Sports for non-sporty children?

[Solasum]

It is Sports Day today for us, and my 5.5yo DS has been dreading it. Like me, he isn’t a great runner. I really don’t want him to think that he is rubbish at sport, though, as I am sure there are sports he could be good at. I was always told I was rubbish at sport, and consequently always hated it at school.

Any suggestions for Sports that a skinny slow runner could be good at?

We are in London, so I guess most things are available.

Many thanks!

Any sport that doesn't involve running?

What about climbing? I'm terrible at running but really love climbing. There are loads of centres in London and many have kids areas, it would be easy to take him and give it a try for an hour.

Dd is not sporty but has quite a good eye so really enjoys archery. Ds similar and shoots clays.

I wouldn’t focus on a particular discipline at that age. Let him try lots of activities that involve exercise (organised or not).

My non sporty dd loves judo and climbing

A bit counterintuitive here, but a junior Parkrun. So he sees that running is about participation not races, he probably isn’t rubbish at all, and it’s something everyone can enjoy

Also try a junior martial arts programme

And what does he actually like doing?

Lots of team sports- team work more important than quick running.

Climbing or bouldering! It's amazing. And a slight frame is a massive bonus, it's great exercise and has such a such a supportive community. It's also a gateway into outdoorsy stuff (climbing out, hiking etc) that it'll serve him well into adulthood.

5.5 is much too young to have written him off as a bad runner - you are projecting.

What is he dreading? Losing? Letting you down? Being slow? Find out the specifics and approach it properly, because sports day is meant to be fun when you are five, no matter how bad you are.

If he hates losing, then you need to practice with board games etc. If he's scared of disappointing you, you need to take the pressure off him. If he's unhappy at being slow, practice a bit more - junior parkrun is lovely and supportive.

Other sports and skills are great, when he's bigger and grown into himself a bit. However, at this age he should not be carrying the burden of feeling he's bad at something and you shouldn't be teaching him to just avoid it.

I think at his age, showing him lots of different sports and letting him try lots is the way to go.

I'm 29, not a runner, can't do sports that involve hand eye coordination (I'm visually impaired) but I found my sport six years ago. I'm a figure skater :) There's something for everyone, sometimes it just takes a while to find your niche :)

My lovely dreamy slow running DS has started fencing and is absolutely thriving. He loves the tactics and the techniques and the fact it's a bit like Harry Potter wand tournaments...

My 8 year old is brilliant at paddle boarding. We went to a class in half term and the smaller and skinny children seemed to find it easier. My teenager loved it but he spent more time in the water than on the board

I have a very non-sporty DS, who is 11yo now. Yours DS is very young, there are loads of sports that he could enjoy that don't involve running.
Swimming
Canoeing
Rafting
Sailing
Rowing
Surfing
Fencing
Climbing
Table tennis
Ice skating
Roller blading
Any martial art
Archery
Cricket (bowling)
...

DS loves skiing. Which has its limitations!

Swimming, cycling, dancing?

Just go out and try everything on offer together - round my way, summer fetes/fairs/shows are good places to try climbing/archery/tennis/scuba (really, ds loves that show)/riding/rugby/kayaking and so on. Go swimming or cycling for fun together. Try junior parkrun together. Laugh about how you enjoyed things but were bad at them.

Maybe he'll find something he's good at, maybe he'll find something he loves - but you'll both be active and you'll show him that you don't have to be good to enjoy yourself

Rock climbing, martial arts, parkour

DS is similar. He loves riding, cricket, hockey, fencing, sailing, gymnastics.

Thanks everyone.

He mainly worries about being last, and people looking at him. This last applies everywhere with other people really.

School were great today, all reception got a medal.

He is making good progress at swimming, but unfortunately there are a couple of boys in his group who are much better, so he compares himself to them and is disappointed.

Lots of ideas above, climbing, fencing and skating first I think.

Climbing
Bouldering
Archery
Trampolining
Gymnastics
Geocaching (not sport but outside and fun)
Street dance (lots of places do boys only hip hop etc)
Fencing
Swimming
Kayaking
Water polo

I hope you find something, I truly believe there is a sport for everyone.

I hated people looking at me when i was made to do sport.
I enjoyed swimming because once you're in the water you can't hear anything, or see anything actually once you're watching for that wall

I love sport but he's 5. Let him try lots of different things.

We have done lots of sport and 95% of the time someone was better than our children. Some work on having his own goals and not being focused on others will help in the long term.

OP I was always rubbish at sport, can't sprint or run long distance. No good at team sports either. However I loved tennis and badminton as a child/teen and excelled at martial arts as a young adult; for some reason certain people do well at sports where short bursts of energy are required.

ice skating

There will always be someone better than you, particuarly between 5 and 17!!