Kids playing soccer
Engaging children in educational games and sports at young ages is not only beneficial for their physical health, but also for their brain development. Most kids feel thrilled at the thought of competing in even the simplest of games, such as interactive puzzles, board games, card games or video games.
If we train children to engage more in sports competitions and physical activities, we’ll be able to keep them physically fit along with keeping them entertained.
Following are some everyday exercises that are not only easy to indulge in, but also have numerous benefits for children’s development. These are a combination of games and exercise, or in other words, activities that make exercise playful.
Indoor Bowling
Bowling is not just a game for outdoors. If the weather is not suitable outside, a bowling game can also be set up indoors. Simply replace bowling pins with plastic bottles or soda cans, and make the bowling line with scotch tape. The length of the line should depend on the children’s age. To knock the bottles down, use any available tennis or plastic ball.
Playing bowling together can keep an entire family occupied for the whole evening. All family members can enjoy playing bowling. After all, who doesn’t like to knock things down?
Hide and Seek
No matter how old fashioned the simple hide-and-seek game may sound, it is an activity that can never go out of fashion. The charm in the simplicity of this game serves to bring children and adults together. The joy of being a kid is in enjoying the logic of this game. If one gets caught, it’s their turn to start catching others, and if one doesn’t get caught, they get to make fun of their friends by showing that they can run the fastest.
This game can be played anywhere, as it doesn’t even require any setup or a specific environment. If you play it in the house or classroom, children will enjoy running around the furniture. If it’s played outdoors in a playground, children get more space to run from one corner to another. Either way, it’s a good physical activity that gives kids a fun cardio boost.
Sock Basketball
I’m sure you’ve all heard of basketball. But what is sock basketball? No, you don’t try to throw a ball into a sock. Simply, if the ball and basket are made of socks, the game is called sock basketball. This game is especially played inside a house. Since you’ll be using fabric as the ball and basket, there will be no risk of breaking things around the house.
This game can be a double activity for children. First, they will enjoy preparing the sock ball, and then enjoy throwing it into the sock basket. The basket does not have to be hanging from somewhere. It can even be placed on the floor (or carpet) to act as a targeted bin to throw the sock ball into.
Children will have fun trying different distances and angles to make their shots. Make sure though that you have told the kids clearly which socks can be used for playing basketball and which ones cannot. You wouldn’t want all the socks in the house to end up in the bin (or even in the laundry in a single day) at the end of the day.
Electronic Game Systems
On one side, playing too many video games can be detrimental to children’s eyesight. But there are some advanced electronic game systems that help enhance motor skills, hand-to-eye coordination and visual focus among kids. As long as children are not allowed to engage in these gaming systems for an indefinite period of time, they can benefit from them.
These games have characters, reactions, and stories, which help children cool off after a tough day at school. Just like adults, kids also go through stress and need time to chill or relax their minds. Even though these games may not offer much physical activity, they are good for practicing coordination between different parts of the body, which is ultimately good for performance in physical sports as well.
Schools are also adopting sports and exercises into their curriculums these days. As more and more educational institutions realize the benefits of indulging children in sports, we observe a change in early education trends and teaching practices.