How To Get Your Kids To Exercise Regularly
For people of all ages, movement is important. Movement keeps us healthy both in body as well as in mind. Movement provides us with hobbies and even passions. Movement on a very basic level simply gets us to where we need to go.
Movement is important for adults, of course, and for teenagers and even the elderly population, but movement on a regular basis is especially important for young children. In fact, it has been recommended by the APA – the American Academy of Pediatrics – that children who are no younger than two and no older than five be practicing their motor skills on a regular basis.
These motor skills, ranging from tumbling to running to throwing and catching, are essential for brain development, and regular moving around is what develops them. There is a relatively short window for the motor skills of young children to become fully developed. It has even been found that if children do not fully develop their motor skills by the time that they reach the age of six, it is highly unlikely that they ever will, something that can put said children at a lifelong defecit.
Exercise is important for older kids as well, and it is even recommended that those children who are between the ages of six years and seventeen years get at least sixty minutes of exercise each and every day. This exercise can vary – and can even just mean walking vigorously – but it is a highly important thing. It can alleviate bad moods as well as promote physical health and it sets up the habit of exercise for children and teens well past their youthful years. Instilling such values and habits young is absolutely key to raising healthy youngsters into healthy adults and even beyond.
Unfortunately, kids are moving around less than ever before, with only about one third of all kids – less than a full half – getting up and moving ever day. Much of this lack of movement among kids can be directly attributed to the growing prevalence of screens here and all throughout our society. From tv screens to phone screens to computer screens to tablet screens, screens are, to put it simply, just about everywhere. In fact, the average child in the United States is likely to spend as many as seven and a half hours in front of a screen, thus limiting their time to exercise, something that many children are very much feeling the lack of in their day to day lives.
Putting your child in a structured class that promotes movement and general physical activity is likely to help with this problem. Gymnastics for kids, for example, provides a great way to do so. Gymnastics for kids can likely be found in your local gymnastics classes and gymnastics for kids is likely to be offered for all age groups and ability levels.
The benefits of gymnastics classes are certainly impressive, as gymnastics for kids tends to hit upon all the areas of motor development that are necessary. Classes specified for gymnastics for kids will also be great for the building of strength and flexibility, two important components for a body that is overall a very healthy one.
On top of this, enrolling your child in gymnastics for kids is likely to allow them to broaden their social horizons as well. In fact, many children, especially young girls, who participate in gymnastics for kids go on to enjoy the world of cheerleading. Former gymnasts are so prevalent on cheerleading teams that more than ninety five percent (ninety eight percent, to be more exact) of all cheerleaders were once gymnasts.
And as up to eighty percent of all schools here in the United States, public and private alike, boast cheerleading teams, many young people are able to participate in the sport. Cheerleading is the perfect next step after gymnastics for kids, as it promotes team building and the development of friendships. Of course, cheerleading is also physically demanding and a great way for kids to stay in shape even after they have stopped gymnastics for kids. Both, however, have been a great way to get kids moving.