+44 07513 522 896
info@ptcsports.co.uk
+44 07513 522 896
info@ptcsports.co.uk
We hate to be the bearer of bad news but on Sunday 25th October the clocks go back, and while we all love the extra hour in bed (well, those of us with children who sleep in!), it also means the evenings are shorter, and the weather is gloomier, and wet, always wet.
It’s easy in winter when the spontaneous park trips after school stop, the scooters get forgotten in the hallway, and before we know it, the sofa and the tv have taken precedence. Sound familiar? We are right there with you!
We can’t bring back the sunshine (sorry about that), but we can share some tried and tested ways we’ve found to keep the children active, happy and in a good routine all the way through winter.
Introduce movement indoors
Just because it’s dark and cold outside doesn’t mean the movement has to stop. Children need to move every day, and it doesn’t take much space to do it! Here are a few of our favourites to try at home:
Home obstacle courses: Crawl under the table, jump over the cushions, balance along a line of tape on the floor. Add a timer and watch the competition between siblings begin!
Dance discos: Create a family playlist, put on their favourite songs and let them go wild. It’s the quickest way to burn off energy before bath time. Bonus point for adding disco lights!
Mini fitness circuits: Squats, star jumps, running on the spot, box jumps on the pouffe are a great way to create a mini gladiator style circuit.
Try fitness Videos: There are plenty of free workouts available on YouTube including the very popular Go Danny Go, or if you want something more calming cosmic kids yoga videos are always a hit.
You don’t need any fancy equipment, just a little bit of space and a lot of enthusiasm!
Research after school clubs
After-school clubs are one of the easiest ways to keep kids active through the darker months, and we might be a little biased, but we truly believe that! After school clubs solve the problem of school finishing before your work hours, and selecting one of our after school clubs means they get the much needed physical activity they crave after a long day sitting in class. At PTC sports we offer children a safe and fun environment to be active while the evenings are short, this also takes away the pressure of finding something to do to wear them once you get home for work.
A few reasons why students love our after school clubs:
Reliable routine: Children thrive on knowing what to expect, and having a regular club on the same day each week gives them something to look forward to, and for you as a parent it helps reduce the mental load of juggling after school childcare.
New Friends: Our clubs are a mixed age group, so children have a chance to meet their existing friends in their year group, and an opportunity to make new friends in another year group, which is great for developing social skills and confidence.
New Experiences: At PTC Sports we offer everything from gymnastics to athletics, fundamental skills, and our new Hybrid training programme, there is something to suit every child, whether they love a ball or not!
We also run before-school clubs and lunchtime activities, so there are plenty of ways to fit sport into the school day, whatever your family’s schedule and weather looks like.
Get Creative
When the evenings get dark, routines are often the first thing to slip, and we completely understand why. After a long cold dark day, the last thing any of us want to do is be outside. But a little consistency goes a long way. Here are a few small things we’ve found helpful.
Aim for consistent bedtimes: The clocks changing can unsettle sleep for a few days, in our experience we find nudging bedtimes gradually (10 to 15 minutes at a time) rather than expecting a sudden switch, makes the transition easier, and lets be honest a sleeping child = happy life!
Prioritising getting outside in daylight: Try to make the most of the daylight hours at weekends, even for a short walk or a game in the park. Natural light and fresh air do wonders for energy and mood.
Dress appropriately: A decent warm and waterproof coat, a hat and a pair of gloves make a puddle-jumping, leaf-kicking walk one of the best parts of autumn. Last year we also found more sports brands offering reflective clothing, so your child can join you safely on evening runs.
Make a family fun wish list: Choose one active thing everyone does each week, whether it’s a Saturday morning bike ride or a Sunday dog walk. When our children see us being active, they are far more likely to join in.
Add a sprinkle of seasonal fun: Pack a flask of hot chocolate, mini marshmallows and spray cream as a little warm treat to enjoy at the park, keeps you all warm, and it’s a great excuse to enjoy a delicious hot chocolate. Last year we brought glow sticks on our evening park trips, which went down a treat! The kids had great fun, and it made it safer for us, as they were easier to keep track of, they especially loved decorating their bikes and scooters. Glow sticks can be a great affordable stockfiller to add to your list this Christmas!
