What if children don’t like sports?

Often [stay] at home, is not conducive to the child’s physical and mental development, especially when the child is in the fastest growth of physical development, must let the child more activities.

According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, 42 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2013.

How, let your child avoid being one of them?

Let children love sports.

丁香妈妈教你几招, 让孩子坚持运动锻炼就和吃零食、玩游戏一样简单. 

There are many kinds of sports

Not everyone likes football and basketball. There are so many sports, you can try other choices. As a parent, you should be patient. It may take some twists and turns to help your child find a suitable sports.

When children are no longer interested in one sport, they may need to change to another. Keep trying different events until they find the right one.

The most important thing is to let children who do not love sports find motivation, so as to form a lifelong habit of loving sports.

Limit [Screen Time]

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children’s daily [screen time], that is, the time spent on TV, surfing the Internet, playing video games, etc., should not exceed 1-2 hours.

However, many children in life spend more than 4 hours on these things every day.

Parents should encourage their children to replace these passive entertainment with other active activities, such as shooting in the nearby playground, walking the dog or playing some small games.

To help children stay away from temptation, you can try to move the TV out of the bedroom and put the computer in a public space that parents can supervise.

For teenagers, family regulations should be set up to restrict other sedentary activities such as making phone calls or chatting via text messages.

Set a good example

If parents lie in front of the TV every night with remote control in one hand and French fries in the other, then the rulemaker has not played an exemplary role at all. Parents who do not agree with their words and deeds are unlikely to let their children abide by the rules.

Therefore, parents should set an example of loving sports in front of their children. If you can walk, you don’t drive, and if you can climb stairs, you don’t take elevators. Parents should exercise regularly so that their children can grow up in an atmosphere that loves sports.

Children also like to play with their parents, so some activities and games that the whole family participates in together are good choices, such as family outing, mountain climbing, riding, etc.

Give more positive feedback to children,

Parents should praise their children in time when they learn to stand handstand or know how to swing on a high swing. For example, when walking or cycling, they can stick to a longer distance than last time, and parents should encourage them in time.

Please remember that only by acknowledging the child’s efforts to make progress and not paying too much attention to the results can he build self-confidence.

Children are not born to be athletes. They may be very concerned about their physical sports skills, so they are afraid of failure, embarrassment and ridicule in front of everyone. Children may just be physically stiff and need the support and encouragement of their parents.

Nagging or negative comments are not only useless, but may also discourage children.

Find a reliable playmate

Children like to be with their peers. If there are suitable small playmates around the children, parents can help invite them to ride bicycles, skate or play basketball together.

Young children like to chase and fight with their friends on the playground, climbing everywhere, swinging, sliding and running.

The focus of playing is to make sports interesting and enable children to learn new skills in sports instead of competing and winning, otherwise children’s enthusiasm for sports will be reduced.

Reward exercise

Forcing children to go out to play may backfire and increase their resentment and resistance.

Exercise should not be a punishment. Don’t use running laps or push-ups as a punishment. On the contrary, try to use exercise as a reward.

If there is a chance to rest while doing homework, the child will be happy to play the ball for 20 minutes.

Make regular arrangements

Make sure that your child’s exercise plan is included in your daily schedule, like school, work, shopping, housework, family gatherings, birthday parties, movies and other activities, and become part of your daily life. If your exercise plan is based on your daily life, parents and children are more likely to stick to it.

Family members will begin to expect and accept such a life, such as cycling on Saturday morning and taking a walk after dinner several nights a week.

Let sports become a way of life

Is there any dispute at home about brushing your teeth, fastening your seat belt and going to school?

No, because these activities are conducive to children’s health, safety and happiness. The same situation applies to children’s sports.

Let sports become a way of life. Don’t let children think that playing ball games and playing video games are the same. There is no comparison between the two things.

Tell the children [sports are cool]

Some children are keen to do what they think is cool. Maybe they want to skate like Tony Hawke, practice karate like Bruce Lee, learn the latest hip-hop melodies, or master the movements of Kapojera. Older children in particular may have their own clear views on hip-hop.

As long as it is safe and full of positive energy, and at the same time it can encourage children to keep fit, parents can let their children choose their favorite activities.

Give the choice to the child

Each family member takes turns to choose weekend or after-school activities.

Mom may like walking, dad may like playing ball, [explorer] may choose climbing wall… … …

Let the child have the opportunity to arrange and organize this activity by himself, in which he can feel his control over the whole situation. Of course, for young children, parents may need to appropriately limit their choice of activities.

Sports are full of fun.

Children don’t need much encouragement, they will stretch like Xiao Mao, run like tigers, and jump like rabbits. They will have a good time themselves.

After sitting at the desk for a whole day, children will enjoy free play time both indoors and outdoors.

No matter what activities, children’s sports should be full of fun.