If you have kids I don’t have to tell you that parenting can be hard. That’s why childhood fitness should be easy or atleast easier. Sometimes as parents we battle our kids over school, clothes and numerous material things. Your child’s fitness should not be a battle. Instead of being forceful many times we should just give guidance and opportunity.
Many times I have seen kids made to participate in sports that they do not enjoy or pushed to play at a level they do not want. I have seen kids that are forced to be on a certain travel team because it will help them at the next level. Other times I have seen kids that are made to practice far more than the average child so that they can be their best. While being on a more competitive team and practicing more can be good to develop skills, if it is not the child’s choice it can have disastrous effects on their mental well being and cause them to burn out and give up on activities early. In the end you will have a child that did not have a positive experience and is not active as an adult.
The first thing to do as a parent is to give options. For most kids the more popular sports will be the first options. These are going to be baseball, basketball, softball, soccer and football. These are often the easiest sports to be involved with. But don’t be closed minded. Expose your child to other sports and activities. Many sports like volleyball, lacrosse, wrestling, gymnastics, martial arts and swimming are also available in most communities if you search them out.
The best way to expose your child to multiple activities is to first watch those activities. There are multiple ways to watch different sports and activities. Some kids will get exposure from attending games or practices of friends or family. By watching in person they can see first hand what it takes to play a particular sport. Another way to understand a sport is to watch on TV or even to watch videos on Youtube. Maybe the best way to experience a particular sport or activity is to actually give it a try. You can buy or borrow the particular activities equipment and using it can give your child a good idea if they are interested. Often sports like tennis, golf or pickleball are best evaluated by actually giving them a try.
Once you have given your child multiple exposures then let them decide what works best for them. You can help them decide by talking about the pros and cons of each but let them make the final choice. When kids get to choose it gives them ownership of the activity. They are more likely to make the sport more personal to them.
Unfortunately some kids will not want to make a choice. This is when you may have to be forceful. You should make them do something. Sit down and discuss the options and see if there are other things that they would like to look into. In the end they have to make a choice of the options presented. If not you may have to make the choice for them.
At first it may be some work finding all of the options available, but once your child has decided what they would like to do, then their fitness gets easier. You just have to provide the opportunity.
