First ideas & tips for doing sports together with children

Children love to move and really let off steam. Already during pregnancy and in the first Developmental stages: babies kick about cheerfully on. This natural urge to move should also be continuously lived out and encouraged. Once your kids have learned to walk, they stop at nothing. Especially when they acknowledgment and praise from you, the parents receiving it, they feel encouraged to try new things, explore their environment and follow their natural movement patterns.

Mobility and dexterity are two components that greatly advance child development and prepare your children for the next steps in life. Sports exercises are essential for improving both health and well-being. It does not necessarily depend on the most strenuous and challenging sports. Already movement games at home, in gardens or parks allow you to promote your kids physically and mentally.

Whether targeted sports exercises like fun jumping jacks, training endurance and muscle strength or carefree play sessions indoors and outdoors – any kind of movement is good for health. Fun should always be the main focus. Ideas for Sports exercises or game ideas that enable movement should never be overwhelming for children.

Especially with toddlers, only the natural urge to move should be stimulated at first. Toddlers and primary school children usually set the tone themselves for how they imagine the joint sports sessions. However, always keep in mind that it never leads to a lack of exercise.

As a rule, children should exert themselves for at least one hour every day. For infants and toddlers there is no time guideline for extensive movement. They should become aware of their natural movement patterns and let off steam as exuberantly as possible.

Kindergarten children, however, often require up to three hours or more movement time per day. The older the children get, the less movement time is required. It is important, however, that they then exert themselves more purposefully. Whether in sports clubs or joint workouts with you, the parents – Movement is important for mental and physical fitness.

It is completely normal if children sometimes feel less inclined to move. They should just not become couch potatoes. One approach to keep motivation constant is to schedule sports into the family routine. Whether as a fixed workout or disguised in everyday games as fun spontaneous ideas – your kids will love spending time together with you, the parents. In primary school age, also sports clubs and team sports increasingly interesting. Important in all sporting decisions: Always let your children help decide how they want to use their free time for sports.

Why is sport so important for children?

Plenty of physical activity is an essential part of a healthy life – and that applies to both young and old! Sporting activities keep the musculoskeletal system healthy and strengthen the muscles, immune system, and cardiovascular system. Thus the heart muscle supplies every cell with oxygen and nutrients by pumping blood throughout the body. Regular physical activity therefore strengthens both muscles and circulation equally. Sporting children have fewer accidents, are less ill and tend not as often to postural weaknesses or postural damage.

Regular physical activity also helps prevent overweight and similar diet-related diseases. Sport also keeps the mind fit: Sufficient physical activity improves blood circulation in the brain and thus positively affects concentration.

Falling asleep and staying asleep also work better for your kids when they have properly worn themselves out. In addition, sporty children develop an understanding of their own strengths and abilities. They also test their limits and learn about their sense of agency. This is also reflected in your kids' social behavior. They increasingly develop empathy, which enables them to also understanding and respect for others to show.

Below you can learn about further positive effects of sport for your little athletes.

Strengthen self-awareness & self-confidence

Physically active children are less stressed. Through exercise they reduce stress more quickly, which strengthens their overall well-being. Active exertion can be a vent for all kinds of emotions and help them deal with these better.

Children learn to accept their bodies and the changes associated with them, which in turn manifests itself in strong self-confidence and self-assurance. Sport and emotions are directly connected. How your children feel is often reflected in their movements and motivations.

Once your children have found a sport that suits them, and are successful in it, they feel affirmed in their being and in their self-perception.

Your kids feel what they can do and learn that the price for effort and perseverance good performance and recognition are.

Such positive experiences are important because they strengthen your children's personality – even when things are not going so well in everyday life, in kindergarten, or at school.

Improve concentration ability

Generally it can be said: physical activity increases mental fitness and quality of life. Because sufficient movement causes the neurons in the brain to network more, so that it is supplied with oxygen on an ongoing basis.

This increases performance capacity. Through regular practice of sport, children learn to concentrate precisely. In a sprint competition, for example, all strength and endurance must be mobilized for exactly the duration of the sprint.

In addition, sporting activities produce the body's own messenger substances that promote memory and lift the mood. The human brain has a short span of time in which it is able to concentrate on one thing.

Through a movement break while learning, nervousness and concentration weaknesses reduced be reduced, as children can follow their natural urge to move.

Thus a short learning break can help them to remember what they need to learn more quickly and at the same time not lose motivation.

