Sport: how to motivate your child?

Our 6 tips to motivate them to do more sport

Does your child have trouble leaving their stroller? He still wants to be in his arms when he has been able to walk for at least a year? You have to make him want to move. Of course without putting pressure on him or physically exhausting him, but a helping hand from the parents may be necessary. Here are 6 tips from Doctor François Carré, cardiologist and sports doctor.

1- A little one who knows how to walk must walk!

You have to stop systematic use of the stroller while he can walk very well by your side, even slower. “A child who can walk must walk. He can only go in the stroller when he is tired. “So as not to turn each walk into a marathon, parents will keep pace with the little one. 

2- TV is not the nanny of meals

The use of screens and other cartoons should not be the systematic recourse to keep a little one quiet or to make him eat his meal. ” Television must remain troubleshooting, not the norm for the child to be quiet. “

3 It’s better to walk to school

Again, there is no strict rule, and a 4-year-old is not asked to walk for miles in the morning and evening to go to kindergarten. But Dr Carré warns against these parents who double-park to leave the child right in front of the school… when often they can do otherwise. 

4- Sport is first of all to play!

If you want your child to have a taste for sports and movement, you have to have fun first. A young child spontaneously likes to jump, run, climb … This will allow him to recognize himself in space, to learn to walk on one foot, to walk on a line … so many sports activities taught at school to allow him to develop oneself. “When they’re young, they have an ability to concentrate that lasts 20 minutes, no more. The adult will suggest different activities so that the child does not get bored. ” Here again, parents must take an active part in this development

5- Long live the stairs!

In activities as simple as climbing a staircase, the child will develop his endurance, his respiratory and cardiac capacities, his bone and muscular strengthening. ” Any opportunity to be active is good to take. For one or two floors on foot, the child does not have to take the elevator. “

6- Parents and children must move together

Nothing like a common activity to have a good time. “If the mum or dad goes to play tennis with a friend, the child may very well go with them to play ball catcher, he will run and have fun, and see his father or his mother playing sports is going to be also beneficial, ”explains Dr Carré.

What should alert:

A child who complains of persistent pain (beyond two or three days). Indeed, there may be a growth disease. The same goes for shortness of breath: if the child systematically has trouble following his friends, if he is still lagging behind… it will be necessary to consult. Maybe he has less physical ability, or maybe it is something else. It should be discussed with the attending physician. 

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