Sports Activities Games For Kids
UNICEF Kid Power understands the importance of kids team
building when it comes to sports. And when sports activities are drawn up for
kids, it usually includes fun kids’ sports games and other various kids’ sports
activities for all ages including primary school. Check out our links below for
our recommendations for our favorite fun sports activities and kids sports
games recommendations:
Sports Activities for
Toddlers
Every parent and teacher is trying to think of the right
sports activity or game for toddlers, aged 1-3. This is a tricky age period, as
a baby who is just 12 months old is not ready for full sports activities, but
can definitely be exposed to a small number of athletic activities to get them
primed for sports when they get a bit older:
* Throwing: Most babies possess the ability to toss a soft
foam ball if prompted
* Catching: It is important to use a very soft foamy ball
for this, since although most toddlers comprehend being able to catch something,
they are not yet of age where they can do so successfully
* Tumbling: Having a toddler tumble on a soft mat (by
following the lead of the sports teacher) can be fun and somewhat instructive
* Walking/Running: Depending on the level of your toddler, having
them walk or run toward a “finish line” can be a great toddler sports activity
Sports Activities for
Pre-Schoolers & Kindergartners
Pre-School generally starts at age 3 or 4 until age 5, and
is the perfect time to start getting your pre-school kids involved with sports
activities. Many of the above sports activities can begin to be played at this
age, namely:
* Basketball: Ideally with a hoop that can be lowered to 5
feet, and with a foam ball (even a Nerf hoop in a classroom will suffice for
the tots)
* Baseball: Obviously it is ideal to start with a foam ball,
and make sure there is enough space around the hitter so that they don’t accidentally
wack anyone!
* Gymnastics: Getting kids into the gym and onto a playmat
with stuctured activities will be a great starting point
* Swimming: This should be done with caution and lifeguard
on hand (experts say age 5 is a good starting point)
Indoor Sports Games
& Activities for Kids
Stuck indoors? No problem. There are plenty of fun sports
activities for kids that can be played indoors. Whether it’s too hot or cold
out, with rain, snow, or even a brutal heat wave, sometimes indoor sports is
the best option for kids. Here are the most fun indoor sports activities and
games for kids:
Balloon Football. Obviously you don’t want to play football
in your family living room, which is why this safer version of football is the
perfect indoor sports activity for kids. This game is easy: simply drop a
balloon in the middle of a long rectangle table, and have each team try to blow
the football toward the other’s side goal. For a funnier, larger than life
version of indoor balloon football, check out this must-see video.
Hula Hoop. While most might think that Hula Hoops are a solo
activity, you can totally play hula hoop with others as a fun kids indoor
sports activity. The most fun team-based activity using a Hula Hoop is racing:
Have two kids spinning Hula Hoops and then try to simultaneously move, whether
they run, shimmy, or herky-jerky their way to the finish line, and is then
declared winner!
Foam Sports: Foam sports are perfect for indoors, since most
foam objects won’t break any windows inside your home! Take your kid to your
local department store, and be sure to pick up a foam basketball, foam
football, or even Nerf foam guns. Make sure you ensure boundaries in your home
when letting your kid play indoors with foam sports toys.
Outdoor Sports Games &
Activities for Kids
Many of the outdoor sports activities and games for kids
have been covered above in our kids’ sports activity section. However, there
are certain sports activities which are great for outdoors.
Additionally, outdoor sports activities for kids offer
various benefits, including physical and social. The physical benefits of
outdoor kids sports such as soccer, skateboarding, hiking, biking, and football
include: building muscle, gaining acute flexibility, improving balance and
coordination, losing weight, and general endurance.
The social benefits of outdoor sports are extremely obvious
and, well, beneficial. Playing sports outdoors with a bunch of kids together
can improve general social development, in that kids will learn to interact with
each-other naturally but with sports as the main social anchor of the activity.
Additionally, social interaction will improve other facets such as leadership,
self esteem, and general teamwork through the construct of the sports games
themselves.
Best Kids Sports
Games & Activities in the Rain:
When it rains outside, that should not mean that your kid
should stop playing his sports game or end his sports activities. Kids can
still have fun in the rain! Of course, you can always send your kids inside to
play a board game, but if you’ve got an active kid who loves sports, then here
are the best sports games for kids while its raining outside:
Ping Pong. Would you believe that ping pong is not only fine
to play in the rain but even more fun than when it’s dry out?? Playing ping
pong in the rain is a really fun activity. Sure, the rain might be a bit
distracting, especially if your kid is wearing glasses. However, the ball still
travels well, and hits off the paddle quite nicely, even with rain smacking down
on it. Additionally, playing in the rain will probably improve hand eye
coordination at a higher level so that when the rain stops, your kid will be
much better at ping pong!
