During the holidays, in addition to enjoying each other’s company, families spend an enormous amount of time feasting at dinners and parties and exchanging goodie baskets. According to ABC News Health in its November, 2004 article “Making Thanksgiving Dinner Healthier” by Ali Mohamadi, Americans gain, on an average, seven pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day! They also provide statistics from a report by Health Management Resources, that a typical holiday turkey dinner contains 7,100 calories!

Playing fun, high energy games that the whole family can enjoy during family gatherings will burn off some of those staggering calories, and fight packing on those pounds. Every family should become more aware of the importance of exercise and physical activities all year round, and be sure to incorporate fun ways to exercise during their holiday events. 

Fun Games to play at family gatherings

While the turkey is still in the oven or after it’s been sliced and eaten, family members can enjoy several fun activity games that will burn calories, increase metabolism and are great family fun!

• Play Twister – Those twisted, gnarled bodies are burning 170 calories per hour, stretching muscles.
• Hula Hoop – A thirty minute hula with this hoop around one’s waist burns 200 calories!
• Badminton – Playing badminton for one hour burns approximately 300 calories.
• Ping Pong – Hold a holiday tournament and burn 270 calories for each hour of play time..
• Wii – Hook up a Wii in a room where the family can take turns playing one of the games in Wii sports. 1-4 players at a time can play tennis, bowling, or golf. In their Active Life: Extreme Challenge, up to 4 players can rock climb, base jump, skateboard or more! Check here for the calories burned for each half hour of Wii activity (or here).
• DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution) – Roll out the dance mat and take turns dancing with Grandpa to “I’m Your Boogie Man”. Over 380 calories burned for an hour of dancing!
• Hide and Go Seek – Adults can join the kids in a game of hide and go seek. When walking at a race-walk speed, over 200 calories are burned each half hour they are racing to hide or seek!

This holiday season, keep the family moving with fun games and maybe in January, everyone will still fit into their pre-holiday jeans and be even healthier than before they started!

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Resources:

ABC News Health article, “Making Thanksgiving Dinner Healthier”

Suite 101 article, "Exercise to Burn Those Calories"

Wii.com