How to Nurture Physical Activity in Your Child

If your child has a preferred activity, encourage them to participate once or twice per week. At the same time, encourage participation in a variety of other fun physical activities 3 or 4 times per week to develop a wide range of skills and abilities.

ABCs of Athletic Development

Check if your child’s activities address the ABCs of athletic development: Agility, Balance, Coordination and Speed. The ABCs are valuable in almost all sports. Developing the ABCs are an important part of physical literacy, and there are a number of activities in which they can be learned and refined.

Some sports and activities are better at developing one or more of the ABCs than others, and the key sports are:

• Gymnastics: is a great way for young children to learn and develop their agility, balance, and coordination, while athletics (track and field) is a great way to develop speed and coordination.
• Skating and skiing: provide great opportunities for the development of balance, coordination and speed, while soccer helps with speed, agility, and coordination.
• Swimming: In addition to developing confidence and safety in the water, swimming or synchronized swimming develops balance and coordination.
• Cycling, skateboarding or horseback riding: help develop balance and the judgment of speed.

For Ages 6 to 8

• Encourage your child to attend fun multi-sport camps during summer and winter holidays.
• Identify sports and physical activities that your child enjoys. Start to focus on three during the course of the year.
• Encourage your child to focus on fun and mastering skills. Winning should be secondary at this age.
• Recognize and celebrate your child’s individual improvement.
• In team environments, help your child celebrate the success and improvement of the team.
• Encourage your child to pursue unstructured play outside of organized sport and physical activity.

For Ages 9 to 11

• Identify sports and physical activities that your child enjoys. Start to focus on three during the course of the year.
• Encourage your child to focus on fun and mastering skills. Winning should be secondary at this age.
• Recognize and celebrate your child’s individual improvement.
• In team environments, help your child celebrate the success and improvement of the team.
• Encourage your child to pursue unstructured play outside of organized sport and physical activity.

For Ages 12 to 17

• If your child is identified as a special talent, celebrate! However, be cautious about specializing in one sport, event, or position before age 13 to 14.
• Remember that your child might still have undiscovered talent and interest in other physical activities.
• Be careful that your child does not over-train or over-compete, as injury and burnout can result.
• Ask the coach or instructor how the training program fits your child’s stage of maturation.
• Talk with your child about key values in sport and activity: fun, fairness, respect.
• Avoid putting pressure on your child to perform and compete! This stage has the highest rate of dropout due to pressure and stress.