When the choices are overwhelming, these tips will help you learn how to choose sports that are a good fit for your kids.
I love them. They are the genetic offspring of a book nerd and a band geek. As such, they are not athletically inclined. And their poor parents have no idea how to encourage athletic abilities because “how many points is a layup worth again?”
But sports are incredibly important. Heck, I’m realizing how important exercise is for me! I love the movement, the coordination it teaches, the teamwork, social skills, and memories!
Even though I can’t tell you the difference between defense in soccer and the defense in basketball, I want my son and daughters to be in sports.
So I let them choose which sport they like. And since I can’t even catch a baseball (pathetic), I have to let them try all the sports one at a time until they find one they love.
So far we have tried:
- Swimming lessons (they aren’t fans of swimming)
- Tae Kwon Do (David kinda wants to go back but he took a break)
- Dance (David hated it, the girls love it)
- Soccer (only David did this one and he loves it!
- Horse riding (the girls fell in love with it more than David)
The next sports they are asking to try are:
- Gymnastics (Lucy desperately wants to learn how to do flips and handstands)
- Basketball (David hears about it from his friends at school)
They don’t want to try:
- Baseball (maybe I can try anyways?)
- Football (I’m ok with this LOL)
- Ice Skating / Hockey (we live in Kansas, ice sports are not common)
The fun think about being Just a Kid is they get to try everything and find out what the really like! I can’t wait to sign them up for the next sports and see how the love it (or not – which is ok too).
I was raised in a sports loving family, so I played several sports in school, my kids played and now my grands are playing them all it seems – except football – thank goodness! I love that you let your kids try all the different sports to see which ones they like. I did that, too.
Although my husband and I aren’t sporty, we encouraged our kids to get involved in whatever sports interested them. They did karate, horseback riding, and basketball. On,y karate seemed to stick lol!
Love this campaign. My kids are trying out sports and instruments now. They get to stick to two each so my fingers are crossed.
I think basketball and gymnastics will be a lot of fun. It’s great that you’re letting them figure out which sports they like.
Those are some happy kiddos. No matter what sport they explore they have loving parents to guide them?
We try and let our girls try many different sports at the young age that they are in now. The challenge is trying to balance it all!
This is a great idea. I wish we would have had our daughter more sports. I know she regrets not playing them now that she is older.
I think it is so important for kids to try different things to find out what they like. My daughter loved swimming when she was younger but has changed her mind recently. She also fell in love with horseback riding and I wish it wasn’t so expensive.
What an active bunch you have! Being active and having a strong interest in sports and clubs is so healthy for young kids.
I think it’s good to let them try as much sports as they want. They would surely know what works for them and what won’t.
My kids love their sports and I’ve tried a lot of them. Sometimes their just not interested after a few whirls. But it’s mostly because it’s so hot here in Florida. Poweraid is an important drink for them to have when they are playing sports.
I tried a few different sports growing up. I ended up loving soccer once I started playing. One of my friends got me started. I need to get my youngest involved in a sport. My older son is going to try soccer next year in high school. He played some when he was younger. He just couldn’t keep his grades up when he was younger.
well i was never a sports person .thou now i think if you actually start playing some sports since you are kid it is a hude benefit after..
We’ve been doing that with our son. He loved swimming but was really young. We need to send him again. He loved martial arts and i snow a black belt. He tried basketball but had no real connection. He tried soccer and likes that one a lot.
This is a great idea! It’s so important for kids to try different things in sports and let them do as they want!!
I loved being active in sports as a kid. I was a competitive gymnast for 12 years and it really shaped who I am today!
I love that your girls like to horseback ride. I do too! Plus I love hanging out with all the sweet horses & ponies.