Being physically active has a whole host of wonderful benefits regardless of age! Exercising increases strength, stability, improves cardiovascular health, raises energy levels, endurance, and aids sleep, but it’s also about having fun and releasing those feel-good endorphins!
Having a positive attitude towards physical activity has also been associated with children who are happier, more confident, less stressed, and have better social skills, all great factors in helping set them up in life by being able to manage with daily demands and challenges.
Children need to be active for at least 60 minutes a day, aiming for at least 30 minutes outside of school, ideally these should include a variety of activities which strengthens muscles and bones.
Finding an activity your child enjoys is key to maintaining their interest in exercising and helping to raise a child who is active for life. Here are some suggestions of new sports and activities to try this spring.
Climbing
Climbing made its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020 signifying the rapidly growing popularity of the sport. Rock climbing is a physically challenging activity, helping to increase fitness and strength, but also aiding endurance and flexibility. The challenge of climbing a wall helps build confidence and self-esteem in addition to development of problem-solving skills by selecting and planning the best routes to conquer the wall. Rock climbing is an activity that can be enjoyed regardless of the weather, with centres inside for those rainy days and sunny days you can enjoy climbing outdoors, making it a perfect way to enjoy nature and fresh air.
Horse Riding
Kids love animals, and horse riding is great exercise and can help kids develop balance, hand-eye coordination, and flexibility, it also teaches responsibility of caring for animals. Directing a horse is a great way to encourage shyer children to flourish as horses require non-verbal direction and, look up to the rider as their leader. We also love how horse riding immerses children in nature, which is a great break away from digital distractions.
Archery
A less common activity, but a fantastic one! Archery can be performed both outdoors and indoors, it’s a sport your child can participate in all year long, which is very usual for our unpredictable weather. Archery teaches focus, balance, coordination, and self-discipline. Although it looks easy, drawing a bow and arrow uses core strength, good posture, and incredible eye-hand coordination. Aiming for a target teaches resilience and problem-solving skills, when they miss the mark, they then need to process their technique and adapt their aim to improve their performance, this a great skill which will also benefit them in daily life.
Roller Sports
Skateboarding, roller-skating, rollerblading, and scooting are all excellent ways of developing balance, core stability, coordination, and agility.
Children can practice outside at home, inside at roller rinks or at local skate parks, there are many great free ones! Roller sports is an activity that can be fun entertainment for playing alone or enjoyed with their friends, roller discos are especially fun and a right of passage for childhood.
Yoga
Once a movement mostly practiced by older adults, the wonderful benefits of yoga means its popularity has trickled into an activity participated by all age groups. Yoga is safe and easy way to improve strength, aerobic capacity, flexibility, and balance, as well as different breathing techniques, which is a great skill to help reduce stress. Yoga can be enjoyed alone or as part of a class and is starting to become increasingly common in schools. Harvard has published studies confirming yoga improves focus, memory, self-esteem, academic performance and even reduces stress and anxiety in children. The good news is, regardless of your budget yoga can be enjoyed by all, YouTube has plenty of free yoga lessons for the whole family to enjoy.