Sports can teach your children a great number of skills and values which will help them throughout their lives. Whilst the physical benefits can be widely appreciated, the personal and social skills that sports can teach kids are just as valuable in those early stages of their development.
Combining exercise, fun and learning all in one; here are 5 skills that sports can teach your children this year:
1. Confidence and ambition
Your child will never forget the first time they completed a lap in a new swimming style or scored the winning touchdown in their school’s rugby game. Sports activities are all about pushing yourself to perform better and achieving a particular performance goal. What’s more, they don’t have to be professional athletes to enjoy the thrill of success from progressing in a sport and mastering new skills. This is a great way to encourage kids to be more ambitions and instil confidence in their abilities, values which they can transfer into other areas of their academic and social life.
2. Responding to authority
Children will encounter figures of authority throughout their lives, from their parents and current teachers, to their future bosses. Knowing how to deal with authority in a respectable and appropriate manner is crucial to navigating both social and professional environments. Sports is a great way to teach children such discipline through their interactions with game referees and instructors. Even if there comes a time when they don’t agree with a particular decision, they are taught that it is necessary to respect their authority since screaming and shouting will not get a yellow card revoked on a football field.
3. Concentration
Whether they are dribbling a ball or looking to pass it to another player, sports require sustained concentration on the action happening around them. The ability to focus on one particular movement or activity is a skill which can be carried over onto many areas in life. Be it staying attentive in class or working through their homework, facing a task and tackling it without getting distracted is a skill which goes on to serve people in all aspects of their daily lives.
4. Responsibility and time management
Participating a sport is about more than just playing for an hour or two and going home. Commitment to a sport starts by attending practice sessions regularly and on time. This very much applies to team sports where a child has a responsibility with regards to their other teammates to be there when they are as the consequences apply to all simultaneously. Children are required to learn how to manage their time and be accountable for their behaviour as showing up late every week is not acceptable in sports.
5. Leading an active lifestyle
Ultimately, sports are all about getting moving and having fun. They are a great way to introduce kids to healthy habits from a young age by familiarising them with the benefits of leading an active lifestyle. Children who partake in sports activities are more likely to hold on to the practice of incorporating exercise into their weekly routine.
Summary of skills that sports can teach your children:
The greatest part about partaking in a sport is that there are options to please every interest and every level. Your child does not have to be a competitive athlete or play ten different sports to learn these skills and reap all the benefits associated with them.
Private sports activities can be a great way to get your child to try out a new sport or get some extra practice after school hours. From swimming classes and boxing lessons, to football or fitness training, Adam from Going Swimmingly London offers a range of different sports activities in London for your kid to pick from. The only motto is to get moving and have fun.
Get in touch today to schedule a time and place that works best for you.