Football. If the NFL can play in the rain, then why not your
kids. To be certain, playing football in the rain is obviously less safe, and
should be closely monitored by an adult or referee. However, it is definitely
an exhilarating experience to run around in the rain, especially chasing a
football thrown in the air. It is recommended to wear cleats so that your shoes
maintain good traction on the ground, thereby making it less likely that you
will slip.
Swimming. The only trick here is to find an outdoor pool
with no roof above it. But if you can, then this is definitely a fun kids
sports activity – frolicking around in a pool is fun by itself, but with rain
pouring down and causing ripples in the pool can also be exhilarating.
Additionally, any kids sports games that usually happen in a pool or much more
exciting in the rain: whether its Marco Polo, pool basketball, chicken fights,
beach ball monkey in the middle, or just an old school swimming race – all of
these kids swimming pool sports games will be a ton of fun!
Indoors. Sometimes, even though the rain can be exciting,
might not be worth any risk. If the rain turns from a drizzle into something
resembling a downpour, then it is probably best to head indoors for some indoor
sports games for your kids to enjoy. Especially if it begins to get windy, or
even worse, thunder, at which point you should get indoors immediately!!! But
once indoors, you can certainly enjoy a bunch of active kids sports games like
playing with Nerf sports toys, hide and seek, or an indoor soft basketball hoop
that you can hang on any door.
What are the Most
Popular Kids Sports?
We took a look at an ESPN poll from a few years ago which
listed the most popular kids sports, and the winner of the most popular kids
sport activity is basketball, mainly because both genders play it on a large
scale across America. Here are the main takeaways from the article:
Basketball is the most popular sport by far! By the time
kids reach the age of 9, both boys and girls begin to play basketball and it
becomes the most competitive sport, with kids taking up competition and joining
local youth leagues and summer camps. At age 9, an impressive 14% of boys and
girls are playing competitive basketball in youth leagues. To be clear, it
actually didn’t start that way. At age 8, the most competitive sport was
baseball, with 12.5% of kids playing competitive baseball in youth leagues,
with basketball at just 11% and soccer at 10%. Basketball’s popularity takes
over at age 9, and the by age 10 jumps to 17%, then a staggering of 20% of kids
play competitive basketball at age 11, followed by a hair of an increase to
20.1% at age 12, which seems to be the peak. By age 13, competitive basketball
among kids begins to drop to 19%, which continued drops each year down to 15%
by age 17.
For comparison’s sake, at age 17 we see drops for all
sports, with baseball, soccer, football, and volleyball all hovering between 4
and 8% for kids (or teenagers at this point) taking up competitive sports. (It
is important to distinguish between kids sports games and competitive sports –
this survey only studied competitive sports which means official leagues via
schools, camps, and programs, but does not include friendly or local sports
games without officiating). What is most interesting in terms of the breakdown
of most popular kids sports activities is that soccer maintained the most
straight line out of all sports, with the least amount of deviations of
popularity or lack thereof over the years. At age 6, soccer is played by 7.5%,
then peaks at 10% by age 8, then stays at roughly 10% for 4 consecutive years,
and then settles in at 6% by the time kids reach age 17. It should be noted
that a reason for the drop-off at age 17 is not a lack of interest by kids in
sports activities, but rather moving on from high school and to college, in
which sports is less of a focus, and is replaced by classrooms, studies, internships,
and general job prep.
This is not to say that interest in sports activities such
as soccer or basketball dissipate, as this study does not account for
recreational sports. There is little doubt that even after a teenager stops
playing competitive sports, they are still active in sports games such as
intramural basketball and friendly pickup soccer or football games with local
kids or classmates.
Why Kids’ Sports
Games & Team Activities Are Important
Now that we’ve presented to you a huge list of kids sports
games and activities to make your kid a better athlete, we want to discuss the
importance of sports games. Though it might seem like a normal fun activity,
(and your kid having fun is important too), there are very important
developmental aspects to your kid playing sports games.
There is tons of evidence out there that simply getting kids
together for an activity or game is beneficial for their development. By making
this activity a sports activity simply makes it more an active and healthy
exercise, as it gets kids outdoors, moving around, and interacting with one
another.
A research studyfrom Yale University titled “Organized
Activities as Developmental Contexts for Children and Adolescents” discusses
the benefits of team-based activities:Research shows that participation in
organized activities can have a range of positive influence on children and
adolescence.
And it’s not enough to just participate – once your kid
becomes talented at the (sports) activity or exercise he is participating in,
simply makes their development that much better: Achieving competency at these
tasks allows an individual to take advantage of personal and environmental
resources that promote positive functioning in the present, reduce the risk for
developing behavior problems, and increase the likelihood for healthy
adjustment for the future.”
