Active Parent Ryan Bruce

"My family and I enjoy hiking, cycling, and playing baseball together. During the Circuit Breaker period, we took advantage of the extra family time and also began to run together. This spurred our interest to enrol our children in the ActiveSG Athletics Club. My daughter Anna’s stand-out memory from participating in the club is the Spartan Race finale. More importantly, though, she has often remarked on how warm and inviting all the kids (and coaches!) have always been. Through a friendship that Anna formed with another girl at the club, our whole family has also had the opportunity to make friends!

Personally, I think that it is important for me to stay active in order to show my children the value of a healthy lifestyle. I strive to be more active as sport and exercise is not only a precious opportunity for me to enjoy family bonding, but it is also a way to encourage my kids to lead healthy lifestyles as they grow older.

The first time I brought Anna to the stadium for athletics, I had planned to sit and read while waiting for her. However, because of the restrictions on entry to the stadium due to the pandemic, I was not allowed to stay at the stands. I decided that I would come prepared to be active during the next session. Ever since then, I have always taken advantage of Anna being in the class to run or exercise at the stadium. Recently, I noticed that Active Health was conducting their Move Better-Get Fitter! classes and I decided to join that as well. On hindsight, I would say that Anna joining the Athletics programme has actually encouraged me to get more active rather than the other way around!

We have always been careful to limit our children’s screen time of all sorts. Instead, we try to provide opportunities for active and creative play. We try to take advantage of the local parks and playgrounds whenever we can, on top of accessing the forests and reserves to hike and explore as much as possible. I strongly believe that the more creative outdoor time that my children have, the more focused they will be in school and better able to handle academic stress. This was highlighted significantly for us during Circuit Breaker when we were not able to go hiking nor participate in the outdoor activities that normally filled our weekends.

Lastly, we are careful not to “over-programme” our kids’ time outside of school so that they have lots of time to freely play with their friends!"