The child’s mental health is dependent on several factors such as mental games, good nutrition, sleep and reading. But there is also exercising that contributes very positively to raising the mental awareness and child’s mental health.
Therefore, parents should pay more attention to the role of sports in developing their children.
In this article, we try to explore its importance and help you achieve this.
Child mental health
By definition, it is the mental fitness that the child needs in order to think, create and study in a sound and ideal manner, and this also includes his response and comprehension of his academic progress.
The proper blood circulation to the is one of the important factors affecting the way the brain works and its neurological indicators, and for this reason, the role of regular exercise for the child comes to play crucial role in this matter.
United States Department of Health guidelines
According to the guidelines of the United States Department of Health and Human Services:
- Children and teens up to 6 years of age and older are advised to engage in moderate or medium aerobic activity for at least an hour daily.
- Doing a few high-impact sports such as jogging or cycling at least three times a week.
- As for the exercise using body weight, at least three days a week under the supervision of a specialized trainer.
- Also, bone-strengthening activities such as jumping rope or jogging are recommended at least three times a week.
Additionally, the United States Department of Health added that children from three to five years of age should engage in physical activities throughout the day, as these exercises support the process of physical and mental development, and have a very positive impact on their psychological wellbeing and self-confidence.
The importance of home exercise for the child
- Maintaining the ideal weight for the child while protecting from obesity diseases that have a negative impact on the heart and public health.
- Increasing flexibility, agility and body mass.
- Improving the immune system, maintaining the level of sugar in the blood, and maintaining the balance of the heart rate.
- Increasing mental performance and creative skills.
- Fighting depression, anxiety and tension, improving the general mood, and maintaining the quality of sleep.
Why is exercise being more important in this era?
The reality of our modern life tied our children to their gadgets, that they rarely move. Electronic games and smart devices became so tempting that they do not leave their places. Therefore, the rate of child movement has decreased in the last twenty years, and the need for exercising has become indispensable and more important than before.
Therefore, children who are highly mobile and active have higher mental abilities during the school day, study and exams.
How to motivate a child to “move”?
- Set a specific time for electronic games and portable smart devices.
- Engage with your child in the activities, this motivates him/her to complete the training session.
- Stimulating the child to run and jump naturally and indirectly, move around the house, send him to buy something from a nearby store….etc.
- Allocate a room (or a large area inside the house) for practicing these exercises.
- Allocate a certain time for these exercises for the child to be mentally associated with the activity.
- Take advantage of public parks for jogging and walking.
- Joining local club subscriptions close to home – if possible.
- Encouraging the child to climb stairs and walk to buy groceries and staff instead of using the car.
- Create a sense of competition with brothers and sisters, friends and the rest of the family members. Jumping rope and racing are good ideas.
- Buy gifts and rewards to motivate your child to keep it a routine.
- Dancing is a very good idea as well. It is one of the most entertaining and popular sports activities for children of both sexes and all ages.
Samples of home exercises
Leg muscles
- Crawl for a specified distance.
- Jump rope.
Back muscles
- The child kneels with the hips fixed to the ankles and keeping the toes together, then opens the knees apart, then bends forward and bends the body above the thighs so that the forehead rests on the ground with the arms straight forward.
Neck muscle
- Cat-Cow exercise- where the child straightens the neck completely, then bends the neck down while looking directly at the ground, slowly raises the neck and head up, and repeats this exercise several times.
- The neck extension exercise, in which the child sits straight, taking into account that the shoulders are back, extends the head back and then repeats the exercise several times, between seven to ten times daily.
Tips for a successful exercise
- To be at least two hours after a meal.
- Choose an empty area inside the house away from furniture and electrical appliances to avoid injuries.
- To take into account the child’s energy and to be commensurate with his age and to stop when tired or bored.
- The exercise should be fun and interesting, and it can be accompanied by videos from YouTube or specialized sports channels.
- Involve the rest of the family.
- Assign moderate time for exercising not to take out from the study and school time.
- Consult a doctor – if possible – to avoid injuries.
Involving your child in a a specific sport
Involving your child in a specific sport is a higher level of maintaining physical and mental health and fitness while ensuring regularity and discipline.
Help your child to find a sport that suits his abilities and at the same time be of his choice. This sport ensures that his body works healthily and smoothly.
It also includes various types of aforementioned exercises. Therefore, swimming, running, football, water polo and tennis are all suitable games. Which opens the child’s appetite for sports and achieves the highest results.
‘A sound mind in a sound body’
‘A sound mind in a sound body’
The famous quotation by the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Thales (Miletus, 624 – 546 BC) may sound cliché but it is proven correct day by day.
The fast pace of our lives leaves no room for movement, and our bodies become lazier- unfortunately.
It is the task of parents and the school to encourage children to engage in sports.
We at which Rowad Al Khaleej International Schools are trying to constantly integrate sports activities within the school day while paying attention to PE and the positive impact on the lives of our students.