swaggerdad Have you ever thought about getting your child into sports? If so, now could be the time to stop thinking and start doing! While you don’t necessarily want your 5 year old child to start acting like a 15 year old child, getting your kids involved in sports could help them to mature. When we say mature we mean they could do the following:
*Teach them about teamwork
*Teach them about fair play
*Give them confidence
*Give them something to be passionate about
*Improve their physical and mental health
Photo by Keith Johnston
Parents why wouldn’t you want your child to grow up with a great sense of all of those things? It’ll help them not only on the playing field, but in school and even in their everyday lives. Below, we’ll give you a few ideas that could help you get your child interested in sports:
Play With Them As A Family
Playing with your child as a family could be the best way to get them interested in sports from the offset. Just put a focus on learning the basics and having a lot of fun. You can even purchase custom lineup cards to help you keep score and teach your kids a thing or two about that. Having fun as a family will also help you to bond, and this could be when your child decides they’d like to try playing on a team.
Photo by Markus Spiske
Don’t Put Pressure On Them
Your child can almost feel the pressure you put on them physically, especially if you’re not careful. You need to stay relaxed. The second your child doesn’t find this fun, is the second they don’t want to do it. Take a good look at yourself and figure out whether you’re actually helping or hindering your child by doing what you’re doing.
Give them Freedom To Fail
Your child should always have the freedom to fail. If you put too much pressure on them to win and teach them that winning is everything, it’s unlikely they will ever want to try. Your kids need to know that everything is going to be ok whether they win or lose.
Photo by Timothy Eberly
Find A Sport They Love
The first and most important point is to help your kids identify a sport that they love to do. We all know the mental and physical benefits of regular exercise, and want that to be a part of our child’s life. But it can all feel like really hard work if they don’t enjoy the activity. Think about things they have tried before and liked. Are they more of a solo worker, or a team player? Would they excel at tennis or are they more into soccer? Remember, you may have to try a few different sports before finding the one they really click with. Luckily, there are lots of good sports for kids. Narrow your selection down and then let them try out a few to see what they love to do. If at first you don’t succeed with getting them into baseball or trying out for water polo – just try again with something else. They say everyone has a sport they are good at – it’s just about finding it. Once they really connect with something, they will be more willing to put in the effort and reap the rewards.
Post Contribute by Jose Mena
