Sports which promote fitness and team works are good for children. Sports also help kids to develop their motor skills, coordination, confidence, and prevent obesity. However formal leagues may not be suitable for every young child. Children at 5 and younger may be too young for most types of organized sports due to lack of full comprehension and mature skills. Parents should make sports fun and less competitive for young children. Unstructured free plays such as: running, climbing, kicking, dancing, cycling, swimming, and dancing, are good choices for young children, and you could do it in your own backyard or home.
I let my children attend the "sport sampler" class in the YMCA for them to get a taste of different sports and for us to see if they show preferences for certain sports. Many sports class are offered by YMCA including: succor, basketball, T-ball, football, and baseball etc which children play in a team setting. We did not know what is the best one for our children. First, my kids did not follow instructions very well. Second, they had no idea about all these sports mentioned above. Their Dad and Mom are not hard-core sport fames and we don't watch any sport in a regular base. We have given up watching football and golf after my children were born and cartoons have became the major entertainment for my family. We hoped that the "sport sampler" would teach them team work, and good sportsmanship. At the meantime, we could assess their physical development such as motor skills, eye-and-hand coordination, and also we may know which sport they are most interested.
There were two or three instructors in each class and there were about 12 little kids ranged from 3-5 years old. The sports they taught were including: basketball, baseball, football, succor, hockey, and a bouncy house at the final class. A good thing about the class is that each one of little kids was taught and practiced some basic skills for the sport. A bad thing is that there were lags for them to wait; most of them appeared to be bored. It was extremely funny to watch their responses. Some older kids would entertain themselves and play the available balls by themselves. Most of younger ones including my two either just chased each other around or sit there making faces. The class size might be too big, and too much waiting time, children actually did not get enough physical activity. I think, we will keep them running around in the yard and swimming in the weekends for now. We can send them to an organized sport again when they are 5 years old. Learning good sportsmanship may need to wait after they know which side of field they should run towards.
