Yes, we know it’s not yet Easter, but its not that far away either! Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles will be making their trips to the local candy specialty shops all over the country for those special treats that are only created at this time of year. From chocolate bunny’s, to molasses coconut eggs, and don’t forget the peanut butter eggs as well as the unique treats that are common to so many local areas. Why the frantic journey to those candy kitchens at this time of year? Because we have been conditioned to get out and purchase an abundance of Easter candy to give as presents to our kids, friends and family!

Now don’t get us wrong, we are in no way saying to stop buying those candy treats, we’re not saying to cut out surprising the children with their long looked for Easter baskets. But what we are saying is to cut back the abundance of sugary goodies that nest within those baskets.

What you can do is to try to fill your children’s baskets with more toys than candy and hide the jelly beans, and chocolate kisses soon after they find them. No matter how much work you put into hiding the sugar, the kids still seem to find it and eat it as fast as you can bury it again.

At a time when tech-type activity often supersedes our children’s physical activity, and unhealthy food choices are marketed directly toward younger age groups, we as adults and parents must work even harder at improving our children’s healthy choices,” says Kurt David, an elementary school counselor and fitness enthusiast. Since you can’t be there to stop every sugary treat from getting into their hands, you can make a plan to incorporate fun activities into your Easter routine that emphasize having fun and staying active.

Below are some great Easter activity ideas to keep your kids moving this holiday.

Easter for a lot of families means having an Easter egg hunt. Whether it’s outside in the yard, a local field, that’s maybe sponsored by an organization or just hiding some plastic or even colored hard-boiled eggs around the house like we did when I was a kid. What you can do to turn this into a healthy activity that will get the kids, and maybe the adults can join in as well to find those eggs and see what’s inside the plastic ones or written on the old-fashioned hard-boiled eggs. When the kids find them, they are sure to be looking at you with an expression on their faces that screams: “What’s Up With This” or, “What’s Going On”? Where’s the candy or cash?

Easter eggs that one would normally fill with candy or money, can now be filled with pieces of paper inside with exercises written on them. These don’t have to be deadlifts and shoulder presses, you can make these activities fun. You can make these exercises unique to your home, garden or nearby park. Here are some examples of what you can put inside the plastic Easter eggs:

Hop like a bunny for 30 seconds
Jump as far as you can 3 times
10 Jumping jacks
Run backwards to the end of the grass and back
Climb up the tree
Swing from the tire swing
Touch your toes then reach for the sky 10 times
Hopscotch
Jump as high as you can 3 times
Balance on one leg for 20 seconds (both sides)

When the kids are done searching for their eggs, they should find a mix of exercises and candy in their plastic Easter eggs. As you can see from reading the list, these activities don’t really seem like exercises. They are just fun ways to get your whole family involved, moving more and having fun, together!

Now you're saying this is a great idea for the younger kids, but how do you get the older ones active during the Easter holiday season, and for the rest of the year as well? Well, instead of having them find a large chocolate bar or video game in their basket, how about an activity watch?

One that tracks their distance, the pace they're moving at, even their heart rate as they're moving and the calories they're burning up while doing these activities. Heck, it will even remind them when it’s time to move! One such activity tracker is the Garmin Forerunner 25 GPS Running Watch  For the price, it packs a lot of features into this little wrist-based monitor with a built-in GPS that when they get finished with their workout, that you create for them, they can upload it to Garmin Connect and if their friends are into getting fit, they can compete against one another to see just how well each of them are doing. And you can also keep tabs on them as well if you join the Garmin Community. How good is that to help them stay motivated while getting fit, instead of eating a couple of hundred calories of sugar?

So, now that we’ve given you a few ideas on how to keep the kids motivated, from the age of 3 all the way up to seventeen and beyond it could be a game changer for getting them motivated to move instead of playing video games or watching a couple of hours of cartoons.

It’s your call this Easter Holiday, so what is the bunny going to put in your basket? Candy or a protein bar?