Thanks for sending your children for sports at Shaws Little League for fun and learning here in Singapore - holiday camps too.
You may have read our recent articles regarding preparation, confidence and dealing with winning and losing over the last few weeks.
For this week, I want to share a bit about my personal life and about how I engage with my children through sports and games.
My two children are now aged 11 and 9 and when time and weather permits, we spend an amount of time playing and engaging in sports and games – tennis, golf, cricket, soccer, rugby, just taking a ball to the park, bike rides, jogging/sprinting, family workouts, 8 ball, board games, etc…
I find playing sports and games with my children is very fulfilling and it sure beats checking their homework and school projects. It has also helped me learn and develop a lot as a parent too.
Here are my tips for engaging in sports and games with your child:
– Play to their level, no need be condescending and belittle them
– Reward them for effort – giving 100% for a while deserves a victory, right?
– Children do not need to know how amazing you are or were – they already know you can run faster than them, are stronger than them, smarter than them
– Live and play by those values that you wish your children to have
– Children do look up to you – your conduct and behavior and not necessarily your performance – remember this when they are watching you play competitively – how you interact with referees, teammates, disappointment and success
– Take the game “deep” – it allows more opportunities for practice, thinking and learning
– Help, mentor and guide them – share your experiences and learnings
– Sport may not be for everyone but the learning from sport is for all kids
– Laugh with them, not at them
– Enjoy the after-match and look forward to the next encounter
– It’s okay to win sometimes!
See you all at Shaws Little League for more toddler sports fun and big kid sports fun too.