Children need to be active to be healthy. It's a parent's job to keep them inspired to do so. However, some children are less than enthusiastic when it comes to exercise. Sometimes exercise has just gotten to be routine and mundane. If that sounds like your family life, try the following fun activities to get those kids active. In fact, don't just try these fun activities, use them often and make it a regular practice to get the best results.

Family Dance Sessions
This might be the most obvious of all these activities, but dance is an excellent way to incorporate activity in your child's daily life. Many, if not all, kids love dancing. Whether they know any fancy moves or not, crank up the kid-appropriate music and let them have some fun. To make it even more fun, turn it into a family dance session.

Video Games
Many video games are not considered active play. However, game designers are getting much more inventive. There are now games where the players are required to do physical activity in order for the game to function. Players may need to dance, run, jump, cast a virtual fishing pole, and more. The Wii Fit Games are a perfect example of these games.

Active Games
Remember those classic games you played as a kid before the invention of all these high tech toys kids have nowadays? Guess what? Kids still love these games. Duck Duck Goose, Red Rover, Simon Says, Charades, jump rope games, hopscotch, and Mother May I are just some of many examples. All of these classic games keep kids active during play.

Chores
Now some of you might read this and say "How exactly are children going to enjoy this one." But some kids do in fact love chores and there are certain chores that don't seem like chores at all. To make it fun, you can play assembly line while washing dishes or doing laundry. Each person can do a step. You can even dance or sing during chores. Smaller kids can race grocery baskets of toys to the toy box.

Family Field Trips
Field trips aren't just for school groups and homeschooling families. Visit zoos and museums often. Purchasing yearly memberships can help you remember to go. Walking around to view the exhibits all day long is excellent exercise. Many kids will not even be thinking about this as exercise. They'll be too busy having fun.

This article was originally published by Lyn Lomasi at Associated Content from Yahoo!

It seems there's almost a park at every turn in and around the city of Houston. But, which parks are the most advantageous to an educational nature walk with the kids? 

A good park for a nature walk should have plenty of trees, flowers, and other plants. A lake or pond is great for nature walks, as are animals and insects. Nature reserves in Houston can be some of the best parks for nature walks with kids, but smaller Houston parks, and even your own backyard can be great as well. Here are some of the best parks in Houston for watching nature with the kids.

Discovery Green Park is eco-friendly with its LEED certification. This is a great place to teach kids about living green and what it means to be eco-friendly. The park runs on 100% green power and the beautiful landscape, including Discovery Green Gardens, offers beautiful sights for nature walks with kids.

The Houston Arboretum and Nature Center is full of nature waiting to be discovered. View animals and plants thriving in their natural habitats. There are hiking trails, as well as educational classes for students, including those attending home schools. Admission to the park is free, but some programs, events, and classes may require a fee or pre-registration.

Lake Houston Wilderness Park is great for those who have more time for nature walks. Campgrounds are on site for creating a whole family nature adventure. If you aren't quite up to the camping part, don't worry. There still is plenty to do here for a day trip. Hiking and biking trails will provide plenty of great scenery, but for a different nature adventure, try horseback riding or canoeing. All are welcome at the Lake Houston Wilderness Park. While technically, you would instead be doing a nature ride, rather than a nature walk, the horse, bike, or watercraft would be an interesting and new way to view nature's wonders. The Lake Houston Wilderness Park asks that you bring your own horse, watercraft, or bike. Cabins are available for rental, as are walk-in campsites. Be forewarned that there are several snake species lurking at Lake Houston Wilderness Park.