Parents usually don’t have to worry about their children’s health when the children play a lot at home and outdoors.
However, choosing a sport for your child is definitely more advisable because it includes a lot of discipline and focus on muscle development, strength, proper nutrition and mental health.
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Once you decide that your child should get involved in an athletic experience, choosing a sport for her becomes an important decision.
You have to consider which sport your child is inclined more towards – an individual sport or a team sport and a low impact sport or a physically more demanding sport.
You should also consider his body type – which sports it is more suited too.
Here are a few useful tips to help you decide which sport you should choose for your child.
1. Expose Your Child to Various Sports
By exposing your child to various sports, you can know whether your child would be interested in a sport and enjoy participating in it.
You can do this by watching sports on television. Better than this is to become a spectator in real life. After watching a sport, talk with her about what she likes and dislikes about each sport.
There is a wide range of kids sports toys available at Step2 Direct you can buy for your child to see in which one he is more interested.
2. Look for Signs of Enthusiasm
While introducing your child to various sport, you can see keenly if a particular sport seems more interesting to her.
Check if he mentions any hints about his preferences. Maybe he’ll talk about the players, strategies or how he feels while watching the tournament.
3. Individual or Team Sport
Some kids will prefer individual sport like gymnastics, cycling etc.
Others will love to participate in a team sport like basketball or football because they can play a role in a team.
Still others too can prefer a team sport but only where their own skills matter the most, e.g. tennis, swimming or golf.
While observing your child, try to discover her preferences. This will help you find the best sport for your child.
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4. Does Your Child’s Body Type Matches the Sports?
If your child is tall and lanky, he is more suited to basketball or track, while if he is short and stocky, he is more suited to football.
Although there are smaller than average football players or shorter than average basketball players, chances of their success at a young age depends a lot on their body type.
5. Try Multiple Sports
Once you shortlisted a few sports which you think she may enjoy, try them.
Although you must avoid playing multiple sports in any season, it may be fine to make them play volleyball in winter, soccer in spring and football in fall.
As they start better identifying with one sports, you can drop some others if required.
Just as you check your child’s preference when you purchase pull along wagon at Step2 Direct for example, check his preferences while choosing a sport for him.
Following these tips can help you enjoy seeing a budding sportsperson in your family.