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What could be better than bonding with your family, having fun and enjoying a sweat-inducing sports or sporting activity? You might have been thinking about doing something like this for a while but you are not sure how to go about it. To help make your decision easier, here’s a quick list of fun sporting activities that the whole family will enjoy.

1. Swimming

Swimming as a sport is always fun for everyone. What might actually be more difficult is to convince the children to leave the pool. Asides being fun, swimming is a great way to burn some calories and give your body a challenging workout.

Some of the places with the best pools in Lagos and Abuja are Protea Hotel Kuramo Waters, Ibis Hotel Ikeja, The Lilygate and The Welcome Centre. If you want to go swimming in Abuja, we recommend Hotel De Bently and Rockview Hotel Classic.

2. Cycling

Children always love riding bicycles. So, take the family out cycling. If you don’t have a bicycle, you can rent one. You can take a simple sports ride around your neighborhood or cycle away from your usual environment to make things more interesting. There are some great cycling routes in Nigeria and Lagos in particular. People generally enjoy riding from different points along Lekki-Epe Expressway and the Admiralty way to Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge route.

You can decide to make a family weekend out of it and lodge at one of the cheap hotels in Lekki. Some of the particularly good ones include Orchid Hotel, The Dover Hotel, and Travel House Lekki.

3. Jogging and Nature walking

You can walk, jog or run any route of your choice. It’s a great sporting activity to keep fit and still be able to relish some quality time with your family.

Jogging in a beautiful environment is the best. You can pick one of the many parks in your city or visit a nature center like the  Lekki Conservation Centre, Lagos; Millennium Park, Abuja; Agodi Gardens and IITA Forest, Ibadan.

4. Indoor Games

There are several fun games you can play indoors sports away from the rain and sun. Some of them like badminton, bowling and table-tennis are really great activities for family bonding.

For bowling, you may visit Highway 66 and Let’s Go Bowling in Lagos and The Trukadero Place. In case you choose to make a weekend for your fun indoor sporting activities, here a few hotels close to indoor game centers.

If you are in Abuja, Orient Hotel is a mere 12-minute drive from The Trukadero Place. Hatfield Hotel,  Abuja is a 16-minute drive from the bowling alley while Emirates International Hotel is 20 minutes away. If you are looking to bowl in Lagos, Beni Gold Hotels and Apartments in Victoria Island is a 25-minute drive from Let’s Go Bowling and 16 minutes from Highway 66. Limeridge Hotel Ikoyi is about 20 minutes from both bowling alleys while Downtown Hotel is 15 minutes away.

5. Watersports

If you are living in a city with a large body of water, take advantage of all the many water sports available. The kids will love it and would definitely and won’t want to go home. Lekki Leisure Lake is a great place for water sports, you can enjoy a pedal or paddle boat ride and a lot of other games. At Jabi Lake, you can go on a thrilling water skiing ride or ride a jet ski.

To make things even more exciting, lodge at a hotel near with a view of the water or close to the water side so you don’t have to rush home and they can enjoy themselves to the fullest. The Hardley Apartments, Intercontinental Lagos Hotel, and Eko Hotel all located in Victoria Island are only about 20 minutes from Lekki Conservation Centre. Orient Hotel, Crown Princess Hotels, and the Nugget Hotels are between 5 to 10 minutes away from Jabi Lake Mall.

6. Go Karting

Go Karting is one of the most exciting sports that the whole family can join in. It’s rough, rugged and yet completely safe.You can even rent a go-kart course for a family tournament to make things all the more fun. There’s nothing like a little healthy family competition.

For Go Karting in Lagos, the go-to place is GET Arena. Some hotels near the Arena are

Ikoyi Fairview Apartments, Southern Sun Ikoyi Hotel, and  Cotton Suites.

7. Paintball

Extremely popular all over the world, paintball is one of the most fun group activities you will ever take part in. Ziggie’s Entertainment Centre in Magodo, Lagos has a huge arena, where you can enjoy safe recreation playing “police and thief”. In Abuja, you can enjoy a great game of paintball at Rapid Paintball Arena.

Ziggie’s has a  basement hotel. If this isn’t to your taste, there are other hotels in Magodo like The Lion House.