Best Sports For Kids
Physical activity is essential for little ones. While playing is a natural form of physical activity, playing sports is also very beneficial for children. However, not all sports are suitable for any age group. Knowing which sports are best for children is very important when deciding which activities they can try and practice.
Although children’s natural tendency is to play, the lack of spaces to play and video games make it easier to spend a lot of time at home, among other factors. This favors a sedentary lifestyle that affects not only children, but the whole family as well.
Benefits of playing sports during childhood
Playing sports has many benefits for children’s physical and mental health and can serve as a vehicle for psychological, physical, cognitive and social development. For example, playing sports during childhood improves coordination, balance and self-image.
Playing sports also helps children in their socialization process, improves their teamwork skills, relieves tension and stress, and contributes to better sleep.
Furthermore, it is also a good way to prevent illnesses, not only during childhood but also throughout life. It also helps children develop healthy lifestyle habits, keep in mind the value of effort, overcome themselves, accept their limitations and challenge themselves.
On the other hand, when they play sports, children learn to respect authority and other children, and they also learn to make themselves respected and to respect themselves. And let’s not forget a benefit that many parents overlook: sport improves children’s academic success.
What are the best sports for kids?
Before making a list of what are the best sports for children, one must consider a very important issue: the sport itself benefits the little ones as long as it suits their age, with all that that implies.
In other words, the sport must adapt to the child and not the other way around. We are not just talking about the size of the playing field or the necessary equipment (balls, baskets, goalposts, etc.). We are also talking about the rules of the game itself.
With that in mind, some of the best sports for kids are as follows:
Judo
Judo is a martial art that helps children improve self-control and decision-making skills. In addition, it also allows for comprehensive physical development and helps to improve coordination, balance and reaction speed to any stimulus.
Furthermore, in judo, there is a lot of work to develop respect for oneself, respect for others (partners and opponents) and respect for the teacher.
Swimming, one of the best sports for children
Swimming, in addition to involving all muscle groups, is a sport that also promotes cardiovascular activity and develops strength and endurance. Furthermore, swimming improves the flexibility and balance of the body.
On the other hand, with the practice of swimming, children develop the connection between mind and body. This, in turn, helps improve your physical development and your brain and emotional development.
Finally, it is also important to highlight the importance of children learning to swim, as this is a skill that can save their lives and will help them to feel safer in different circumstances.
Soccer
Football and futsal are sports that develop attention span, logic and peripheral vision. By playing soccer, children learn to observe and analyze what is happening around them. In addition, soccer also favors the improvement of aerobic endurance, speed and muscle power. Furthermore, football encourages fellowship and teamwork.
Basketball, another of the best sports for kids
Basketball is a sport that helps children improve concentration and develop agility, coordination and reaction speed. Furthermore, in basketball, the values of respect and tolerance are very present.
Its advantages include the fact that the basketball can be played both outdoors and in covered areas. Also, for fun, just have a ball and a friend or two. It is even possible to practice alone.
Chess
Although chess is not a very physically active sport, it brings many benefits related to the development of critical skills, strategic vision and mental agility.
In addition, the chess is a sport that helps to exercise the memory. This is because, on the one hand, learning takes place through the repetition of moves and plays. On the other hand, as children become able to remember matches and plays, they also become able to improve their strategy.
Other Physical Activities for Kids
Although playing sports brings many benefits to children, we must not lose sight of the fact that it is not always possible and that, in addition, there are other ways to encourage physical activity as well.
The main physical activity that children should do is walking. Walk as much as you can whenever possible. What’s more, hiking in the countryside or hiking is a wonderful physical activity to do as a family, any time of year.
Cycling, dancing, and any group play that involves movement are also good physical activities for children. These activities can be performed by children of all ages and, in addition, they can also be shared with the family.
Another physical activity that can be encouraged for children is walking up and down stairs. This exercise is fantastic not only for strengthening the body, but also for improving cardiovascular capacity. Just forget about the elevator and use the stairs to significantly increase daily physical activity.
And, if children have to spend a lot of time at home and video games are one of the activities in their free time, it is also possible to consider the options for physical activity and sports games offered by different video game brands , such as, for example, the Wii Sports for Nintendo Wii, among others.
