Are you having difficulty getting your child engaged in sports, but want them to participate in an after school program or some kind of active activity over the summer months? Your child isn’t alone–only one in three children do some kind of physical activity every day–but those statistics are worrying, especially given that kids are now likely to spend at least seven and a half hours per day in front of a screen of some kind–be it a computer screen, TV screen, or video game screen. Children especially, need time outside being active for healthy bodies and minds. For an after school activity, martial arts classes are a great possibility for children who don’t enjoy group sports (like soccer, baseball, etc.,) and it’s a sport girls and boys can participate in together. For the summer months, summer camp is a great way to keep your children outdoors in focused activities.
Benefits of Martial Arts
There are many benefits to having your child participate in martial arts training, be it karate, jujitsu, taekwondo, or another method of self-defense. These are skills your child can bring with them into adolescence and adulthood. Many colleges now offer self-defense classes, especially for young women, and it’s always a good idea to know how to protect yourself. Depending on what you want to emphasize, the different types of martial arts allow for different things. Karate, for example, is mainly practiced for health benefits. Jiujitsu is more of a sporting martial art, while taekwondo was originally a fighting art.
Even without the self-defense aspect, martial arts is a rigorous activity that provides a good workout. There are also skill levels that your child can work toward achieving and set goals toward. The martial arts can also be started young–many children begin training at the age of 5 or 6. It’s also a lower-impact sport than football or soccer, for example. Children learn respect, physical fitness, and self-defense.
The Advantages of Summer Camp
Many working parents worry about what to do with their children during the summer months. Hiring a babysitter daily can be expensive and they want their children to continue to learn and be active over a long summer vacation. Summer camp can be an easy remedy to this problem. Over 11 million children a summer spend time at a summer camp, be it for a week, a month, or even the whole summer. There are also options for summer camp–47% of summer camps tend to be overnight, 28% are day camps only, and 26% are both day camps and resident camps, depending on the child’s need.
The good news about summer camps is that there is a whole staff watching over your child and engaging them in scheduled activities. There’s a sense of routine and it’s a great place for your child to make new friendships and socialize. They may also learn new skills–crafts, nature skills, cooking, camping, and more. It keeps them active and engaged over the summer and ready to jump back into a learning environment when the fall comes.
There are many ways other than the traditional sports to keep your child active after school or in the summer months. Martial arts and summer camp are two great methods to get your child out of the house, learning new skills, and staying active.
