Sports can be a great hobby for kids. The obvious bonus is that it’s good for their health, but it can also teach children life skills like discipline, good sportsmanship, and teamwork. If you’re also interested in sports, playing or watching sports can also be something to do together to spend time together as a family. How can you encourage your kids to be interested in sports?
Take Them To Games
If you enjoy watching sports, you can encourage your child to become interested by taking them with you to watch. If you have a few children, alternate which child you take to make them feel special. If one of your kids seems more interested in your sport, they will feel really special if they get to have a solo day out and some time alone with you. The atmosphere of a live game could really grab them and get them interested. Whether you go to small local games or your national team, seeing sports in person could hold their interest. Choose your sport and use things like local rugby team news to find games go to.
Play Sports Together
If you have the space, play sports together at home. Kicking or throwing a ball together in the garden can be great fun, and a good way for both of you to get a bit of exercise. They’ll enjoy time with you, and you can foster an interest in keeping fit through sport.
If you don’t have room at home, look at what local facilities you could use. Skate parks, public basketball hoops, swimming pools, or just spaces big enough for a football game can all be good places to take the family.
Lead By Example
Children are pretty observant, and they will copy the kind of behavior that they see their parents engaging in. This means that, no matter how much you encourage them to be active and play sports, if they see you lying in front of the TV or playing video games all day, they’ll want to do the same. They’ll assume the TV is more fun than playing a sport. If you want to raise sporty, active children, you need to model that sort of behavior yourself. This could be playing sports with them at home, joining a weekend team, or just going to the gym. If sports and exercise are a part of family life, your children will see this as a normal, fun thing to do and be more interested in making sports part of their life too.
Keep It Fun
Be careful not to accidentally threaten a growing interest in sports by putting too much pressure on. Remember that sports are supposed to be fun, especially for children, rather than focusing too much on competition. If they’re losing interest, don’t push too hard to make them stay involved. Instead, let them know that they can try out other things to see if there’s something else they enjoy more instead.
