Re: How do you select activities/sports for kids?

tedneeley@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
How do you select activities/sports for kids? My kids are small (3,
1.5). They have rhythm so at some point I'll get them into dance
classes. As far as sports are concerned I'm not sure which ones to
select. I know most kids join soccer here (USA). What about other
sports like Basket ball, Volley ball, Tennis etc? Also, what about
chess? I know it's not a sport in the physical sense but.. What age do
they typically enroll in these classes. Any info is very much
appreciated. Thanks.

It varies significantly by area. For the most
part, few organized sports start as young as 3yo. Soccer
often starts earlier than many of the others, but many
leagues don't start until 5yo (one or two leagues in
my area start at 4yo). Basketball and volleyball tend
to start later, as the kids need to be a bit bigger to
be reasonably successful. T-ball can start younger,
though again, 5-ish seems about the age that is more
common for starting. With football it depends a lot
on what programs are in your area. Tennis and swimming
can start quite young (3-ish probably, but not 18 months,
obviously). Martial arts starts young.
Dance can start young--you don't want too pushy a program,
but there are certainly reasonable dance classes for
3yos, and movement/pre-dance programs appropriate for
18 month olds. Chess varies a lot. Some people start
their kids quite young, and there are some simplified
chess games out there for younger kids, but most
programs I've seen don't start before 6-7 years old.
My kids started dance at 18 months, 3yo and 5yo (still dancing),
chess at 6yo and 7yo (still playing some), soccer at
4yo and 5yo (stopped when there got to be too many
practices), basketball at 8yo, probably some others
I've forgotten.
I'd take it easy. It's easy to get overwhelmed
with a lot of activities. At these ages, I'd pick one
at the most and give it a try. It's easy to do a lot
when they're 4-5yo and the expectations for each area
are low and they don't have a lot of competing demands.
Get them hooked on a whole bunch of stuff, though,
and you're in a world of hurt when the homework ramps
up and each of the activities starts demanding more
time. It is a good time to let them try things out,
though, in a low-key way to find out what their
interests are.

Best wishes,
Ericka
.

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