Top 10 Benefits of Sports-Based Extracurricular Activities

Tired kids are happy kids. Or was that happy parents? Either way, kids need to be moving their bodies and by staying physically active with sports they have better appetites and better sleeping habits, culminating in general well-being.

The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelinesstate that children aged 5-17 should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. Children also need opportunities to break up sedentary behaviour throughout the day, because all screens all the time isn’t good for anyone. If that isn’t reason enough to consider enrolling your child in a sports-based extracurricular activity, here are 10 more:

Top 10 Reasons Your Kids Need Sports-Based Extracurricular Activities:

1. Your child will move more and sit less. I know that this is kind of repeating myself but it’s really important.
2. Sports play a key role in helping kids develop “physical literacy” as defined by Canadian Sport for Life as the skills, confidence and motivation to enjoy a variety of sports and physical activities throughout their lives.
3. If physical activity is introduced at a young age, the likelihood of being physically active and healthy in later life increases.
4. Your child can pursue interests and develop passions. And if you are lucky, sports can even introduce them to new mentors and heroes.
5. Your child will develop gross motor skills like running, jumping, throwing, and kicking and fundamental skills like agility, balance, and coordination. These are all vital to participation in every sport and help reduce the incidence of injury.
6. Playing sports will teach your child skills that will benefit them for life, like motivation, commitment, cooperation, leadership, self-discipline, self-awareness, teamwork, sportsmanship, time management, and communication.
7. Your child will make new friends that will likely share common interests.
8. Your child will learn new skills and improve over time. Sports will teach them that practicing (at anything) helps you improve. For a child struggling academically, the chance to be good at sports may make a big difference in self-esteem. Studies have also shown that sports can boost a child’s academic performance.
9. Sports are a fantastic outlet to burn energy after sitting all day in class. As a parent who lives with your child, this may be the second most important reason to enroll your child in a sport-based extracurricular activity 😉
10. Last but certainly not least, your child will have FUN!

This list is certainly not exhaustive. Let’s keep the conversation going. What benefits have you seen in your child as a result of participating in sports-based extracurricular activities?

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