I want my son to get more physical activity. All he gets now is P.E. once a week, and recess. I want him involved in some kind of activity that involves physical activity!
He is not a sports guy, so sports is out. A few years ago, he was on a soccer team and did not like it (and has no interest in any other sport, unfortunately).
He loves to swim, but swim lessons or a swim team is out. He used to take swim stroke lessons (a level below the swim team), but he did not enjoy swimming laps for 45 minutes. He said it was tiring and boring. He just likes to swim for fun.
Martial arts - karate, taekwondo, etc. is out! He took a trial lesson once. Nope. Didn't like it.
Our community activity center offers a fencing class. When I asked him if he would try it, he said "No, no interest."
He did cub scouts for a few years, but that became way too time consuming, so he stopped (plus, it's not really an activity that he would get a lot of physical exercise).
I asked him if he would do a kid yoga class (he's tried it before), and he said no. I was ok with that, b/c I don't think they get that much exercise anyway - but still would have been happy if he said yes.
He rides his bike when he can. He will ride it around the block for 10 minutes or so (not now, since it's been way too hot). But riding his bike alone for 10 minutes is not what I have in mind. I want him to be getting physical exercise with other kids.
So, I finally thought I found something - floorball!!! Even though it's a sport, it's not the typical soccer/basketball/baseball kind of sport. He loves dodgeball, and agreed to try floorball at the community center twice a week. After two classes, he told me he wanted to quit. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I told him he must finish off the month, and they gave me a refund for the next few months that I had already signed him up for (because I was so excited that he was going to do something)!
He has done gymnastics before - been there, done that - he's done with that.
Unfortunately, our community center does not offer dodgeball during the school year. In the summer it does (yay! He did that in August).
Anyone got any ideas? I am trying so hard to continue to think outside the box!!! Thanks!! p.s. he is not overweight (maybe by no more than 5 pounds). Just lazy!
See if there are community dance classes. Lots of kids, boys included, like hip hop. It is fun, active and not competitive.
There are many ways to get kids moving that don't involve an organized activity.
Walk and ride bikes whenever possible. We are fortunate to live close to many parks and trails, so when the kids were younger weekends often involved at least one good family hike, usually with our dog. Packing a lunch and having a picnic made it a great family outing.
Working in the yard is another great way to get moving. Don't just send him out to pull weeds (he will HATE that) but get him involved helping take care of the yard, washing cars, cleaning out the garage, painting, etc. If you have some family chores and projects he can work on (with dad?) that will keep him physically and mentally busy as well.
Are there sports or games that either you or your husband enjoy that you could do WITH him, like playing tennis or golf? My husband is an avid golfer and he used to take the kids with him out to the driving range on the weekend. None of them became golfers but they liked hitting balls with daddy for a time :-)
What about family hikes, walks and bike rides? We do that in the summers and everyone really enjoys it, even the ones who aren't in the mood at the start. Some kids don't really like structured classes.
One of our friends started running with her 10 year old. He didn't like it, but had to go each morning. Then he took up swimming and is extremely good and at age 16 he runs each morning on his own to maintain his conditioning.
Can you join your local YMCA and let him go swimming a few days a week with one of his friends? Just like open swimming? He might like that. Just to give him some exercise? Good luck!
He doesn't need an extracurricular get some physical activity. He needs some neighborhood friends, his bike, to go explore the woods or the creek. Kick him outside to play. He'll complain that it's boooooring. So what? He's a kid and you don't need to provide entertainment for him 24/7. The most fun kids learn to have is when they are required to be innovative on their own. Get him The Dangerous Book For Boys and tell him to fill up a waterbottle and make him go outside.
It gets hot here too, in Missouri. Over 100 degrees easily in the Summer. The kids still go play. They find shade, go down to the pond, whatever. I stock the freezer with ice pops and never say a word about how many have disappeared.
ETA: I just wanted to say, I think giving him chores is great. My boys mow the lawn, pick up deadfall, rake, wash cars, and do lots of other outdoor chores. Sure, give him some chores. But don't make being outside constantly feel like work or he's never going to enjoy it.