Mindset is everything
Winter is inevitable, how we approach it is within our control, it is what you make of it. Winter doesn’t have to mean hibernation, with some planning and a little creativity your family can still thrive physically, and dare we say, even enjoy it!
If you would like to find out more about our after-school clubs, holiday camps or how we can bring PTC Sports to your child’s school, we would love to hear from you.
Get in touch at info@ptcsports.co.uk or call 07513 522 896, or visit ptcsports.co.uk.
2026 is the year sport and fitness are trending! At PTC Sports, we are delighted that there has never been such a variety of ways for children to get moving and find a sport or exercise they love.
Did you know that there are over 300 recognised sports worldwide? Of these 300 sports, approximately 40-60 are geared for primary-age children, from classic sports like football, cricket, martial arts and gymnastics, to newer activities like Hyrox and Parkour. However, with lots of choice, it can fuel decision fatigue, and we speak to many parents overwhelmed with options and feeling pressured to sign up to everything and anything in fear of their child missing out and not finding “their sport”.
We are here to set the record straight and tell you that you may be missing something very important… fundamental skills. We believe that there are key competencies a child needs to learn before they can actually properly “play” a sport. So before deciding which of the 60 sports to pick, read our advice below and ensure your child has mastered the essential skills before committing to a specific sport.
Long before a child can dribble a football, hit a cricket ball or nail a forward roll, there are a handful of central skills that we recommend focusing on first.
At PTC Sports, we call these the building blocks of physical literacy, and we are firm believers that the earlier a child tries them, the more confident they’ll be later on, and the more likely to fall in love with sport! Here are our top five things that we advise every child should develop before they turn eight.
Running With Control
Every child can run; that’s the easy bit! The ability to stop quickly, run backwards or change direction is where the challenge lies.
Mastering the art of stopping and changing direction whilst running is a simple but overlooked skill, and arguably the most important and transferable skill a child can forge. It’s the foundation almost every other sport sits on top of, from football to athletics to tag rugby.
We weave this into our sessions constantly, usually without the children even realising that they’re “training.” Games like tag and relay races are brilliant for this, because they’re fun first and skill-building second, which is exactly how it should be at this age.
Catching and Throwing
The proficiency and finesse of catching and throwing is frequently understated and considered as “just” a ball skill. Good ball control takes concentration, hand-eye coordination, dexterity and a lot of practice.
The good news? You don’t need a proper ball or a full-sized target to get started. We start young children with soft balls, bigger targets and shorter distances, then build the challenge as their confidence grows. Nail this early, and it pays off in cricket, netball, rugby, tennis, basically anything that involves an object flying through the air!
Balancing
Balance and core strength are skills that quietly underpin everything, yet rarely get the credit they deserve. Standing on one leg, walking along a beam, hopping from spot to spot- these all look simple on paper, but they’re doing some serious work for a child’s coordination, body awareness and proprioception.
It’s also one of the most satisfying skills to watch develop. We’ll often have children wobbling all over the shop in September who are then rock solid by Christmas. Balance work is the underpinning of sports like gymnastics and dance, but also transfers to riding a bike successfully, and more importantly, injury prevention.
Jumping and Safe Landings
Jumping looks easy. Landing well is the bit most children actually need help with.
Teaching children to jump with two feet and land softly with bent knees isn’t just technique for technique’s sake; it’s about building good habits early that reduce the risk of injury as they take on more demanding sports down the line. It’s also the base skill behind basketball, athletics, gymnastics, and even heading football.
We keep this one playful too! Jumping into hoops, over lines, off low platforms; it never needs to feel like a drill to actually work.
Working as Part of a Team
Not every important skill on this list is physical. Primary-aged children are working hard on learning how to manage impulse control, listening skills, and following instructions. Through play, children learn the importance of passing the ball to teammates rather than hogging the ball, following simple instructions, and waiting their turn. Teachers will agree that these life skills are often the hardest ones for their pupils to learn, and learning through sport speeds the process. As coaches, we are delighted to see our children freely choosing to work together with their teammates. It’s one of the most rewarding parts of our jobs, and the first fundamental gateway skill to success in team sports.
