Change the Way You Think About Sports For Kids

Sports for kids and Physical activities are a must in today’s lifestyle of students which heavily focuses on working from home. Therefore, a key question arises: How willing are parents and schools to incorporate sports into their preschooler’s curriculum and make it a commitment at a tender age? Are they confused about it or do they want it incorporated as soon as possible? Key insights to such questions were highlighted after an interview with Ms. Bhavani (Center-coordinator, Kidzee, Bangalore). 

Before the addition of The “Go Alpha concept” into the curriculum, the play-time for kids spanned fifteen minutes. This was clearly ineffective. Recreation for fifteen minutes and rushing back to seated academics did not seem plausible in any context. Also, teachers formally trained in academics weren’t sufficient in providing the right knowledge and mechanics for physical activities and sports. After such realization, Kidzee decided to introduce a professional of the field into the academic scenario. In 2017, Ms. Bhavani met the founder of Go Alpha, Mr. Gaurav, and a trial session was organized soon after. In no time, a parent orientation was planned, involving up to hundred people and the school received phenomenal response! About seventy percent of the parent crowd agreed to the new concept of sports addition to the Kidzee preschool curriculum. Today, it’s been three years of successful implementation of sports classes into the Kidzee curriculum.

Physical activities are a pre-requisite for growth as it enhances cognitive functions and behavioral patterns. They motivate preschoolers to complete their classwork quickly in anticipation of their Go Alpha classes. The development of the kids has been evident after the introduction of sports into their school regime. They are extremely comfortable with their coaches and the time duration for these activities suit them as well. They are neither too lazy nor too exhausted. Prior to this, the kids couldn’t cope with jotting down what was taught in class, some wouldn’t interact and the number of students not attending school was considerably high. Surprisingly, physical fitness exercises brought about a change in their attitude, irrespective of which classroom hours, academics were still paid attention to. These differences were starkly visible only a little after two months of commencement of Go Alpha classes.

The number of students in the school enrolled in exercise activities rose from seventy to three hundred after the incorporation of Go Alpha. Parents’ response has been huge and they have been trying to engage with their kids in physical activities in their free time too. A point to be added here is that kids by nature are easily distracted and are quite mischievous. They tend to throw things in class when they fail to understand what’s being taught. While being mischievous is not necessarily a bad thing but the change brought about by sports has also made them all the more balanced at an emotional level.

The best part about structured sports for this age is that it doesn’t require large areas to be conducted. Small spaces are known to be just as effective. Though the parental response was huge yet understanding the concept of physical activities for preschoolers was slightly puzzling in the beginning. A major breakthrough in fading away their doubts was the Sports Day which involved kids engaging in games like basketball, football, and gymnastics. The parents were so elated at the sight that they participated too and since then, Kidzee has been successful in organizing a sports day where even parents can enjoy and indulge in all sports activities with their kids, a huge share of which goes to Gaurav’s team for turning such a wonderful concept into a reality!

To know more about all the sports and games in the kindergarten program, CLICK HERE

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