Sports are a great way to get your child fit. It can be tough, however, knowing what you can do in order to get your kids interested in the first place. After all, most kids nowadays love watching TV more than running around in the cold and rain.
There are simple steps that you can take, however, in order to make sure your kid does not become a couch potato and rather becomes an avid fan of playing sports – not simply watching them.
Not only is this important for their physical health, but also for helping to develop both their confidence and social skills. Sport can be a great way to make friends, both as a child and an adult. It also teaches you important skills, such as teamwork and the art of losing.
Pick something they Enjoy
If you are looking to get your kids into sport, one of the best things that you can do is to first let them play a sport they enjoy. Though this might be tough at first, you can find out what they enjoy by letting them take part in a variety of activities in order to see what they seem to like. Take a look at all the sports clubs in your area and see what is on offer.
It is also worth, during this trial period, to try to observe where their skills lie. Do they have good hand-eye coordination? Are they strong and firm on their feet? If a child is naturally gifted in a sport, they are more likely to stick with it and benefit from it.
Let them go with Friends
Find out what their friends are doing and then let them do something similar. This will allow for them to play sports in a comfortable environment, if they lack the courage to go and do things by themselves.
A good place to get started is to ask some of the other parents of the children you child is friends with, and see what sports clubs they attend. Taking this step will give your kids the chance to play sports without having to worry about being alone. It is always good to start as early as possible, as it is never easy being the new kid in the team and, especially in technical sports, like rugby or basketball, it can be nerve-wracking to join in with other more experienced players.
Give them Incentives
Let them receive a reward for their efforts. A trophy or something similar will help them to understand the process of working hard to achieve something.
Though it can be tough to find the right incentives for your child, as each one is different, talk to them and find out what is best for them. In doing so you’ll be able to make sure you can entice them into playing sports in the first place. Although it tends to often be played down in the modern world, showing them the joy of winning and being successful in sport can be important for future progress.
Observe What Other Parents Do
Sometimes it is a good idea to just see what other parents do when it comes to getting their kids into sports. This means searching the internet, looking at related forums to see what was done by parents who have kids of a similar age of yours.
You can also just talk to some parents you know, and see what they did in order to get their child into sport. By taking this step, you might discover some great ideas you may not have considered before. Alternatively, you could read some books on the topic in order to find out what the best step is for you when it comes to finding the best ideas for getting your child into sport.
Sports are a great way to keep your kids fit. If you’ve been struggling to get them in on the action though, you now have a few ways in which you can get started. As long as you make an effort to get them interested in the first place, everything should be fine when it comes to getting your kids fit and healthy thanks to them playing their favourite sports.
The author is a PE teacher, who has been interested in sports since the moment he could work. He did, however, struggle to get his own children interested in sport, against stiff competition from the Xbox and TV. He discovered that by purchasing trophies from http://ww.csk-trophies.co.uk he was able to incentivise them to play. Now, he can’t get them to sit still.