Do you really have to ask why kids should play sports? Almost every kid passes through the stage of playing sports. And somehow you will have to buy more kids sports equipment. And buying kids’ sports equipment might be time-consuming, expensive, and you will ask yourself why kids should play sports? Sports games for kids are more entertaining and fun. Besides that, sports games give children an opportunity to exercise and stay fit. In the following paragraphs, you will learn more about the importance of sports to children. There are also various workouts for children as well as safety tips.
Benefits Of Sports In Child Development
Children who play sports benefit physically and socially. This means that there are a lot of benefits that can be realized by children who play sports.
Promote Healthiness
Playing sports gives a child an opportunity to be physically active. Being physically active improves overall healthiness. It is good for weight management, improves blood flow, and strengthens the body, and many other benefits. Therefore, sports are a way of letting a child exercise the body.
Improves Fitness
Kids who play sports are physically fit. As mentioned above, sports give kids an opportunity to exercise. When playing sports, they do various exercises that have a positive impact on their physique. As such, sports are good at improving body strength, balance, stamina, and more.
Keeps Kids Busy
Participating in sports activities keeps the child busy. And keeping the kids occupied reduces chances of vulnerability and risks of adopting bad habits. Therefore, sports benefit the child socially.
Character Development
In most cases, the children do sports activities as a group. And this is good for the character development of a child. It exposes a child to different characters. As such, the child learns to cooperate and work with other kids. Hence, the child can value teamwork, rules, and more.
Social Skills
A child who participates in sports activities develops social skills excellently due to exposure. The child gets exposed to different children and that gives the child an opportunity to socialize with many kids.
This gives children an opportunity to make friends. In addition to that, the children learn communication skills that can be helpful in the future.
Benefits Of Kids Playing Sports
Indeed sports activities have a lot of benefits to children. Therefore, kids who participate in sports activities gain a lot. They benefit physically, socially, and emotionally. Below are various benefits that can be enjoyed by kids who participate in sports activities;
Physically
- Helps with weight management
- Improves physical strength and growth
- Lowers obesity risks
- Improves blood flow
- Good for improving balance and coordination
- Reduces risks of chronic diseases
Socially
- Improves communication skills
- Gives time to create friends
- Keeps children occupied
- Improves social skills
Emotionally
- Reduces stress and depression
- Benefits child’s mental health
- Improves relaxation and sleep
Why Sports Are Good For Kids?
In the above paragraphs, you have read a lot about the benefits of sports. The good thing about sports activities is that they do not come with physical benefits only. But they give children good social and emotional benefits. Below are some of the reasons;
Way of Exercising
The sports activities give children an opportunity to exercise their bodies. Interestingly, sports activities can target the entire major body muscles. More so, sports make children enjoy exercising. This is because they do sports activities for fun but not realizing that they are exercising their bodies.
Keeps Children Happy
It’s rare to see long faces in sports activities. Children enjoy participating in sports activities. This is because sports activities are fun and this gives children an opportunity to enjoy themselves.
Weight Management
Children who do sports activities can burn calories and maintain a healthy weight. Therefore, sports are good for reducing weight gain and risks of obesity.
Improves Fitness
Sports are good for giving the children time to exercise and become fit. Doing sports gives children an opportunity to develop their muscles, improve bone strength and muscle mass. Therefore, sports are good for children as they promote healthy physical development.
Promotes Health Diet
Children who do sports activities also learn about diet. They end up adopting a healthy diet that is in line with their sports activities. Therefore, they eat healthy which makes them overall healthy.
Causes Of Playing Sports
Playing sports is part and parcel of growing up. But there are various reasons why children play sports. Children can play sports as part of the school curriculum or otherwise. Below are the causes of playing sports;
School Curriculum
Many schools have sports as part of the curriculum. Therefore, children who attend school do sports as part of the school curriculum. In that case, the children do sports under the supervision of a teacher or a coach. Interestingly, they follow a syllabus or a particular plan designed by a teacher or a coach. Therefore, children do various sports activities that come with a lot of benefits.
