Getting your child into sports activities will give them a fantastic foundation for a happy and healthy life! Your child will develop physical skills, get exercise, make friends, have fun, learn teamwork, learn to play fair, and improve self-esteem.
Starting your child early will help them to develop a life filled with exercise and fun activities that they can carry into adult life.
Here are a few ways in which you can help your child to become more physically active and develop good sportsmanship skills
How to help and encourage your child.
- providing emotional support and positive feedback
- attending some games and talking about them after.
- having realistic expectations for your child
- learning about the sport and supporting your child’s involvement
- encouraging your child to talk with you about their experiences with the coach and other team members
- teaching your child to handle disappointments about losing by praising their efforts to compete and improve athletic skill
Get ready
At Tiger Lily Prints we have a fantastic range of personalised water bottles to make sure your child has plenty of fluid. We have also have a range of matching drawstring bags that are ideal for all sports activities and are easy to pack all their sports kit into.
Fun for you too
Having a common sports activity will also help the bond with your child grow as you interact and be able to laugh and talk about the sports lessons, matches. As a parent it is also a great way to meet other parents of similar aged children. Why not get sporty yourself and get the whole family involved. It does not matter what standard you are. It is great for family bonding and also good if you can encourage siblings to take part in the same activity too.
Although this involvement takes time and creates challenges for work schedules, it allows you to become more knowledgeable about the coaching, team values, behaviors, and attitudes. Your child’s behavior and attitude reflect a combination of the coaching and your discussions about good sportsmanship and fair play.
It is also important to talk about what your child observes in sports events. When bad sportsmanship occurs, discuss other ways the situation could be handled. While you might acknowledge that in the heat of competition it may be difficult to maintain control and respect for others, it is important to stress that disrespectful behavior is not acceptable. Remember, success is not the same thing as winning, and failure is not the same thing as losing.