Although my kids are not quite old enough to formally participate in team sports, we try to encourage an active and healthy lifestyle that includes both physical activity and social growth, but more importantly, emotional understanding. While playing sports is, obviously, good for your body and helps kids learn to work together, it can also aid in teaching kids appropriate coping skills and emotional awareness.
Overcoming defeat, being a gracious winner, and dealing with all of the emotions in between are important life lessons that can be taught early through physical activity and team sports. Rather than give every child a trophy or praise kids endlessly, I think it is important for us to learn how to cope with disappointment, appropriate ways to handle "unfairness", and the skills associated with being a gracious winner. Teaching these lessons early will only aid a child as he/she grows into an adult, who will constantly be faced with such dilemmas in the "real world".
Parents need to take an active roll in their child's physical well-being and social development. In the same way, parents can be there to help children work through tough emotions and life lessons that come with team sports and a healthy lifestyle. Not only the emotional dealings of winning and losing, but also the importance of being active and healthy for their own purposes and how to care properly for one's body. Physical image is a controversial and overwhelming topic in today's world, for both girls and boys. Helping them understand that appearance is not the most important part of a healthy lifestyle can help them maintain a truly healthy existence as they grow and are faced with outside forces pushing and pulling them to be the best at everything.
Let me encourage you to encourage your kids to lead a healthy and active life that goes beyond their physical heart and penetrates their emotional heart as well. Subway is doing their part to help set a positive example, and it can only be reinforced through parent participation. Teaching your children healthy life lessons that go beyond just how to hit a baseball properly, but also encompass how to handle the emotional and social struggles that accompany winning, losing, and working with others will only make them a stronger and healthier person in all aspects of their development!
Answer the question "What life lessons do kids learn from playing team sports?" for a chance to win a $500 gift certificate for sporting equipment for your child’s team.
Want to help more children stay active by playing team sports? Go to SUBWAY® Baseball DeSIGNS Auction onEbay. All proceeds go to the Little League Urban Initiative, which helps fund inner-city youth leagues and teams.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SUBWAY® Baseball DeSIGNS. The opinions and text are all mine. The $500 Gift Certificate Giveaway Contest runs from August 19 - 28, 2011. A random winner will be announced by September 1, 2011. Official Contest Rules.
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