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Hey Parents & Caregivers!

How Can Physical Activity and Sport Help My Child?

Active living, physical activities and sport are an important part of your child’s development. Engaging a child in a variety of physical activities contributes to her optimal growth and development. In addition, physical activities play an added role in the development of a child's sense of identity, her personal abilities and self-esteem.

Share in your child’s learning by introducing physical activities that build upon her developing hand-eye skills. Coordination is a skill that is built with practice – for instance at meal times she is using her own cutlery to eat with and she is developing her manual dexterity so that she can feed herself.

Download this handy Activity Planner from Dietitians of Canada.

Physical activity is no different! Now is a good time to get your child using her hands and feet to kick, pick up and play with stuffed or plastic/wood type toys in the shape of sporting equipment. Learning about balance and height are also important at this time as your child will be attempting to climb up, over, under and through every barrier that she perceives as being in her way. Your child is starting to show some independence…in everything that she does!

Is There a Right Time for Children to Become Involved in Organized Physical Activity and Sports?

Children tend to be physically active – it is a natural part of just being a child! The unfortunate thing is that as children get older (especially girls) and move though adolescence into young adulthood, their activity levels steadily decrease. New research shows that the odds of adults being physically active in their leisure time are significantly higher if they participated in organized sport as children (CORDIS Study, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise). So even more reason to involve your child in physical activities that include organized sport.

Children develop physical (and mental) skills at different ages. The right time to encourage your child to play organized soccer (for example) or ride their bike without training wheels is specific for each child. Because of the huge variation in skill levels amongst similar aged children, most experts agree that physical activities and sport participation should be based on the maturity level, skill level and prior experiences of the child.

Helpful Resources

What Activities Are Best for My Child?

As a parent or caregiver, you influence a child from the moment they’re born. The following publications, “Healthy Eating and Active Living for Your 1 to 5 Year Old” & “Healthy Eating Active Living for Your 6 to 12 Year Old” contain age specific information about tried and true approaches to healthy eating and active living. Click below to learn more today!

Canada’s Physical Activity Guide for Children is just a click away! This guide is designed to help children increase their level of physical activity starting with 30 minutes more per day while encouraging less non-active time to less than 30 minutes per day.

Physical Activity for Children (Birth-5)

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