<\/p>\n\n
Ask an adult what starts in the fall.<\/p>\n\n
They\u2019ll probably say: back to school. Lunches again. Homework. After-school activities. Appointments you have to start putting back in the calendar. Winter tires you\u2019ll need to think about soon. <\/p>\n\n
Now ask a child.<\/p>\n\n
You might get a much more interesting answer.<\/p>\n\n
Leaves you can jump into. Halloween coming up. New friends in class. Getting your favourite sweater back. The perfectly reasonable possibility, in their mind, of eating a caramel apple on a Tuesday. <\/p>\n\n
Same season. Two worlds. <\/p>\n\n
What if, this fall, we borrowed a little from the second one?<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n
An adult walking into an indoor activity centre quickly sees the facilities.<\/p>\n\n
A trampoline. A course. A court. Obstacles. <\/p>\n\n
A child, on the other hand, didn\u2019t necessarily get the memo telling them to use each thing exactly as intended.<\/p>\n\n
The Ninja course can become a spy mission. A trampoline can be used to decide who can pull off the weirdest jump. Dodgeball can suddenly become an extremely serious showdown between two teams whose names were just invented. <\/p>\n\n
That may be one of the most interesting differences between how kids play and how adults play: we often look for what we\u2019re supposed to do; they look for what they could do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n And that nuance changes a lot.<\/p>\n\n \u201cWatch me!\u201d is probably one of the most important phrases of the fall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Every parent knows it.<\/p>\n\n \u201cWatch me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n It usually comes at the exact moment you\u2019re looking somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n And when you finally look, the feat in question might be spectacular\u2026 or it might be jumping about 14 centimetres higher than five minutes ago.<\/p>\n\n Either way.<\/p>\n\n Because \u201cwatch me\u201d rarely means only \u201clook at what I\u2019m doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n It can also mean: I tried something<\/em>. I did it<\/em>. I\u2019m proud<\/em>. I want to share this with you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n That\u2019s a different way to approach a family outing this fall: not only asking what we\u2019re going to do<\/strong>, but what we might get to see happen.<\/p>\n\n A bit of boldness. A new skill. A small win. Or a child doing the exact same thing twelve times because this time, \u201cit was almost perfect.\u201d <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n We like results that are easy to measure.<\/p>\n\n Faster. Higher. Longer. Level cleared. <\/p>\n\n Kids sometimes make progress in a much less spectacular way.<\/p>\n\n The one who watched others for ten minutes finally dares to try. The one who gave up after a failure tries again. Another figures out how to control their movement better. Two kids who don\u2019t know each other spontaneously find a way to play together. <\/p>\n\n None of that necessarily earns a medal.<\/p>\n\n And yet, those are real learnings.<\/p>\n\n The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommend that children and youth aged 5 to 17 get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily, in addition to several hours of light physical activity.<\/p>\n\n But behind the minutes and the recommendations, there\u2019s something much more concrete: giving young people enough opportunities to move so they can discover what their bodies are capable of.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n And sometimes, it simply starts with: \u201cI\u2019m going to try.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Let\u2019s be fair to adults: we have a good reason to love calendars.<\/p>\n\n Without them, someone would inevitably show up to hockey on Thursday when practice was Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n The problem starts when the whole season is scheduled down to the minute.<\/p>\n\n School. Work. Groceries. Homework. Practice. Dinner. Bath. Bed. Repeat. <\/p>\n\n Then Saturday arrives, and this question:<\/p>\n\n \u201cWhat are we doing today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n Our first instinct is sometimes to look for the right activity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n A child isn\u2019t necessarily looking for the right activity. They\u2019re looking for a story to tell on Monday morning. <\/p>\n\n And that\u2019s not the same thing.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Here\u2019s some great news: you don\u2019t need to create a memorable moment.