The Growing Importance of Sports to Shape Your Child's Personality

Sports: The Tried and Tested Recipe for Happy Kids

In today’s day and age, the manner in which children (toddlers and tweens) interact has evolved quite a bit. In the past decade, a significant number of kids shifted their primary means of playing and communicating to online channels such as multiplayer gaming, texting and more. Active games such as soccer, basketball, and more have hyper-realistic virtual versions on gaming platforms such as Playstation and Xbox. As such, the go-to for outdoor sports activities has undergone an intensive rehaul among the younger generation.

Paying heed to the most pressing current affairs of the globe, we must also factor in forms of entertainment and pastimes in light of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. As we shifted all forms of work and play indoors, our little ones had to do the same. Schools, playgrounds and health clubs went into lockdown. This meant absolutely zero interaction for a period of several consecutive months (almost a year) for kids. For a generation already defaulting to communication and entertainment online, the lockdown proved to be a complete conversion to the virtual world. Education, news, awareness and leisure became digital. Students of all ages, especially younger ones, began spending a majority of their day either studying online or gaming virtually. The only means to keep in touch with their friends was through texting and social media. Laptops, tablets and smartphones are the daily drivers for most of us, but during the era of social distancing, they became indispensable to children as well.

Effects of Online Gaming on Kids

Online gaming on electronic devices for extended periods of time is, of course, detrimental to a child’s health due to the adverse effects of blue light. Additionally, several computerized games are based around themes of warfare and virtual combat. The games’ missions are, more often than not, based around “killing” opponents to win. What did this mean for the mental and physical health of our little ones?

According to experts at the Health University of Utah, children exposed to violence have shown a growing numbness to violent or gory visuals. There can also be overarching themes of discrimination and violence against certain races or genders, resulting in negative brainwashing and unwanted antisocial behaviour.

Unfortunately, there is no set protocol to cultivate healthy social interactions and practices in this exponentially increasing digital world. However, an excellent jumping-off point would be, in a way, to try to revert to tried and true forms of social environments that foster relationship building in young ones. This means encouraging play offline, of course following COVID-safe guidelines. Children should engage in physical activities the traditional way; soccer with a real football, cricket with a real bat, basketball with a real net, and so on. This means sustained changes in the choice of lifestyles of not just the kids but also the parents. An active parent encourages and nurtures an active lifestyle for her child. When you lead by example, healthy choices begin at home.

Choose Outdoor and Indoor Sports for Kids

You might be wondering, what’s the perfect way to get started? We recommend you expose your child to several forms of active exercise in the form of various sports, both indoor and outdoor. This would allow your little one to try out all forms of exercise and choose one or more of their liking. Join them in play. You’d let off some steam too! Day by day, you’d form a very healthy habit. Eventually, you and your little one will spend some refreshing quality time, and your child will love finding ways to practice and excel at their favourite sport.

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How Can Sports Become a Daily Ritual for You and the Kids?

The answer lies at Sportsville by Kohinoor. Located in Maan, Hinjewadi Phase 1, Sportsville is an upcoming one of a kind project focusing on an active lifestyle. Immerse yourself and your family in a healthy lifestyle of exercise, rejuvenation and relaxation. Your child gets the perfect kickstart to a fitter future at Club Elevate, a sprawling 40,000 square foot sports zone. They (and you!) get to choose from 10+ invigorating sports right in your residential community. Take your pick from state of the art sports zones like an ITF standard tennis court, shooting range, futsal arena, cricket nets, badminton complex and much more! There is a choice of indoor sports zones as well to boost your child’s focus and sharpness. Choose from exhilarating games like chess, table tennis, carrom and many more.