Form of Entertainment
As mentioned above, playing sports is part of growing up. The sports activities are part of the children’s games of keeping themselves occupied and entertained. Therefore, many kids play sports to enjoy and have fun throughout the day. Yes, given a chance, children can play sports throughout the day. Sports are fun.
Meal Plan For Playing Sports For Kids
If you have a kid that is an athlete or who plays any other sports, you should be concerned about the food that the child eats. This is because the type of food plays a pivotal role in a child who plays sports.
There are dos and don’ts that you should take into consideration when preparing the meals of kids who play sports. Generally, the kids who play sports should consume food that contains proteins, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. Make sure that the child does not skip the meals because they are all important in various ways. This is how the meal plan should look like;
1st Meal Plan
Breakfast – oatmeal and orange juice
Lunch – pasta with chicken and vegetables
Dinner – wholewheat toast, mushrooms, beef tenderloin, and salad or your choice
Snack – yogurt and an apple
2nd Meal Plan
Breakfast – a bowl of fruit and a glass of milk
Lunch – rice with beef stew and a fruit of your choice
Dinner – vegetable burger
Snack – Smoothie made with a fruit of your choice and milk
Daily Activities For Sports Kids
There are different and interesting activities that can be done by kids who do sports. There are indoor and outdoor activities, and they all benefit the kids in an amazing way. Below are some activities that can be done by kids;
- Dancing
- Chicken fights
- Skipping
- Beach ball
- Hopping
- Ping pong
- Biking
- Ball games
- Hoping
- Jumping
- Swimming
- Wheelbarrow walking
Daily Important Workouts For Sports Kids
There are workouts that can be done on a daily basis by kids who do sports. The workouts prepare children to stay fit when they are doing sports activities.
Workout 1
The kid can do the workout for 5 minutes or more by doing repetitions.
- Frog jump
- Run and squat
- Jump and crawl
- Spin and back pedal
Workout 2
The kid can do the workout for 5 minutes or more.
- Hop
- Squat
- March
- Crawl
Importance Of Water For Sports Kids
Children must drink more water when they are playing. Drinking water is healthy. Water keeps the child hydrated. When a child is dehydrated, it can be difficult for that particular child to focus. Therefore, drinking water is important to keep the child enjoying playing sports without being sick.
Besides keeping the child hydrated, drinking water helps in weight management. It can help the child to burn calories. Drinking water gives you energy. By drinking water you become full and that keeps cravings at bay. Interestingly, water does not add any calories to your body even if they keep you full. As such, your body starts burning stored fat and makes it easy to lose weight.
More so, water is good for distributing nutrients throughout your body. Waterworks in carrying various nutrients to your body cells. By doing that, your body stays fit and it also lowers chances of muscle fatigue. Therefore, water is important for kids who do sports activities.
Additionally, drinking adequate water improves the digestion process. More so, water is good for detoxifying your body. A child with poor digestion may have difficulties in doing sports activities. Therefore, water is important for sports kids.
Necessity Of Safety Tips For Sport Kids
As much as sports come with entertainment, children can get injured while doing sports activities. Therefore, it is important to teach children safety tips so that they play safely. The safety tips lower injury risks. Below are the reasons why safety tips are necessary;
- Lowers injury risks
- Gives children awareness of and the importance of playing safely.
- Make children appreciate safety while playing. Children can follow sports rules.
- Makes children more disciplined by taking precautions when playing
Final Thoughts
Are you still asking why kids should play sports? Just a reminder, sports are good for kids in various ways. Sports have a great impact on children’s physique, socialization, and emotional wellbeing. Sports keep kids fit, strong, occupied, happy, and entertained.
Interestingly, sports can be done anyway. There are various sports activities that can be done indoors while some can be done outdoors. Regardless of weather changes, sports can be done throughout the year. Mind you, there are winter sports for kids.
As parents, it is important to support kids in various ways so that they can participate in sports. If you ask yourself why kids should play sports, you will get interesting answers.
Share your thoughts below on why kids should play sports.