Create learning motivation

Through sporting activities your children receive the chance to connect diverse developmental learning areas through active engagement. They learn movement sequences and to trust their own bodies.

These experiences greatly motivate them to take on new things and absorb knowledge. To keep learning motivation constant, it is important to emphasize that the movement is practiced regularly is.

Children who exert themselves actively every day improve their ability to concentrate, which is reflected in successes and further motivation.

If physical activity remains an essential part of life for many years, it also has a lasting positive effect on your little athletes' mental performance.

Promote teamwork skills

Working together on goals, treating each other respectfully and tolerantly, and maintaining motivation in the team – whether it's team sports or individual sports, the foundations for teamwork skills your kids acquire through every sporting activity.

Thus, above all assertiveness, willingness to compromise and fairness are special skills that your little athletes get to know and adopt step by step through sports sessions.

Last but not least, they thus experience a strong sense of belonging for the first time. Their understanding of teamwork and strategic action grows.

Social skills also help your children to respond focused and confidently to various circumstances and situations later in life, both professionally and privately.

Doing sports together – how to bring activity into the family everyday routine

.You as parents are role models for your children – that applies in a sporting sense too

. Physical activity should be seen as a natural resource and brought into everyday family life.If sport is part of your everyday life, your kids come to know it as a matter of course and not as something uncomfortable

know. Whether you walk short distances, combine walks with movement games, or simply romp around at home or in the garden and dance as you please – any kind of movement is meaningful and healthy.So that your children really enjoy family sports and you also look forward to training and the exercises together, there are a few great ideas and tips that will spark your motivation

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Regularity:To get the most out of your sport, it's important that you do it regularly. If you naturally integrate short movement sessions into everyday life, your children will probably hardly realize that they are really doing sport. A family walk after lunch or dinner, lively dancing to children's music, or ball games in the garden

are experienced by many children simply as wonderful, special family time that they greatly enjoy.If you want something more unusual, it's a good start to half an hour once or twice a week/magazine/family_everyday/family_togethernessfew great ideas and tips that will spark your motivation

family cohesion

Create structure and pleasant conditions:Always make sure that your learning environment and movement spaces do not suppress your children's natural urge to move. Also show understanding for one another and be patient if exercises are perhaps not performed correctly right away in the first sport sessions

. Tasks and exercises should therefore always be tailored to age, mobility and other existing abilities. Last but not least, they should of course be fun for all of you.

No nagging:Avoid long lectures about how important and healthy sport is for your children. That only gives your kids the feeling that they have to do sport and they immediately see it as an obligation. few great ideas and tips that will spark your motivation

Playing around together with friends or siblings in the garden usually works more effectively.

Make it fun:Consider together as a family which sports, workouts or other activities challenge you physically and which you would like to try out. Fun should always come first.

. When you ensure enough movement, the focus is never on reaching top performance. That can become one of your family goals when you are a bit more practiced, but mainly it's about doing something good for mind and body.

Together is the key:Doing sports together, experiencing successes and working through setbacks – Children love it when their parents join in. In a group, the first steps are easier and so few great ideas and tips that will spark your motivation

family sports are a great motivation to keep going

It also helps your kids if you accompany them to sports classes at clubs and the like. The trip there promotes your exchange with each other and it fills your athletes with pride when they can show you on site what they have learned. Maybe they'd like to try some of it at home with you and include it in your sports sessions.

Provide incentives to move:

A go-kart, a waveboard or a bicycle motivate most children and adolescents to become physically active – and that quite on their own. These vehicles are designed to be used outdoors, where 'zooming around' is even more fun.Sports equipment is also a great incentive, to get to know their own limits and abilities. The only important thing here is that you don't leave your kids alone. Support them in learning new movement patterns

and don't forget to praise them regularly.

Make use of trial sessions: There are many sports clubs or schools that offer free trial lessons

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Find motivation:Children like to play sports when it is not imposed on them as a duty. From a young age it helps them if you already encourage them to move in everyday situations. Toddlers, for example, have a lot of fun on playgrounds. Climbing, swinging, sliding

, all of this keeps them moving and they hardly seem to get tired. The joy is so great that the physical exertion is initially not noticeable. Primary school children are especially motivated by you as parents – particularly when you also follow their interests.