<\/p>\n\n In fact, trying really hard to create a \u201cMEMORABLE FAMILY MOMENT\u201d is probably one of the most effective ways not to create one.<\/p>\n\n Family memories have an annoying habit of choosing for themselves what\u2019s worth keeping.<\/p>\n\n You plan an amazing outing: nobody mentions it again.<\/p>\n\n Dad loses miserably in a Gladiator duel against his eight-year-old daughter: the story comes back at Christmas for four years.<\/p>\n\n The memory might be a particularly graceful fall. An immediate demand for a rematch. A first success. An absurd line tossed between two jumps. <\/p>\n\n What matters isn\u2019t necessarily the exceptional event.<\/p>\n\n It\u2019s often the unexpected in the middle of an ordinary day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n It\u2019s impossible to talk about kids\u2019 world without screens coming up. Phones, tablets, consoles, and videos are part of their everyday life. Demonizing them won\u2019t make them disappear. <\/p>\n\n The most recent Canadian data available also shows the challenge is still very real for teens: youth aged 12 to 17 spend an average of 10.6 hours per day<\/strong> in sedentary behaviour, and only 22%<\/strong> meet the Canadian physical activity recommendations.<\/p>\n\n So maybe the more interesting question isn\u2019t: \u201cHow do we keep kids away from screens?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n It could instead become:<\/p>\n\n \u201cWhat will make them want to forget about them for a while?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Important nuance.<\/p>\n\n Because a child running toward their next challenge usually doesn\u2019t think they\u2019re being forced into a \u201chealthy lifestyle habit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n They\u2019re busy.<\/p>\n\n And that\u2019s just fine.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n On your next outing, let your child decide part of the plan.<\/p>\n\n Not all of it. Let\u2019s be reasonable. <\/p>\n\n But give them a mission: choose a challenge they\u2019ve never tried.<\/p>\n\n Then switch the roles slightly.<\/p>\n\n They have to pick one for you.<\/p>\n\n You might discover another fascinating feature of childhood: kids take a wildly disproportionate amount of pleasure in watching their parents try something they don\u2019t have down yet.<\/p>\n\n Enjoy it.<\/p>\n\n Nowhere does it say adults always have to be the ones who know how it works.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n A child doesn\u2019t walk into O-Volt thinking they\u2019re here to hit their daily physical activity quota.<\/p>\n\n Thankfully.<\/p>\n\n They see something to try, someone to challenge, a move to land, or a place they haven\u2019t explored yet.<\/p>\n\n What if experiencing O-Volt differently this fall was simply that?<\/p>\n\n Not trying to fill a day. Not trying to manufacture the perfect memory. Not turning every activity into a goal to reach. <\/p>\n\n Just leaving a little room for curiosity.<\/p>\n\n Next time, instead of asking \u201cWhat do you want to do?\u201d, try:<\/p>\n\n \u201cWhat have you never tried?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The answer might surprise you.<\/p>\n\n And if it leads to a Ninja course, a trampoline, a duel, or something you don\u2019t even know the name of yet, you can always take a look at the activities offered at O-Volt<\/a>. And for kids who discover that trying once definitely isn\u2019t enough, O-Volt classes<\/a> also make it possible to explore certain disciplines further. <\/p>\n\n ——————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Public Health Agency of Canada. (2026).<\/strong> Physical activity: Be active for your health.<\/em> Government of Canada. This page confirms, among other things, the recommendation of at least 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for children and youth aged 5 to 17. Public Health Agency of Canada.<\/strong> (2024).<\/strong> The health of youth in Canada: A portrait of mental health. Government of Canada. See in particular Chapter 7: \u201cPhysical activity, screen time and sleep\u201d<\/strong>, which covers physical activity, sedentary behaviour, screen time and sleep among youth in Canada. For a child, progress doesn\u2019t always look like progress<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
Fall doesn\u2019t have to become a giant to-do list<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
The perfect outing probably doesn\u2019t exist. Good. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
And what about screens in all this?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
Try a little experiment this fall<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
This fall, let\u2019s try to see what they see<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n