Far too many children nowadays are focused on their smartphones, computers and laptops that they don’t appreciate old pastimes that adults use to enjoy, such as going to the park with a group of friends and kicking a ball around for a good few hours.
It gave us a much-needed workout, it provided plenty of entertainment, and it was a fun way to bond with our friends and neighbours. For some lucky ones, it even turned into a career choice.
Sadly, more and more children are cooped up in their rooms playing video games and chatting with friends online, and there’s not enough face-to-face interaction between their friends. However, this can change and it’s never too late to try and get your children involved with sports.
I’m doing this trek along Hadrian’s wall and I’ve been persuading my daughter Beth to come with me but it’s not always easy. She enjoys it when there, but it’s not that easy to get there.
It’s easy to encourage Dorothy as she can’t say no at this point in her life. Which suits me fine 🙂
Buying to encourage
It doesn’t take a lot of gear to start playing sports with you children in the comfort of your own garden. For instance, you could buy football goals and place it in your backyard. It doesn’t need to be huge, it can be a relatively small one and you could start playing sports with your children with just a ball. This is a great way to motivate your children because they can invite their friends over and it’s convenient to be able to play without having to travel to the nearest park, and your child can practice at home whenever they want to. You could also buy things such as basketball hoop if you don’t have much grass in your garden, and if you have a lot of space and really want to treat your kids then a table tennis table in the garage would make their dreams come true.
Watch sports together and explain things to them
After a long and stressful day at work, the last thing we want is to be running around and giving ourselves a headache. Thankfully, we can still get our children involved with sports by watching it together with them. Whenever there’s a big football match going on or when your kids want to spend some time with you, sit with them on the sofa and watch some sports together. Flick through the channels and find something that piques your child’s interest and then explain the rules, tell them what’s going on and ask them if they want to try it.
Don’t force them into it
The worst thing you can do is force your children into sporting clubs or take them outside all of the time. When they become teenagers, they usually have interests that they want to pursue and hobbies that might not involve sports. If this happens to your child, then simply accept it and assist them with whatever hobbies they have. It’s unfortunate that children nowadays are more heavily influenced by electronic media than having fun with their friends outside, but that’s just how things are and change will always happen regardless of if we like it or not, and the worst thing we can do is to force our children down a path they don’t want to talk.]]>
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