Physical activity could also been in the form of work - could he rake leaves this fall for all of your neighbors (perhaps and even get paid??) What about signing up for some of the 1 mile or 5K races in the area. There is one in the area almost every weekend in the fall, sponsored by charities and communities. You could do it with him or find a buddy to do it with him. Maybe he could work up to a 10K. They are a lot of fun and most of the time there are activities to go along with them. You are a smart time to try to get him involved. Swimming for fun is ok too. Why not bring a friend or two with him to swim. They will swim for fun and then probably try to race.
You have to find something HE likes.
Here's the best idea I can give you after reading your post.....go for walks,
hikes and bike rides as a family.
That's it....no sports. He's probably just not that kid. I wasn't either. I did
love walking. I didn't try a sport until 7th & 8th grade. Was involved w/2
sports. Great experience, wasn't interested in pursuing after that.
Fast forward to age 18.....member of a health club, worked out the time,
walked ALL THE TIME, jogged for 20 years.
He just needs to find what he's interested in.
We bike ride, walk & hike as a family. Best thing is....it doesn't seem like
exercise & it'sa fun family activity. I love these outings.
So again, I'd try easy hikes as a family, walks around the neighborhood
(be sure it's not too hot out).
Go be active as a family. Walk to where you can, whenever possible.
Have you considered that your son may not be 'lazy', but may really need some down time from all of the socialization time that he's experiencing? For some kids, group sports or following along with a teacher is just too much.
And then, there is parental resolve. Our son is seven and he has a goal of attaining his yellow belt in judo. Are there days he doesn't want to go? You bet! We have two one-hour sessions each week (one on a school afternoon, one on Saturday mornings) and sometimes, he'll carry on and complain. We just remind him that he had a goal and we are going to help him not to give up on that goal; that he'll be very proud when he's done. (We did not force him to have this goal, by the way.) But in talking to many other judo families, many of the parents who did martial arts themselves as kids they say that this is pretty common with youngsters. And that they were glad their parents consistently had them go.
Funny thing is, despite all of the complaining that sometimes happens before judo, when we pick him up, he's always glad he went.
So, find some balance in this. I still think the best way to get our kids to be active is to model this whenever possible. Take them to the pool *with* us. Take them on a hike or a walk *with* us. My husband runs on the weekends and Kiddo now wants to do the last part of the run with him. It's been great to see how that's becoming *their* thing. Look at the big picture and see what could be eliminated if need be--(too much tv/media available? Not enough family time made for physical activity?
And please, try to avoid labeling your son as 'lazy'.... that always makes me sad. He may be trying to meet another need. Sure, it's important to make an effort to take care of ourselves and get our bodies good exercise, and it's also important to make sure our kids have time to pursue interests which feel worthwhile to them, as well.
I like the suggestion of giving him chores like raking leaves, Could you all work on the yard together. Trim the shrubs, have him bag them up.
Can you all go for bike rides in the evenings? On the weekends plan hikes.
Go swimming as a family.
Roller blade
We liked badminton. Even just going up to the school and hitting tennis balls up against the back of the court was fun.
Roller skating on family night or weekends. Many times they have family times on Sat and Sunday afternoons.
Could you just ask him to walk with you for 15 minutes a day? The two of you go for a walk to a certain point and back?
What is he interested in? Computers, drawing, reading? Does he do things at home other than sit in front of the tv? Does he do creative things that challenge his mind?
If he's just laying on the couch reading comics and eating potato chips, then keep at it. Challenge him to walk or bike with you.
However, if he's reading good books, learning how a computer works and planning how to upgrade his hard drive, filling a sketch book with good drawings, etc., then maybe he's just the intellectual type who will never appreciate team sports. Feed those interests. Buy sketch pads and charcoal pencils, or books about computers, or blank journals, or even a computerized drawing pad that he can draw on and animate.
Or get a Kinect and let him do some physical activity on that. My daughter is not physically active at all and has many medical issues, but she has a Kinect and for a few minutes she'll try Fruit Ninja and then I'll do it. Let me tell you, after 15 minutes of a violent game of slicing fruits, my arms have had a real workout! I'll challenge her to beat my score. Or we do the slow run on the Wii, or hula hooping. Yeah, it's mostly me doing it rather than her, due to her medical problems, but it does get her up and moving for a few minutes. If you son has no physical limitations, he might enjoy some of the fun video game things. Some kids who don't want to play football have a really fun time paddling their virtual boat or flying their plane through the jungle or outer space, and it's real physical activity, lots of movement, action and exercise.