The Training Starts Now
The good news is that none of these skills needs a specific sport or expensive kit to develop. All of these skills are built into our sessions and are easy to continue practicing at home. What children need is repetition, encouragement and a healthy dose of fun thrown in, so that they don’t even realise they’re learning.
This is exactly what we build our sessions around, whether that’s during the school day during classes, after-school clubs, or one of our holiday camps. Get these five foundations right, and a child will be far better equipped to enjoy whatever sport they end up falling head over heels for!
So if your little one is a bit wobbly on their feet or can’t quite catch a ball yet, don’t worry, that’s exactly where we come in! Get your child started on their athletic skills today. October Half Term Camps now available for booking!
For more information and to contact us:
https://ptcsports.co.uk/contact/
Phone: +447513 522 896
info@ptcsports.co.uk
Schools out for summer, the children are feeling euphoric and us parents are feeling the weight of the annual struggle of balancing parenting responsibilities alongside work commitments. Our children typically get 13 weeks of holiday a year (which is very much needed and deserved for them to rest), and we all love to spend as much time with our children as possible. However, the stark reality is that a full-time employee on average receives 28 days of annual leave a year, versus the 90 days that children are off. That’s a huge deficit that, as parents, we are simply expected to miraculously make work and spoiler alert, it doesn’t… well, without our help of course!
We can’t give you more annual leave or a winning lottery ticket (sorry about that), but we can offer reliable, safe and fun holiday camps to bridge the gap, while also supporting your children’s health and development in an entertaining way.
We really do understand the challenge parents face outside of term time, which is why we have designed a solution for school holidays. Our award-winning holiday camps are run by highly qualified and talented coaches who have undertaken rigorous DBS checks and enhanced safeguarding screening.
No child is the same. That’s why our camps have been developed to offer a wide range of sports, games and challenges to suit every interest. We believe sport and physical activity should be accessible for all, which is why our sessions are a safe, inclusive and friendly environment for children not only to learn new skills, but also have fun, lots of fun!
We realise that booking your child’s first holiday club can feel daunting, and you probably have lots of questions. We want to reassure you that they are in safe hands, and we thought it would be useful to put together the most frequently asked questions to help put your mind at ease.
How much do holiday clubs cost?
Our prices start from only £30 for a full day or from £140 for a full week, making us an affordable solution during holidays.
Do I need to be a parent at that specific school to use it, or can anyone book?
Anyone can book.
What are the opening hours?
At Gwyn Jones Primary School, our sessions run from 9am to 4.30pm.
At Henry Maynard Primary School, our sessions run from 9am to 5pm.
What activities do they actually do each day?
With over 25 exciting sports and activities suitable for all abilities, children will have the opportunity to try a wide range of sports including Quidditch, Tri-Golf, hockey, basketball, football, dance, gymnastics, tennis, dodgeball, fencing, mini-games, and much more!
Are staff DBS-checked/safeguarding trained?
All coaches and instructors are highly qualified and experienced, are all DBS-checked at the enhanced level, have up-to-date safeguarding certificates and are first aid qualified.
What age range do they cover?
Our camps are suitable for children from 4 years of age up to 12 years of age.
How do I book?
You can book in advance online here: https://ptcsports.classforkids.io/login
At PTC Sports, we aspire to create the best opportunities for children, regardless of their age, gender or status. We offer an affordable childcare solution and structure to both parents and children during the holidays. We provide children with new and improved physical skills, help build confidence, foster new friendships and keep them active, all with a beaming smile on their face! We have the BEST job and there is a reason why our holiday camps are award winning.
If you have any further questions please do get in touch, we are here to help, and we look forward to seeing your family at our camps.
For more information and to contact us:
https://ptcsports.co.uk/contact/
Phone: +447513 522 896
info@ptcsports.co.uk
