Have fun on two wheels. Running or walking quickly alongside your child while she rides her bike will give you a good workout. “Go to the park and dedicate 30 to 40 minutes where you follow or chase your child on her bike,” says Espel. “Even if it’s stop and start, you’ll definitely break a sweat.” If you’d rather ride together, find maps to local bike trails on your community’s Parks and Recreation web site.

Hit the dance floor. Dancing is a super calorie burner and cardio workout. Crank up the tunes, pop in a dance fitness video, or take a dance class at a gym or dance studio. The key to making it a good workout is to do it as much as possible without a lot of starting and stopping, says Espel. According to the Mayo Clinic, for a 140-pound woman, one hour of dancing burns about 300 calories.

Turn on the tube. “There are some really cute fitness videos or DVDs that you can do with your kids depending on their age,” says Espel. Even if the kids are not able to do all of the exercises, attempting push-ups and sit-ups will keep them occupied. And don’t worry if you can only keep your child focused on an exercise routine for a few minutes: “You sometimes don’t get as good a quality workout but I always tell people that something is better than nothing,” says Rose. “We need to stop thinking in terms of all or nothing. If you do five or 10 minutes at a time, it adds up.” Rose enjoys exercise workouts by Cathe Friedrich, such as Low Impact Step and Ab Hits. “The Stott Pilates series is also very good,” she says. Another option is to try an exercise workout designed specifically for children, such as Stott Fitness Fun: Pilates for Kids.

“Videos can be very expensive: search lending libraries or rent them from a video store to try them out before you buy them,” says Rose. “And keep length in mind—most of us don’t have 90 minutes to devote to a workout. A video with clearly defined segments or rest periods is always a bonus.”

Lace up roller blades. Kids love to skate so if you’re somewhat coordinated, try rollerblading together. (Kids aged six or seven and up should be able to master this activity.) “Monitoring your child by stopping and starting and picking him up while you’re skating will help burn calories,” says Espel. Aside from being a great cardio workout, rollerblading is also great for toning hips and thighs. Aim to skate for at least 30 minutes to get a good workout.

Play at the park. Join Junior on the monkey bars, climb the stairs or if your children are older, and still safely in sight, take a walk while they play on the park apparatus. Some city parks have built-in circuit training, called parcourses (which became popular in the 1970s), explains Espel. At multiple stops or stations throughout the park, there are suggested exercises, such as doing push-ups or walking up and down stairs. Each one offers a suggested number of repetitions based on your fitness level and pictures of the exercises. “You can walk or run in between each stop,” says Espel. “It’s really fun to do with your child.”

Take up an old favorite. If there is a sport that you always enjoyed—tennis, basketball or karate, for example—take it up again with an older child, suggests Espel. “Maybe there’s a parent-child class at the local Y that goes back to fundamentals or maybe there are some open clinics that you can take together.” Playing a sport has so many benefits for you and your child—from improving your fitness level to achieving a sense of individual accomplishment or teamwork and mastering a new skill.