What about golf? Our 11-year-old was only interested in video games and hadn't taken any activity since he quit Parkour gymnastics a few years ago. My husband heard about a class, asked our son if he was interested and now they both takes classes and go regularly to the driving range. Our son loves it!
If he likes to swim but not on a team just take him and some friends swimming more often. My kids get a lot of excercise that way. what about checking with a 4H club to see if there is anything he might like doing in there just to get him out and about? My nephew does archery and loves it. There are ways to be active without being in a sport since it sounds like he has poo poo'd most of them. Not everyone likes sports and that is okay. Does he like horses? maybe go that route? do some horse riding lessons or something. Rodeo. Lacrosse? that is a very physical game. My son tried it for the first time and liked it a lot. But if he doesnt like football or baseball I'm sure he wouldn't be too fond of that. I'm out of ideas other than what I mentioned. Might just need to get him out and about.
Ok, so he likes to ride his bike. Are there any cycling groups aimed at kids his age? Here in the Seattle area, biking/cycling is a big deal and there are group rides for adults and kids offered through some of the community enters and cycling clubs. You might want to google or bing cycling clue in your area to see if here are any that your son can try. (Same thing for community centers.)
What about skateboarding? We have some skateboarding parks where I live, plus a few places that do classes. This is a sport that can be done alone or with others. If your sone is interested, make sure he gets a helmet ad pads along with the skateboard. Skateboarding is a skill based sport, and you can learn all sorts of jumps and tricks to do.
Good luck in finding something.
Sometimes the best way to motivate moving is to take away (or limit) the stuff that encourages sitting.
This is where limiting screen time (tv, computer, video games, etc) comes in.
When he has to use a computer (for homework) - put it on a counter and have him stand while using it.
Our son is similar in that he doesn't care for team sports.
Fortunately he loves taekwondo and had stuck with it for a long time.
Have him try golf and miniature golf and Frisbee golf.
Some kids really take to skateboarding.
Try him on skating (ice and roller blades).
Try him on rock climbing.
Where we grew up - sledding was popular in the winter.
Maybe he'd like to build forts in the backyard - you can make them out of just about anything - it's mildly physical but he'd be moving and not eating while doing it.
If he likes building things, get him a Quadro building set and he can make his own jungle gym (you'll have to supervise him so the structure is sound).
http://creativekidstuff.com/store/ck/category/3239/quadro...
My son is 10 and also does not like many of the sporty activities offered. It's frustrating. I have a deal with him that he needs to go out and ride his bike for an hour if he wants to play video games. He just isn't a team sports kind of guy. He has tried many and really dislikes them. He likes individual type sports...going to the skate park with his scooter or bmx bike. Riding on trails or on the road with his bike. He enjoys just going to the pool and playing...not swim team. He likes rock climbing. He loves skiing. We happen to live near a small community ski hill, so he does ski team on saturday mornings in the winter. We go on family hikes often (weekends) also...he enjoys that if it's not too long. YMCA offers rock climbing classes...maybe give that a try?
I'd tall him no physical activity = no TV time/no gaming time. Make it easy for him to understand and put your foot down. Take the stuff away and only dole it out as a reward for being engaged in activities.
Do you have rowing in your area?
Why do you demand he do something active? If he's not overweight and is intelligent maybe his life has another direction. Just thinking perhaps he's not a jock but maybe he's a thinker, he could be the one that finds a cure for some disease or finds a therapy that helps people with severe physical injuries that helps their ability to have a fuller life.
Just because he doesn't like sports or being out and active doesn't mean he's not important in some other area.
It sounds like he's not doing anything if he's not out being active, doing something that perhaps you enjoy?
My children swim in squad twice a week. Before each session they complain that they don't want to do it, but I tell them it's already been paid for and they have to go. Each time they end up enjoying it! We also free swim for fun. Are you near a waterway or beach? You could try stand up paddle boarding, body surfing, surfing, snorkelling etc.
Join the YMCA and go swimming regularly. The Y also has lots of drop in activities. Take up things like hiking and canoeing as a family (and invite his friends to join you). Do you have a cadet program where you live? Marching drill is good exercise. A job delivering flyers is good exercise. Diving is fun. Rock climbing or high ropes course is a good workout. Walking or bike riding to school.
