Benefits of Encouraging Your Kids to be Sporty

 

Child development is a very tricky business. This is because there are as many parenting styles as there are parents, based on your values, beliefs, skills, and even your time. As long as you love and care for your child, and do your best to help them become well-adjusted and capable adults, there is no wrong way to parent. That being said, there are certain developmental activities that children need to undertake for their health, and for their development. For instance, physical activity is key for everyone’s health, but specifically playing sports can help your child’s development in more ways than you could imagine.

Benefits of Playing Sports: 

There are many benefits to playing sport that every child, even the ones who don’t like sport, should be encouraged to play:

1. Exercise

Children need their exercise in order to be healthy. That’s because they benefit from the physical activity as much as you would. Exercise improves their stamina, their mood, their energy levels, and can help them manage their weight. There are so many reasons that children should play sport for the exercise it requires alone. These health benefits, combined with the discipline sports need to complete, can help your child excel in their academic studies as well.

2. Social Skills 

One of the biggest tasks that children have when growing up is learning social skills, empathy, teamwork, and so on. Playing sports, whether in a team or with others, for instance when skateboarding, can help them develop team-building skills, leadership skills, and their communication skills.

3. Increased Self-Esteem 

There are so many ways that playing sport boosts their self-esteem, from being praised to trusting in their own skills. What is most critical about playing sport, however, is learning how to take constructive criticism, and how to move past their failures.

How to Support Natural-Born Athletes

Some children, however, go above and beyond in terms of talent and discipline. These are the ones who show true potential for taking their talents to the big league. They are the ones who, with some direction and training, could make a career out of it, but how do you go about supporting these natural born athletes?

1. Become Knowledgeable 

When a child has a dream to become a professional sportsperson, your first step should be to become more knowledgeable in the steps that they need to take, from the equipment that they will one day need to the sporting events they could potentially compete in. If you child loves inline skating, skateboarding or scootering, then investing in reputable brands such as Blunt Envy, Flip and Limitless is of utmost importance. The easiest way to collate your information though, is to find a knowledgeable source like Skates, who can provide professional help and opinion on certain sporting equipment.

2. Keep it Fun 

Putting too much pressure on improvement can take the fun out of the sport; therefore, take a step back. Let them have fun and let them choose their progression on their own terms. If they truly love the sport, they will actively pursue advancement. You just have to support them when the occasion calls for it, and without pushing them.

Sports are important for every child. From the health benefits to the development benefits, to even the chance of them finding their career path; sports should be undertaken by every child.

 

*This is a collaborative post