Childhood obesity as we know is a growing concern which is one of the reasons why sports are heavily pushed at school. In addition to the health side of things, there are many other great benefits for children. Below are some shared with us by a private girls’ school in Hertfordshire.
Boosts Self-Esteem and Confidence
Exploring different sports gives children the chance to learn about their strengths and what they are good at which can help with self-esteem. Even if they aren’t particularly good, they are encouraged to work at their technique. Seeing improvement and the result of their hard work can also show children that they can achieve great things and build confidence.
Teaches Teamwork
Most sports children are introduced to involve teamwork. Children must learn to work with others effectively, which helps build other skills such as their communication skills.
Sense of Belonging
Teamwork gives children a sense of belonging, identity and helps them feel a part of the school community.
How to Deal with Failure
Sport is competitive so it exposes children to difficult feelings such as failure from an early age. They are also taught that they can succeed through hard work and practice which helps instil a growth mindset. This thinking is needed through various aspects of life and can help children achieve their full potential.
Increases Time Spent Outdoors
There’s a real decline in the amount of time children spend outdoors. According to statistics, children spend 1.6 hours a day playing outside. That is an hour less than their parents. As you’d imagine, there are health consequences to this such as lowered immunity, childhood obesity and impacts on mental health. While a few hours a week, sports lessons can help address this issue.
Improved Health
Sports lessons at schools can have a positive impact on a child’s overall health and wellbeing. They create time in the day for children to exercise which is important for staying fit and release endorphins that help to relieve stress.
Helps Build Healthy Habits
Going back to physical health, children can develop a liking for sport and develop good health habits for the future.
Better Mental Health
For the reasons above and being able to deal with their emotions in a healthy way, sports lessons can help children with their mental health and feel happier at school. This can have amazing benefits for both their school and personal life as anxiety is not nice for children to deal with and can affect motivation for school.
Builds Social Skills
Going back to teamwork, as children work with others, they will learn how to deal with differing social situations such as how to address conflict, talk to others and get their points across. This can help in real life situations where they must talk to new people and communicate with themselves.
Why Not Continue the Work at Home?
In addition to sports lessons at school, parents should encourage children to spend time outside practising as this will help them to perfect their skills and meet the activity levels recommended for children.
