Importance of physical activities
Physical activity holds great importance in a child’s life. Engaging in sports and other physical activities matters a lot for the child’s growth and nourishment. However, a person’s genetics are the main reason for how their physique will be, exercise matters a lot. A kid who regularly participates in physical activities will always have a better physique than a kid who does not. Telling a kid to exercise is useless, though. No one likes to exercise in the beginning. However, a fun way to do so is by playing your favourite sport.
Read more: CAN PLAYING SPORTS MAKE KIDS SMARTER?
The problem
Encouraging kids to play sports will then help them get a healthy body. The only problem here is that most kids nowadays do not like playing any outdoor games at all. They might start playing sports when they are very young but will drop out of organized sports by the age of 13. This is the case with 70% of the children nowadays.
There are several reasons why children drop out of organized sports by the age of 13. One of the main reasons is because they don’t have fun anymore. Kids start playing sports just because they want to have fun and be happy. However, when they grow up, some parents or coaches begin to pressurize the children so that they could perform better. However, when children put all of their focus on getting better at a sport, this is when they start to lose the fun. Coach’s strictness or parents’ ignorance could make love and passion for the sport disappear from children. Another reason why kids stop playing organized sports is that they feel too tired. Kids studying in school for hours and then playing sports on a high level regularly is just too much for them. Sports injuries, on top of that, can stop someone from liking sports at all.
The solution
Encouraging children to play different sports is not a challenging task, but most parents do it wrongly. You can encourage kids by just telling them to have fun no matter what—no need to put any pressure on them to win the game or score a goal. Just let them play for their fun. If a child is just not interested in any outdoor activity, take your child with you and play a sport together. Try different sports and support your child no matter what sport they like. Teach them how to throw a ball or how to kick a ball. Teach them to ride a bike and bike with them. Let your kid invite their friends over so that he could enjoy the sport with friends.
Read more: Has Kids’ Sports Become too Competitive?
Conclusion
Not only does sports help develop children’s physique, but it also helps develop their brains as well. The end goal of all this should be to let your child have fun while playing sports. Because this is what sports was meant to be. Sports is basically having fun while exercising in a competitive way.