Nowadays, with the internet and all, kids are wont to stay at home and get lazy. Well, not all the time kids are lazy online. I believe kids have the potential to make great and innovative careers on the internet, but that still doesn’t mean it’s okay to sit in a chair all day and get a bad back at the age of 14. Kids need exercise just as much as adults, and so here for you parents who need some help getting your kids to be more active, I have 3 tips for you!
Now these 3 tips are a little unconventional but they’re what works for my family. So let’s begin!
3 Tips to get Your Kids Playing Sports
- If your kids have a lack of care for their health and don’t think it’s important to be active, shame them by showing them images of unhealthy fat adults who wish they had been more active in their lives. Like I said, this is unconventional but it really works! It’s the same tactic we use to get people to stop smoking. Praising smokers would never work, nor would praising unhealthy adults who could have made better choices if only they had parents as diligent as you! So try this, and although it may give your kids some temporary fear, this fear is what will drive them to change their actions. Remind them that life is long and it would be horrible that if by the age of 50, when they still have many years left to live, they’re so out of shape that people stare at them on the road.
- Teach them the cognitive benefits of exercise and show them Ted Talks and scientific articles proving how brain function can improve with getting lots of exercise. Of course, one must be careful with such sports as boxing and football for brain injury but this is good education, too, and the positives of brain performance enhancement due to playing football can outweigh the negatives if one is careful and wears the proper gear. In combination with teaching your kids this, show them how the world’s most successful people relied on their brain function. Even if they weren’t intelligent people, brain function is needed to solve problems and see opportunities and sports can enhance this.
- Now perhaps this third tip is the most unconventional piece of advice you’ll ever hear in this regard, but it works the best. You want to have your kids motivated to play sports. You don’t want them to do it just because they want to make you proud. So whatever you do don’t punish your kids for not being active. Instead, reward them for being active. Say to them, “If you join a sports team I’ll buy you a car when you reach grade 12.” Or even better say, “If you join a minor football team and stay active, by the time you’re in university you’ll be ripped, muscular and all the ladies (or studs) will love you. You’ll live a long healthy life and will be able to outrun everyone. You’ll be so fit that people will be jealous of you. And, also, for a reward, I’ll pay for your clothes until you graduate from university, so that you not only look toned and in shape, but fly as well!”
If all else doesn’t work, try one or two, perhaps all three of these tips and see what happens. It’ll take effort on both your part and your kids’ part to get them healthy and active. Good luck!