In an era of internet, television and video games it's easy for kids to loose their motivation to get up off the couch and play. Children need motivation to keep active and what better way than with a spunky little monkey and an adorable kangaroo named, Joey.
I recently received the "An Adventure in Excersise" Ebook series from author, Len Saunders, to review. From the moment I showed my kids the ebooks, they fell in love with the awesomely illustrated characters of Spunky and Joey.
Joey the Kangaroo - An Adventure in Excersise This book is designed to educate your child in various fitness skills. Each page is simply illustrated, showing Joey doing ten different fitness activities, from walking in place to balancing on one foot and jumping jacks for your child to follow along and mimic his actions. This book is perfect for both my children, as Alexa (age 6) can read along and Lillian (age 3) can accomplish all the fitness tasks. It also encourages them to recognize and count their numbers 1-10 as the activities suggested include, doing 3 push ups, 9 toe touches and balancing on one foot for 8 seconds and so on. What I enjoy most about excersising with Joey is that he encourages my children to express themselves creativly through movment in so many different ways, not just the suggested activities in the book. It teaches them that excersise can be fun.
Spunky the Monkey - An Adventure in Excersise: In this book, Spunky takes us on an adventure through the forest having our children act as frogs jumping from lily pad to lily pad, birds soaring and flying through the sky and slithery snakes crawling on the ground. It introduces a whole new set of movements, encouraging them to do the excersise a little bit longer, or a little bit more, if it feels to easy for them. Alexa especially likes Spunky's adventure because she likes the challenge. As a Mom, it's sometimes difficult to find new ways to motivate my kids to pull their eyes away from the Disney Channel. I find that I need motivation myself. Spunky and Joey's Aventures in Excersise has totally changed our evening routine. My kids are both begging me to hurry and clean up after dinner so we can play with Spunky and Joey. They say, "We HAVE to Mommy, it's healthy for our bodies". It excites me to see that they are having so much fun, encouraging each other and cheering themselves on to accomplish each task. Lillian is determined to balance on one foot for 8 seconds and she is getting closer and closer each night that we do it. Having them learn how important it is to excersise and keep their bodies healthy and strong at a young age is so important to both my husband and I because it's more likely they will continue to include exersise in their daily routine for the rest of their lives. Our dog, Chip, even likes to participate. hehe
About the Award Winning Author: Len Saunders graduated with honors in 1983 from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, majoring in Physical Education. He was voted the "outstanding senior" from hisn graduating class. He later went to receive his Master's degree in Excersise Physiology from Montclair State University in New Jersey.
Len has been involved in children's health and fitness for over 25 years. He was won awards for his contribution to children's health and fitness at the local, state and national levels. He has been a guest speaker at universities, as well as state and national conventions. In the late 1980's, Len served as a consultant to the President's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports. Most recently, he became and American Heart Association expert spokesperson on the issue of childhood obesity and childhood fitness.
Len's contribution to children's fitness has literally reached millions of children and their parents. He has contributed articles to magazines such as Muscle and Fitness, as well as writing articles for Human Kinetics Publishing and consulted with Sports Illustrated For Kids magazine. Some of Len's articles have been used for nationally syndicated television shows on ABC-TV. Sports Illustrated called Len "high-spirited", while a quote from Ladies Home Journal says, "nobody is more commited to children's fitness than Len Saunders".
The obesity epidemic is facing the youth of the world today is a growing concern for a lot of parents. Unfortunately, many young chilren already suffer from a risk factor for heart disease, which includes high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, or physical inactivity. Studies have shown that children do benefit from learning positive health habits while they are still young. Statistics have shown that many overweight children will grow up to become overweight adults. Teaching our children basic excersise skills in an entertaining and novel way makes it more fun for them.
Your children will love to excersise and play with Spunky and Joey and Mom's and Dad's, be prepared to get on the floor and excersise along with them. We make it a family activity in our home and it's a blast. I told Len that it's absolutley hilarious watching my 3 year old do push ups. Even tho she doesn't do aproper push up, it's the effort that counts and she is getting better and better each time. It usually ends up with her bear crawling all over the living room or crab walking or something other form of physical activity. The importance is that she is being active, having fun and developing healthy habits at an early age.
*****
You can Buy: You can order copies of Joey the Kangaroo - An Adventure in Excersise and Spunky the Monkey - An Adventure in Excersise online on Len's website, Len Saunders Books.
Or, the Ebooks through Len's website, An Adventure in Excersise.
Also, Len Saunders Keeping Kids Fit book.
The Giveaway: Len has offered one lucky Mom-a-Logues winner both Joey the Kangaroo and Spunky the Monkey Ebooks for you and your children to stay fit as a fiddle. Hoot Hoot!!
Manditory Entry: Visit Len's website and tell me something you learned about Len. (1 bonus entry if you think he's good lookin')
* Please include your email address with each entry.
Extra Entries:
1.) Follow Mom-a-Logues via GFC
2.) Like An Adventure in Excersise on Facebook and leave a comment saying Dawn from Mom-a-Logues sent ya.
3.) Like Keeping Kids Fit on Facebook
3.) Like Mom-a-Logues on Facebook. (I like comments, too)
4.) Follow Mamato2Mijas on Twitter
5.) Tweet about this giveaway
6.) Add my button to your blog and tell me where I can find it (3 entries)
7.) Blog about this giveaway and leave the link (5 entries)
8.) Purchase Len's Keeping Kids Fit Book (10 entries)
This Giveaway will end on 12/1 at 9pm cst. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected. Good Luck!!
{Disclaimer: I was given the above mentioned ebooks for this review. No other monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own. }
Thank you Len for this wonderful oppertunity!!!
