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The Benefits of Enrolling your Kids in Social Sports

Playing sports is a great way to boost physical fitness in children, however there are plenty of other benefits too.

Most sports help children to understand the capabilities of their body and allow them to develop their motor skills. Many sports also help to improve tactical thinking and forward-planning. These are skills that can be [...] Read more →

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Sports for Children

Sports help to promote fitness in children, as well as giving them an environment to improve other skills.

Most sports help to improve physical coordination in children and help to develop their motor skills. Some sports give children the opportunity to interact socially with other people in their age group, and allow them to develop [...] Read more →

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Activities to Strengthen Muscles and Bones

It is important for children to engage in physical activity to encourage their physical development. All physical activities help children to develop their motor skills, but some activities also help children to develop mental skills as well.

Different physical activities also help children to develop certain areas of their bodies. Your child’s paediatrician may actually [...] Read more →

Recommended Sites

Lots of information and recommended guidelines from the NHS on childrens health. Click the image to visit.


NHS Choices


Detailed information and resources from the UK government website. Click the image to visit.


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Outdoors Sports that You can do with Your Children

Outdoor activities are great for kids because they help to keep children fit and healthy. Spending time in the outdoors also allows children to get a breath of fresh air. It can be really worthwhile to spend time in the outdoors with your children. Here are some activities that you can do with them in the outdoors.

Sprinkler Fun and Water Games

If you have a sprinkler system at your home, you can have fun whilst watering the garden. Play a simple game which the sprinkler system where you try to avoid getting wet whilst the sprinkler moves around. This is the perfect game to play on a hot, sunny day when you all need to cool down.

Alternatively, you can play a game with water balloons in the garden. Either choose all out war and throw them at one another, or play games which involve protecting the balloons. In these games, participants must use the motor skills to try to protect the balloons from being burst. Protection games normally require skill and precision. If you fail, you will get wet!

If you do decide to play games with water balloons, make sure that you take the time to pick up all of the pieces of rubber that are left over, because this rubber could be accidentally eaten by animals.

Orienteering

Orienteering is a fun outdoor activity to try with your children. Not only does orienteering involve vigorous physical exercise, it also helps to build planning and organisational skills.

Participants are given a special map of the orienteering location which shows the position of various checkpoints. Participants must walk or run between these checkpoints in a specific order (on a normal course) or in an order of their choosing (on a score course). Participants are given a small electronic device that allows them to record the exact time that they get to the checkpoint.

Although older children can do simple orienteering courses by themselves, most orienteering clubs will allow family groups to travel around the course together.

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Beach Football

Jumpers for Goalposts!

Being able to play football in the park with their family members is a joy for most children. The rules are often relaxed compared to formalised football games and the participants may be forced to use jumpers for goalposts! All that you need is a football and a wide open space. You can even play informal football games at the beach.

French Cricket

French Cricket is an informal take on the normal version of cricket.

There is one batsperson who stands in the middle of a group of bowlers. The bowlers must try to dismiss the batsperson by catching them our or hitting their legs with the ball below the knee. The batsperson must stand with their legs firmly rooted to the spot and try to twist their body to protect their legs with the bat. Fielders may pass the ball between one another, but they may not move unless they are chasing a ball which has been hit by the batsperson or if they are picking up a ball which is on the ground. Once the batsperson is dismissed they must swap places with the bowler who threw the ball that resulted in the dismissal.

Beach Olympics

Creating your own Olympics on the beach will allow you to try out loads of different outdoor sports with your kids. Events that you can include in your own personal Olympics can include running, long jump, swimming and many other things. You can personalise the events to the skills of your children or create crazy competitions that will have them in fits of giggles.

Cycling

Cycling has developed a massive following in the United Kingdom, thanks to the success of the cycling team in the last few Olympic Games. Because of the boom in people who are interested in cycling, local authorities have begun to invest far more money in local cycle paths and routes. There are now a number of national cycling trails that are largely free from road traffic. These routes are well-signposted so you are unlikely to get lost.

If you do decide to go cycling with your children, it is important that they understand the basics of cycling safety. You should make sure that your children (and anyone else who you are cycling with) wear a cycling helmet to protect them if they fall off their bike. A properly fitting helmet can reduce the chances of suffering a serious head injury in the event that there is an accident.

You should also make sure that children wear high visibility clothing and have reflectors on their bikes if they are planning on cycling on a road or cycle path. These items help to make them more visible to other people who are driving or cycling around them.

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