Parents know that prying their children's eyes away from their screens [1] and getting them up and moving is harder than it sounds. And while it may seem difficult to believe, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez struggle with that very same issue. We recently caught up with Jennifer to discuss her partnership with Yoplait for the Yoplaitime Challenge [2], a new activity that will debut on Instagram Reels beginning Sept. 29, which aims to get families moving. Hosted by Jennifer and her kiddos, Emme and Max, families are invited to film themselves dancing to J Lo's moves for a good cause: feeding hungry kids.
Jennifer and Alex know how important it is to get their combined four children outside [3], especially amid the pandemic. Their secret? Mixing up the activities. "We ride bikes, we dance, we play baseball in the backyard [4]," Jennifer told POPSUGAR. "We do a lot of different things. Sometimes we just sit there and paint. It's just about being out of the house, out of their rooms, and out from behind those screens all day."
Understandably, Jennifer and Alex are concerned about how much time their kids spend in front of screens each day. And while Jennifer admits they're not always receptive to putting their phones down and getting out of the house, she makes it a priority.
"Other parents are as concerned as I am that their kids aren't moving as much," she shared. "So you have to really grab your kids and get them moving, you have to put that effort in. Sometimes I'm just like, 'OK, I haven't seen the kids in a minute, let me go and grab them.' I say, 'What are you guys doing? Come on, let's go outside, let's walk around, let's go walk the dog.' To be honest, the working out, the riding bikes, the dancing . . . have kept us happy and sane and laughing. [Moving] is the part that really got us through this pandemic to this point, during all kinds of anxiety and uncertainty."
"Sometimes I'm just like, 'OK, I haven't seen the kids in a minute, let me go and grab them.'"
One of the most memorable physical activities J Lo's family has been doing together is creating dances as a family and sharing them on social media [6]. And while many people would assume Jennifer is responsible for coming up with the incredible moves, it's actually Emme, Tashi, and Ella steering the ship.
"I would say the brains behind [the dances] are our girls," she said. "Max is not as into them. Emmy loves them. I think Tashi and Ella are the really biggest advocates for us doing them together, having fun, but we all enjoy it. We all have fun with it."
Of course, we all can't be J Lo, but that doesn't mean we can't shake it like there's no tomorrow! Parents who are constantly being asked to record a family dance for social media by their little ones shouldn't focus on perfecting every move. Rather, they should just have fun with the whole process.
"The thing with dancing is that you don't have to be some holistic ballet dancer or hip-hop dancer," she shared. "We all love seeing people dance [well]. But the truth is, it's so much fun. I think why things like Instagram Reels are so popular is because everybody loves to dance. With these easy, little choreographed dances, everybody feels like they're dancing in a way that they couldn't before . . . I believe everybody loves to dance no matter what your skill set is."
Interested in doing the challenge with your family? Rest assured it's for a great cause! Yoplait will donate $1 to Feeding America [8] — up to a maximum of $300,000 — for every user who posts an Instagram Reels with the hashtag #YoplaitimeDonation and uses Jennifer's new song "Pa Ti" as the audio in their videos by Oct 30.