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Original poster

Which sports do your DC do?

21 replies

mupup · 21/07/2023 15:38

And how many days/hours a week do they spend doing them?

DS is wanting to get into some sports but no idea where to begin. He's only 4.

OP posts:

Coronationstation · 21/07/2023 15:48

Swimming lessons would be the best place
to start at that age. Junior parkrun also a free option if you’ve one nearby.

twistyizzy · 21/07/2023 15:52

At that age she was swimming 1 hour a week + had started horse riding once a week. Other things have come and gone but she has stuck with both of those. The time spent on each has increased.

gingerguineapig · 21/07/2023 16:07

I agree with swimming lessons.

Junior parkrun is also a great idea if you have one near you and is free.

My ds did swimming to begin with, and then tried football for a few years (I don't recommend it, utterly toxic) and then athletics.

In terms of time he just started doing one swimming lesson a week. The rest was added later, the football was just a Saturday club to begin with.

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Monkeybutt1 · 21/07/2023 16:48

DS did swimming lessons at that age, when he was 5 he also started martial arts and then football not long after.
Football was just once a week until they started having matches which was around age 7.
Martial arts was twice a week for 30 minutes now he's almost 11 and doing his blackbelt it's a lot more 😆

BogRollBOGOF · 21/07/2023 17:14

At 4 it was swimming and the occasional junior parkrun.
Gymnastics from 5 which switched to karate when about 7 and all the other boys had dropped out.
Still going on the swimming and are now developing into strong swimmers 8/ 6 years later. Still going on the junior parkruns and doing 5ks too.

It's a good combination of physical skills/ fitness and allows individual progression without toxic competition.

One took up football at 8, but hasn't flourished with it and team dynamics can be awkward. He enjoys it though, and it's an annoying feature of "boy culture". It's easier with the other child who just isn't interested than for the one trapped on the periphery and wants the social glue.

UsingChangeofName · 21/07/2023 17:31

At 4, mine started swimming lessons.

At 6 they started Beavers (not sport specific, but 'active').
Team and solo sports came as they got older and were both ready and able to understand coaching, but also ready to choose what they wanted to try.

caringcarer · 21/07/2023 17:59

Foster son came to me at 5 he did no sports (or very little else) before this point. I took him swimming to gain confidence in the water then at 6 he had swimming lessons. He ran the Park Run when he was 7 - 12. He joined local swimming club at 8 and swam competitively until he was 14. He moved on to Aquathlons at 12 and was very successful at those, winning a county championship series. Then Covid came. He stopped the Aquathlons and lost some of his fitness as no swim training or Park Runs. He runs around a lake that is near us just for fitness training. He joined a cricket club at 7 and still plays, now at county level at 17. He trains for Cricket, which is his obsession about 6 hours a week but also plays 2 matches each week and county matches too. He also does Karate and is working on his black belt and Crav Magar which he goes to with a friend. Sometimes he will ice skate or go to the climbing wall. On holiday he kayaks and body boards. Basically Sports is his life. At college he is doing the BTEC Sports Level 3 course. I am just very thankful most of his friends also do a lot of Sports and he or they don't sit in their rooms for days on end glued to their X boxes or similar. I think introducing Sports to a child early helps build perseverance, resilience as they learn sometimes they can't win, learn to be part of a team as well as obvious fitness benefits.

Girasoli · 21/07/2023 18:15

DS1 did a term of tennis at 3 or 4 - it was an extra through nursery but he really enjoyed it.

He's 7 now and does swimming and football, he'd like to do even more football but it would clash with swimming.

DS2 is 3.5 and doesn't do anything yet, he'll start swimming when he is 4 and maybe do a term of tennis next summer if nursery offer it again.

reluctantbrit · 21/07/2023 18:26

Swimming lessons from 3 until she was 12 and the leisure center stopped the life saver club.

When she turned 5 1/2 gymnastics until she was 9 plus riding from 7 onwards.

Swapped gymnastics with modern dance until she was 15.
Riding also stopped temporarily at 15

Started Tae-kwon-do when 15
Re-starting riding when she turned 16 but more on a leisure basis, not as a group towards ability tests.

LucyGru · 21/07/2023 18:35

Agree with the above - swimming and running at that age.

From about age 7, they can try a team sport if they show interest (football is a really great sport for younger children, and I think it helps them develop team awareness and strategy to transfer to other sports).

I strongly encourage my (much older) kids to play a team sport for their school because I think there are lots of benefits (regular training, discipline, exercise, team spirit, tournaments away, social connections, a positive school profile, etc.), but I wouldn't ask them to if they weren't sporty. My three are all pretty sporty, and playing on a school team is a reasonable expectation for them.

Primary school up to year 8 or 9 is a time to try all sorts of different sports and work out which one you want to put time and effort into.

randomsabreuse · 21/07/2023 18:42

4 year old does gymnastics, some junior parkrun and a multisport thingy. Will move on to tennis and athletics (very much fun level) plus gymnastics at some point in the coming school year.

Older one does similar since Covid restrictions ended.

randomsabreuse · 21/07/2023 18:47

To add, I want them to try a tactical sport (tennis/other racquet sports), to add to a fitness sport (athletics) while gymnastics is for coordination. Older one does swimming lessons just to access fun stuff like kayaking later, she's very much not a natural. Younger is waiting for council lessons...

Coronationstation · 21/07/2023 19:25

And learn to ride his bike if he can’t already!

evtheria · 21/07/2023 19:29

Definitely swimming first & foremost!

I waited until my DS had tried different things in school PE until paying for clubs.

Saschka · 21/07/2023 19:33

Depends on their concentration at that age. Just turned 4, or just about to turn 5? Huge difference in what they will focus on.

DS did swimming, tumbletots (which was mostly free play with parents on scaled down gymnastics equipment - there were formal classes for four year olds but we didn’t do those until he was in school).

And Rugbytots, which is amazingly fun and also involves a lot of parental input. Lots of girls in DS’s class. Little kickers is the football equivalent I think, but I was worried, probably completely unfairly, about competitive football dads.

XelaM · 21/07/2023 19:39

My daughter rides horses. She's 13 and dreams of a professional career, so trains 6 days per week.

At the age of 4 I think she was just doing swimming lessons and athletics once a week. She only started riding at 6.

DinnaeFashYersel · 21/07/2023 19:46

At age 4 swimming lessons, dancing, football - each once a week.

NuffSaidSam · 21/07/2023 19:53

Swimming 30 min lesson a week (and the occasional trip to leisure pool).

Football 45 min lesson a week (and a couple of days a week of football camp in school holidays).

Gymnastics 45 min lesson a week.

Alphabeta123 · 21/07/2023 20:06

Dance! My youngest started ballet when he turned 4, its amazing in turns of benefit for all other sport. These days he also does acrobatics, tap and street dance.

ChicoryDip · 21/07/2023 20:54

At that age we did swimming and rugby tots - swimming because I felt it was an important life skill and rugby for the fun, social, team element. It also happened to be convenient. It was probably a couple of hours a week.

Over the years DC have played rugby, cricket, hockey, football and tennis. Both still play hockey and DS plays cricket. I am a massive advocate of team sports for children and over the years they have made loads of friends outside of school and been on trips and tours.

In your position I would let DS have a go at something and see how he gets on. You may have to try lots of things before you find the sport that's best suited to him.