Sport and children – psychological and social benfits

By Happymamma - Published 6 years ago

Sport and physical education is fundamental to the early development of children, their motor skills and good health, but you shouldn’t ignore its’ impact on the psychological and social development of children. Here are listed few of the sport’s benefits:

Helps develop social skills

Team sports are a perfect medium for learning more about communication. Also, children learn how to be a part of a group. Children need to learn how to be assertive without being offensive and once again the framework of a team game makes a perfect environment for that.

Helps children control their emotions

Sports can evoke a wide range of emotions – from inspiration, pride, exhilaration, and satisfaction, to fear, frustration, anger and panic, often in a very short time span during training or competition. Children learn how to accept defeat and they can develop healthy and productive emotional reactions to various situations because the game can be closely related to real life.

Improves focus

When playing any sport, the focus is always necessary especially when the game requires tactical moves and strategic thinking to outsmart the opponent. During play, children become totally involved in what they’re doing and feel as if time has stopped. Sport improves focus and teaches children how to pay attention to one thing exclusively.

Learns to respect everyone

As a part of a team they learn to respect authority, rules, team colleagues and opponents. They may disagree with a particular decision, and may even express that disagreement, but if they agree to play the game, to be on the team, they have to understand and respect the role of the coach and team’s effort to win.

Helps build positive self-esteem

Sports psychology research has shown that children gain confidence and self-esteem through participation in sports and physical activity. Sport allows children to build self-esteem as they learn to trust in their own abilities, receive encouragement and praise from coaches and parents, and learn to accept constructive criticism.