that are also a form of exercise. Almost every video game system on the market today provides technology that tracks movements and reactions. Here are some games that we enjoy for the Wii and Xbox 360 consoles.

• Wii- The Wii console, which is popular with younger children ages 3-8, focuses on games that kid friendly and contain minimal to no violence. A lot of the games on this console are designed after popular children's movies and cartoons. Here is our top exergaming picks for this console:

• Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus - The Wii Fit and balance board comes with some standard fitness games that will help keep track of your children's indoor training. The exercises included are: yoga which is great for toning muscles,  aerobics which is great for increasing heart strength, and finally strength training. These exercises are pretty generic and can get boring quick, especially for children. We suggest purchasing the Wii Fit Plus package. The Wii Fit Plus package adds 20 more games that are much more fun to play. 

• XBOX 360 with Kinect

• Dance Central - We really like this game because it doesn't really seem like exercise. It's fun and has several songs to choose from. Your kids will be dancing for hours.

• Kinect Sports - Are you ever worried about you child playing soccer indoors? Well now you don't have too. Games such as football. soccer, boxing, and bowling will keep your child active for many hours of the day.

Brain Games

• Lumosity - We have all seen the commercials on TV but will this really help your child's brain? According to their site "In a recent study from the University of California, Berkeley, children aged 7 to 9 who played a set of challenging games that involved critical reasoning skills improved by over 30% on standardized measures of nonverbal intelligence". We have tried games on the site the site and its actually really fun. Lumosity focuses on five areas to improve you brain; memory, problem solving, attention, speed, and flexibility. The site is free to sign up but you are limited to only a couple of games and features. In order to access the full line of games you have to pay $14.95 a month. Don't let the price deter you. Give it a try http://www.lumosity.com/

• Brain Age - This Nintendo DS game is a classic. It has been around for some time and you can buy it used at GameStop or online through any of the popular retailers. Brain Age is similar to Lumosity in which it has games that stimulate memory cognition but do not really seem like homework. The feature we really like most is that you can see how old your brain is after you play every game. This way you can see how well your child's brain is developing. 

There are several other games on the market that can help your children stay active both mentally and physically. What games do you and your children play at home? Please leave a comment letting us know.