Exercising with chairs

Get active with just a chair

Chairs are a simple and accessible resource for supporting children’s physical activity in a confined space.

Chairs offer a wide range of possibilities to promote overall body strength, balance, co-ordination and agility. Chairs offer many movement opportunities for children of all ages.

Babies may like to sit and explore the space under the chair and crawl in and out of it.

Toddlers may like to hold onto the chair and bob up and down.

Pre-school children can use the chairs to climb onto and jump off, landing in different ways.

To really get the physical benefit of chairs at home, all you need is a sturdy chair with enough space around it for children to move safely.

In this video, LEYF teacher, Victoria, explains the many ways children can use chairs.

She shows parents how toddlers and pre-school children can use the chair to help them stretch their arms, legs and entire bodies. Challenge children to see how long they can hold a position on the chair. Can they do the different movements very slowly or very quickly?