It is the age of technology. The overwhelming amount of new tech coming out at a rapid pace is apparent in every aspect of life, and the newer generations are getting more and more accustomed to it at a young age. Children today are exposed to iPads and other tablets before they can talk, and many kids opt to spend time playing online games with friends, rather than playing together outside. Now, technology is not evil or stealing your child’s childhood; the issue at hand here is that less and less children are committing to any sort of exercise. Obesity is becoming a more commonplace issue in the western world, and getting your child to get into some sort of exercise would be greatly beneficial in this day and age.
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The method
Straight out banning your child from using technology and telling them to go outside is never the right approach. If anything, it will make them harbour resentment for going outside and as a result, they will start seeing it as a punishment. Try to get them involved in something which involves some sort of exercise or physical activity. It might be hard to appeal to kids with cricket or tennis, but more urban sports like skateboarding, free running or parkour, have a lot more “street cred” amongst younger people. Maybe the coolness factor is the right approach for your child. If that in itself is not a problem, but perhaps a lack of motivation, go and do something with them yourself. Taking a more universal approach is a safe bet with most kids. Go to the park with a football, kick it around a bit and before you know it you’ll both be sweating and laughing. Top the trip off with some ice cream and everyone will be happy.
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Getting them invested
Chances are your kids have some form of sports or physical education classes at school. While most people fondly remember the opportunity to run around for a while or play football during lesson time, chances are not many people actually got involved and participated properly. Maybe see if your child is interested in joining some after school club which is sports oriented, football, baseball, maybe basketball. To keep their interest fired up, try and provide some sideline support for their sport of choice. Not literally, of course, many kids do not like being watched by their parents during classes or clubs, but give them some things which would encourage them to get invested in their chosen sport. Did they join the school baseball team? Get them some customized lineup cards. Did they get into football? Get them some proper football shoes. Maybe tennis grabbed their attention? Buy them a nice proper tennis racket. Either way, you get the picture, just be supportive of their sporty decisions, and make it more enjoyable for them. If they have extra practice they want to attend after school, don’t give them a hard time for not being home on time. It will not only reflect well on their health, but on your relationship with them. These kind of activities also allow you to get a better feeling of slowly trusting them to take care of themselves, beyond your protective gaze.
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