How Joe Wicks and the Government Are Tackling Summer Holiday Inactivity
UK, the UK government is backing Activate, a free animated fitness series created by Joe Wicks to keep children and families moving through the summer holidays.
According to GOV.UK, the UK government is backing Activate, a free animated fitness series created by Joe Wicks to keep children and families moving through the summer holidays. The format is stripped down: five-minute episodes, bodyweight basics and zero equipment. That is a sensible entry point when school PE, clubs and break-time movement disappear.
The constraint is clear. GOV.UK says 88% of parents worry about sustained sedentary time during the holidays, while only 18% expect their children to reach 60 minutes of activity every day of the week. A five-minute video will not close that gap by itself. But it can remove the usual friction: no travel, kit or complicated setup.
Five minutes is a trigger, not a full session
Activate episodes are available on BBC iPlayer, with daily broadcasts on CBeebies. The collection now includes 18 episodes, created by Wicks and StudioAKA, and uses movements including squats, running on the spot and star jumps.
Mechanically, that is a basic low-space circuit:
| Movement | Primary demand | Common failure |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | Lower-body strength and control | Knees collapsing inward, rushed depth |
| Running on the spot | Cardio coordination | Turning it into low-effort marching |
| Star jump | Whole-body rhythm and impact tolerance | Hard, uncontrolled landings |
The exercise selection is not novel. It does not need to be. For home training with children, repeatability beats novelty. A short session that actually happens has more value than a detailed plan that stays on a screen.
GOV.UK says nearly seven in 10 parents—68%—report that their children are more active in term time, when PE, sports clubs and school breaks provide routine movement. Summer is therefore a scheduling problem before it is a programming problem.
Use the episode as a movement break
The practical move is to attach a five-minute episode to an existing part of the day: before breakfast, after a car journey, or between quieter activities. Do not frame it as a substitute for every other form of activity. Frame it as a repeatable interruption to sitting.
Parents training at home can also use the same slot intelligently. Keep the child-facing movements simple. Add complexity only to the adult version if technique is controlled: slower squats, a deeper range of motion, or faster but clean running-on-the-spot intervals. Do not turn a family movement break into a technical HIIT test.
The series includes themed episodes, including World Cup, Back to School and Christmas specials, and is set to popular music. That is not a physiological advantage. It is adherence design. For a young audience, the best session structure is often the one that gets repeated without negotiation.
The ROI is access, not intensity
Last summer, when the programme first launched with Department of Health and Social Care backing, GOV.UK says it inspired nearly 60,000 hours of active time among families. That number measures participation, not fitness outcomes. Keep the distinction clean.
Still, the cost-benefit ratio is hard to argue with: free access, five minutes, familiar bodyweight patterns and enough variety to avoid immediate repetition fatigue.
Verdict: use it. Treat Activate as a low-friction daily movement cue for the household. Do not mistake it for a complete conditioning plan. The useful metric is not how animated the session looks; it is whether those five minutes happen consistently.
