A lot has been said about the benefits of sports for older children, especially for teenagers, but it is equally as beneficial for young children including those under the age of 5. With children having more screen time at a younger age, it has never been more important to ensure they get enough exercise. The NHS recommends that under 5’s should not be inactive for long periods of time, except for when they’re asleep.
But what are the benefits of sports activities for nursery age children? Here we look at the benefits of sports activities for young children.
Improves fitness
Sports activities are a great way of improving young children’s fitness. It is also important for children at this age to be as active as possible. While many will naturally want to run around and be active, adding sports activities will help to make the it more structured. This, in turn, will ensure that children get a wide range of exercises throughout the day.
Makes exercise fun
While young children will often enjoy being active, they will also usually quickly get bored. Making exercise fun is a great way of keeping children’s interest. Organised sports activities will provide them with lots of different ways of being active in a fun way. Sports activities can vary from throwing and catching soft balls to playing classic children’s playground games such as hopscotch.
Lean social skills
Sports activities is a great way of helping children to learn social skills. Often sports games and activities will involve children working together, supporting each other and encouraging the leadership development skills. For young children sports activities will often be the first time that they are introduced to these concepts. They will be a vital way for them to start developing these lifelong social skills!
Better coordination
Many sports activities are great for developing better coordination in young children. Games that involve children running around are simple, great way of encouraging more coordination as they move around more. Adding games like throwing and catching are a fantastic way of encouraging children to develop their hand/eye coordination. And they can be done in any type of space.
Maintain healthy weight
The UK’s childhood obesity rate is still a cause for concern and even children under 5 can become overweight or sometimes even obese. Regularly including sports activities during the day is a great way of helping young children to maintain a healthy weight, as the activities are fun and social. Sports activities that involve children doing energetic activities such as running, jumping and skipping are ideal for burning excess calories and helping children to maintain a healthy weight.
Increases confidence
Sports activities help to boost confidence and self-esteem in all ages including young children. All types of sports activities will help young children to develop a range of skills, from social to physical, which will help to increase their confidence in their abilities and their willingness to learn new skills.
Burns excess energy
Young children often love being active so it can be hard for them to concentrate and they can be easily distracted. Often a reason for this is because they have so much energy that they need to burn off. Sports activities are a great way of enabling young children to burn off excess energy to help them focus on indoor activities or even to help them settle for an afternoon nap.
At Fawns we provide a wide range of nursery playground equipment that is an ideal way of enabling young children to take advantage of the benefits of sports activities. We also provide safety products, such as safety surfacing, that will ensure that young children remain safe while they are active.
Contact us now to find out more!