Getting kids excited about sports: Motivation for little non-sporty kidsYoung children especially love to discover new things and follow their natural urge to move

. Especially when they do it together with you. You as parents are role models who are gladly imitated. At this stage the likelihood that your kids become non-sporty is not yet very high, since they can be quickly encouraged to move more. Primary school children and older kids, on the other hand, seem more likely to be unmotivated and prefer to linger in front of the TV. But how should you deal with it?If your mini-athletes lack the motivation to move, suitable games and challenges are the perfect idea for loads of sports funquicker access to more movement and thus not only strengthen muscles but also body and mind. Also small challenges and competitions like 'who gets to the next lamppost first' spur your kids to move more unconsciously. Whether movement games like tag and skipping rope or rather small bike tours – you'll surely find the right option for your reluctant movers.

On the corresponding page HABA has furthergreat ideas and tips summarized for you. Ready, set, go: Get motivated together for more sports fun!

Great home workouts

Exercise with children: girl does exercises Practice makes perfect: This proverb also applies to exercises you do together as a family. It doesn't have to be a challenging workout; you can just turn up the music and dance wildly. The main thing is to avoid a lack of physical activity.

On the topic page about home exercises, HABA in addition to valuable tips and information, also great exercises to try at home collected for you. You certainly won't get bored!

Active games for young and old

Active games are particularly suitable for getting children used to new movement patterns in a playful way and keeping body and mind fit. Whether homemade active games or exercises you do with suitable toys – both young and old will benefit.

Which games can you try? On the page about active games, HABA has compiled numerous ideas and instructions for great play sessions for you. Browse the page and get started right away!

Which sports are suitable for children?

Whether team sports like soccer and handball, dance classes or martial arts – each of these sports contributes to your children's physical development. Muscles are trained and basic skills like coordination and balance are practiced. Especiallyentry-level sports like athletics or gymnastics can be practiced at a young age. Very important when choosing the right sport for your children, however, is that it matches their interests and that they also want to try them out. Therefore decide together which sports they should take up and which sports club appeals to you. It is good if your children get to know and try as many sports as possible, because that way they recognize their sporting inclinations. Taster sessions are especially recommended here if you don't want to commit right away.

The older your kids get, the more you can consider specializing. The same applies here: Include your little sports champions and let them choose which sports classes they want to attend. To give you a first overview of possible sports, HABA has summarized the most popular ones for you.

Team sports

Team sports like soccer, handball or basketball promote abilities such as endurance, speed and coordination even at an early age.

Whether girls or boys – children grow together as a team in these sports. This strengthens both their self-confidence as well as the sense of belonging. Not least, this becomes apparent in an exceptional motivation for sport. Lack of exercise is unheard of here.

Your children also become familiar with rules. They build up social skills by gaining an understanding of themselves and others.

Age recommendations for team sports vary widely. As early as three years old preschool children can start soccer exercises. Handball, however, is only recommended from eight years old. Some sports clubs already offer courses for toddlers as well.

Martial arts

Martial arts like judo, karate and boxing particularly train your children's body awareness. Coordination, balance and concentration are also promoted.

Your kids learn quick movement sequences and depending on the sport they can reach different levels through tests. This awakens the perseverance and the ambition of your little athletes. The motivation to reach their own goals increases. This also transfers to everyday life.

While karate can already be practiced from three years old , judo is recommended only from five and boxing from six years old. The offered sports lessons usually last between 45 and 60 minutes.

Here your kids can let their emotions run free and really wear themselves out. It also fills them with pride when they keep at it, notice first successes and even collect one or two badges.

Dance

Dancing is not just for girls. Boys also like to dance. Whether ballet, hip-hop or jazz dance – dance is diverse. In the process your kids learn to know their body awareness better and to use it purposefully.

It's not only a lot of fun for them to move to their favorite music, it hardly feels like they're exercising at the same time. Last but not least, dance classes also strengthen the sense of belonging.

Social skills, but also a high level of self-discipline characterize this sport. Dance also knows no age limit. Already in toddlerhood you can practice dancing together.

This sets the prerequisites for dance classes already at home. From primary school age you can then enroll your children in classes and who knows, maybe you will soon proudly attend your little dancers' first performance.

Gymnastics

In gymnastics lessons children have important movement experiences.Already in early years of life you have the opportunity to practice parent-child gymnastics in various sports clubs.

Here you not only accompany your kids, you also get a little exercise yourself. Gymnastics lessons should generally be selected to suit children and designed. If, for example, fun games are combined with gymnastic exercises, this is particularly interesting for your kids.

Gymnastics is one of the so-called entry-level sports and lays the foundation for many motor skills, which your mini-athletes can use well during the course of their lives.

