Move every day.

Your body is amazing. It can run and jump and climb. It can hang upside down from the monkey bars until all the blood goes to your head. It can do a cartwheel, or at least most of a cartwheel. But your body has one funny rule, and I want to tell you about it.

Your body wants to move every day. Not once a week. Not just on Saturdays. Every single day.

Have you noticed what happens on a rainy day, when you stay inside all morning? By lunchtime you're bouncing off the couch. You're rolling on the floor. You're making dinosaur noises for no reason. That's not you being silly. That's your body saying, "Hey! I need to move! Take me outside!"

Puppies do this too. If a puppy stays inside all day, it gets the zoomies. It runs in circles around the living room, around the couch and around your legs. Kids get the zoomies too. That's your body asking for its daily steps.

Think of a staircase. Every day that you move, you climb one step. One step doesn't feel like much. You barely notice it. But steps add up. After a week, you're higher than before. After a month, you're faster. After a year, you're way up there. You're stronger, you can run farther, and you even sleep better.

Think about the monkey bars. The first time anybody tries them, they hang on for one second and drop like an apple. But if they try a little every day, one day they swing all the way across. That's the staircase.

Here's a fun fact. Your heart is a muscle too. When you run, it goes thump-thump-thump, like a drum. Put your hand on your chest after a race and you can feel it. That's your heart getting stronger. It's also your heart saying thank you.

Can you guess who has to exercise every single day, no matter what? Astronauts. When astronauts live in space, they float around all day. Floating sounds like fun, but it's too easy for their bodies. Their muscles start to get weak. So every day, up in space, they strap themselves onto a special bike and a running machine. They run with straps holding them down, so they don't float off and bump into the ceiling. They work out for about two hours. Even in space, the rule is the same.

If you skip a day, that's okay. Everybody does. But if you skip lots of days in a row, the stairs start to feel taller. Your legs get lazy. Your body gets grumpy. And a grumpy body makes a grumpy horse.

Some animals hardly move at all. A sloth moves so slowly that tiny green plants grow on its fur. Green, fuzzy plants, right on its back. You don't want plants growing on you. So keep moving.

Moving helps your brain, too. After you run around, it's easier to sit still and listen. It's easier to fall asleep at night. That's a secret your teachers know.

Grown-ups know all about this. Some grown-ups sit at a desk all day. Then they sit in a car. Then they sit on the couch. They sit so much they start to look like their chair. I try not to be one of them. Some days I'm better at it than others.

What's your favorite way to move?

The good news is you don't need a big workout. You don't need a team, or a coach, or special shoes. You can run to the corner and back. You can climb something at the park. You can ride your bike or hop on one foot. You can dance in the kitchen while dinner is cooking. You can wrestle me on the bed. I'll probably lose. Ten minutes counts.

Moving isn't about winning. It's not about being the fastest kid in your class. Some kids are faster than you. Some kids are slower. That's not the point. You only get one body for your whole life, and it's yours to take care of. The point is to feel strong in it.

There's one more thing. When you're sick or hurt, resting is the right move. Resting is a step too. Your body needs moving and resting, both, like breathing in and breathing out.

So here's the plan. Every day, climb one step. Some days it'll be a big step, like a whole afternoon at the park. Some days it'll be a tiny step, like a race to the mailbox. Just don't stand still for too long. And if you ever want a moving partner, you know where to find me. I'll be the one trying not to look like a chair.

Move every day.

After reading

Pick ten minutes in the day for the week, like right after school or before dinner, and tell him: "This is our moving time." Each day, let him choose what you do: a race to the corner, a dance in the kitchen, tag in the yard, or the monkey bars. Do it with him rather than watching. If he can't decide, offer two choices: "Race or dance?" On the seventh day, ask him, "How do your legs feel?" and "Do you want to keep our moving time?" Let it be his call.

What to watch for

The goal: moving every day starts to feel normal to him, not like a chore.

• It's landing when he asks for the ten minutes before you bring it up.
• It's landing when a restless, bouncy afternoon makes him say "I need to move" instead of melting down.
• It's landing when he tries something new with his body: a higher climb, a longer run, a cartwheel.
• Careful: this is not about being the fastest or the best. If it turns into comparing himself with other kids, go back to "That's not the point."
• Careful: don't use exercise as punishment ("go run laps"). It should stay the fun part of the day.