Monday, 12 May 2008
Making fitness fun for kids
We have all heard of the stats about the growing obesity problem with our kids. On the weekend I bought a Wii Fit for the kids. I admit I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but was willing to give it a go. I am now a raving fan - my kids spent an hour each day playing games including downhill skiiing, hula hoops, yoga, moving bubbles down a river through their balance and taking part in step classes. Even the jogging turned out to be quite fun for them (and yes they worked up a sweat and enjoyed it). Given my kids are not sporty and will find any excuse to avoid physical activity this was a huge win. My only criticism (and it is a very tiny one at that) is that the activities are definitely designed more to the female market rather than male, so if you have teenage boys you are not likely to get them onto Wii Fit for any extended period of time (only the soccer game seemed targeted to the boys). This is a very clever business idea from Wii - taking an issue (weight), combining it with a trend (the increase in people interested in getting fit) and mashing it with a computer game. I suspect this will sell like hotcakes and the other major games companies will need to move to embrace the trend of fitness based interactive gaming. Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony Putting your business into words Labels: wii marketing |
Eye toy for Playstation is similar in that you can work up a sweat playing tennis or catching bricks etc. It is great as you say to combine both the interest and the exercise particularly when the weather isn't conducive to venturing outside.
My kids love these action style games. They have the Eye Toy, like Neridas kids, and it gets quite a work out. So do they!