Ways to be Supportive Towards your Child’s Sports Activities

Children, especially boys love to engage in sports activities; however, at times this can become a hurdle in children’s academic activities. Most parents see sports activities as a recreational thing and therefore encourage their kids to only take part in such activities that add to their academic tasks. This post will shed some light on why it is important to be supportive towards children’s sports activities, and how can you be more supportive.

Children Need a Guiding Hand

When it comes to outdoor playground equipment and outdoor play activities, especially the sports activities, children need somebody who can guide them. This is especially important for children in the preschool years. Simply, watching kids from the bleachers is not enough; you have got to get up and take part in the activities so the kids can garner encouragement from you. You have got to let the kids know how much taking charge of their activities is important for the growth.

Most parents prefer to not mingle with children’s play activities, which can greatly impact the way children take sports activities. If your children don’t see you being enthusiastic about physical activities, they are probably not going to take it seriously. Research suggests that parents who are more involved with physical fitness activities are more likely to have children who will take part in commercial playground equipment and other sorts of play activities.

Step Up

So you spend most of your time in your office chair and then the living room couch? What impression do you think that leaves on your children? If you are not able to pursue an active lifestyle, then don’t expect that your children will automatically start living an active life. You have got to step up and show your kids the encouragement and support that they need.
One way to encourage kids for sports activities through cheerful and inspiring stories. Here are some of the sports quotes that are worth mentioning:

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…” – Dr. Seuss

“You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.” – Irish Proverb

“Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” – Mike Singletary

“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.”

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When you’re riding, only the race in which you’re riding is important.”– Bill Shoemaker

“Number one is just to gain a passion for running. To love the morning, to love the trail, to love the pace on the track. And if some kid gets really good at it, that’s cool too.”– Pat Tyson

“There may be people that have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.”– Derek Jeter

Are you encouraging your kids enough? How do you make sure your kids love to spend time outdoors? Share thoughts and opinions with us through our comment section below.

When its Time to Pull the Plug…

Cell phones, mobile e-mail, and all the other cool and slick gadgets can cause massive losses in our creative output and overall productivity.
~Robin S. Sharma

If Yoda were real and he saw what today’s kids were up to, do you think he would have approved? Knowing his wisdom, I don’t think he would have. You can’t just sit and watch your kids become the victim of technology! So to help you out, I have listed down a couple of ways that can help you pull the technology plug and encourage your kids to have more outdoor time.

 Explore the Outdoors

I know what you are thinking. Isn’t walking to school an outdoor activity? It is, but it’s not enough. An outdoor activity should constitute a healthy amount of time spent with outdoor playground equipment or any other play structure. If a play structure is not available, then simply spending time in the nature is enough. However, as a parent, you have to decide how much time your child needs to have outside.
Encourage your kids to explore and enjoy various outdoor recreational areas. Weekends are great for family recreation, so don’t just sit around on the couch this weekend and plan a trip with your kids.

 Increase Outdoor Activities

Today, most children prefer tablets and a cozy couch in contrast to the fresh vegetation smell, mud and the commercial playground equipment that awaits them. The only way kids can ever consider spending their evening outdoors is if you get them the kind of equipment that they find interesting. Today, the play systems have become advanced and more thrilling, but due to budget problems, community parks cannot afford.

However, you don’t always need to have an expensive set of play systems to make things interesting for your children. There are a million ideas to add flare to your current background setting or to increase enhance the community parks.

 Edify them about the Importance of Outdoors

This is the most crucial thing when it comes to helping kids understand why they need to be outside in the nature. Children are usually unaware of why they need to play outside. It is your job to edify them and help them make smarter choice about their play activities. Start early and begin to educate your children about how they need sunlight and nature for better physical and cognitive development. Do not hesitate to explain them everything about the cognitive development that can only take place when children play outside in a challenging environment.

Our children need to understand that where technology is making things easier, it is also crippling their creativity and the power to do things by themselves. We may not be able to understand the devastating impacts of technology now, but our children may suffer a lot in the long run.
How do you encourage your kids to play outside? Share your opinion with us through our comment section below and let us know what you think about the subject matter. In your opinion, what can be the best strategy to get kids to go outside?

Are You Spending Enough Time With Your Child?

Your children can be around you all day, but if you don't spend quality time with them and you don't pay attention to them and talk to them and listen to them, it doesn't matter that they're just around you. ~Brandy Norwood

Every parent, once in a while, asks himself this question: “Am I spending enough time with my child?”

As working parents, we all can never spend enough time with our children, and that is the problem that sometimes makes me feel a little bit guilty about myself. I don’t know if parents should be guilty about spending a little less time with their kids, but I know one thing for sure, we can definitely spend some more time. I am not saying that you are spending enough time with kids (who am I to judge), I am only saying that we can always find more time for our children.

First of all, let me just clarify why spending a little bit more time with your child might be a good idea. Do you remember the last time your kid was out there playing with an outdoor playground equipment and you were there with him? Most parents just rely on the nannies or the guardians when it comes to watching the kids. But your nanny shouldn’t be spending much time with your kid, you should be the one.

“What does immortality mean to me? That we all want more time; and we want it to be quality time.”~Joan D. Vinge

Many researchers usually highlight the words “quality time” when speaking about spending time with children. For most parents quality time is more time, however the true definition of “quality time” is far away from the meaning that most folks deduce out of the words. “Quality time” is more than just spending time with your kids; it’s about how you spend that time with the kids. There is a difference between when you play backyard soccer with your children, and when you just watch your kids play with the commercial playground equipment from the distance.

It’s all about being more involved with your kids. Simply watching your kids from the distance is not spending time with them. Most parents, especially mothers watch their kids play as they busy themselves with their tablets or smart phones. If you really wish to be more involved with your child’s life, or spend quality time with him, then you need to consider your schedule and his schedule. This is where the work-life-balance comes in. One important thing to remember here is that you want to be involved with your kid, but not too involved. Give them space so they can do things their way, but at the same time do not leave them on their own with zero guidance.

How do you spend more time with your kids? Do you have any ideas or suggestions that can help other parents spend more time with their kids? Share your opinion with us through the comment section below.