The whole body is trained and the sense of balance improved. In addition, your kids learn to communicate and cooperate better with others. The older your little sports champions get, the more they want to take on challenging gymnastics courses – and do so on their own.

Athletics

Thanks to the many disciplines that exist in athletics, everyone can find something and discover their own strengths.

Through basic movement forms like running, jumping and throwing and the different movement possibilities, the entire body of children is engaged and trained. Speed and coordination are improved and postural problems are prevented.

As early as the age of four your kids can start this entry-level sport and learn to understand their own bodies better. Especially in the initial time, competition is less in focus.

That can change as your children get older.Ambition and a high level of discipline as well as perseverance keep your little athletes motivated. Maybe you will also learn one or two exercises from your children.

Swimming

Swimming means a lot of fun for children. They love splashing in the water and experiencing the associated bodily sensation.

The water that gently touches the skin and the fun of playing awaken your children's interest, especially in the first years of life. In this context, swimming and splashing with kids also very valuable for arm and back muscles.

Because it is more tiring than it feels at first. Even in infancy you can get your children used to the water. This makes it easier for them later to learn to swim.

Whether you prefer to enroll your swimming novices in a club or teach them to swim yourself is entirely up to you. What nevertheless needs to be considered can be found on the relevant topic page from HABA.

Tennis

Tennis is particularly suitable for children from five years old. Through this sport they improve their coordination, agility and endurance. In addition, first successes arouse interest in being active in sports. This increases self-esteem as well as self-confidence. However, it is a rather more expensive hobby. In addition to lessons, you will also face costs for high-quality equipment.

Tennis belongs to racket sports that can be played both singles and doubles.

Either way, your children acquire a high degree of teamwork skills, as they learn to deal respectfully with partners – whether competitors or team members.

If kids at the age of five just learn the basic techniques of the sport, it really gets going at seven years. Tennis can also be enjoyed as a family sport.

Cycling

Cycling is a lot of fun and also saves your wallet. Apart from a bicycle and a helmet, you don't need anything else besides your interest in exploring the surroundings by riding.

You can already start with the first attempts at riding in toddlerhood. Your children will love it – especially if they have already become familiar with balance bikes and the like in previous years.

It fills your little explorers with pride when they speed off for the first time without support.

Once they have mastered cycling safely, a joint family outing by bike is nothing to stand in the way of.

Every destination – even if it's only the next supermarket – is now reachable by bike. Definitely a huge highlight for your children at a young age.

Let's go: More movement for indoors & outdoors

Whether indoors or outdoors – sport is possible everywhere. Climbing, romping or playing fun tag and throwing games, your little sports enthusiasts can really let off steam with movement games and follow their urge to move. You as parents will certainly benefit too.

What possibilities are open to you, HABA has summarized in the following overview of sporty ideas for young and old summarized. Let yourselves be inspired for shared exercise sessions and get active!

Activity for toddlers

Balance, coordination and playtime fun – toddlers can test their own limits and acquire basic motor skills with the right play ideas. This has a very positive effect on their development. Which movement games can you play with your toddlers? There are many ideas. HABA has the most popular play ideas listed for you on the relevant topic page and has also summarized some tips for more movement in everyday life.

Garden games

Sport with children: Siblings play garden games The sun is shining outside and you want to play exuberant games? The home garden is the perfect play paradise – for young & old. Whether with toys and playhouses or creative game ideas without materials – here you really get moving.

Which garden games are especially popular with little athletes and what to watch out for with them: HABA explains it to you on the page about fun garden games. There is guaranteed to be something for the whole family!

Romp indoors

Jumping jacks, pillow fights or somersaults – even indoors your kids can really let off steam and reduce their excess energy. This way your little sporty bees not only get to know their bodies better, they also learn to perceive and assess boundaries.

Why games that get your kids moving are so important for child development are and which ideas you can put into practice right away, you can find out on HABA's corresponding topic page. On your marks, get set, go – find your favorite games!

Active toys

In order for your kids to really let off steam, you need, in addition to creative ideas and lots of fun, also the right equipment and toys. Hula hoops, chalk for fun hopscotch games or perhaps an obstacle course with cones – there are many kinds of active toys.

HABA offers you a wide selection of different toys that will encourage you to be more active. Browse the range and get creative – great and sporty play ideas are guaranteed to bring fun to the whole family.

Image credits:

Mother exercises with baby © Dusko - stock.adobe.com

Mother and daughter do exercises on a gym mat © Chayantorn - stock.adobe.com

Mother does yoga with her children © New Africa - stock.adobe.com)