Conversations with Kids - Week 17
For parents and guardians where we give you prompts so that you can have more meaningful conversations with your children to help them build key characteristics such as mental toughness, resilience, confidence, creativity, focus and so on.
A Question for your Kids
What is Important to you?
Today the focus of our “Conversations with Kids” email is what is important to our children. It’s often something we as parents get wrong in our desire to ensure that our kids grow up to be good communicators as well as being honest, accountable, curious, respectful, empathetic and determined adults.
Improves
- Commitment
- Perspective
Directions for Parents
Playing sport as a child is known to give children a number of health benefits such as reducing risks of obesity, increasing cardiovascular fitness and the healthy growth of bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments. Also the psycho-social benefits are vast where situations and experiences children face help instil some of the characteristics above as well as confidence and resilience. Yet the emotional rollercoaster that is sport can also mean both children and parents lose sight of this, on occasions and they get caught up in their bubble and the challenges and difficulties that are thrown at them. So parents and guardians todays job for you is to consider with your children why sport is important to you both. Also discuss scenarios that link to the benefits of playing sport mentioned above.
Ideas for Kids
- What are the 3 most important reasons that you play sport? (See the quiz below) to help you?
- Does one sport that you play tick more of these boxes than another. Eg. Chat about specific individual sports versus team sports and what they offer.
- Does sport make you feel good about yourself? Why? This is your chance as a parent or guardian to hone in on some specific psycho-social characteristics.
If you would like to share your experiences as a sports parent or get insights regarding kids sport psychology, you may also wish to join David in The Sport Psychology Hub.
Best Wishes
David Charlton
Online Sports Psychologist for Kids who supports many youngsters and sports parents so that they have more fun and get the most from their talent across the globe from USA/Canada to Great Britain and Ireland to UAE, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, using ONLINE Video Conferencing.
Managing Director – Inspiring Sporting Excellence
Host of Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast
Founder of The Sports Psychology Hub
Author of Conversations for Kids
With over a decades’ experience supporting athletes, coaches, parents and teams to transfer their skills from training to competitive situations, under pressure.
T: +44 7734 697769