Skateboarding is among the most popular sports in many parts of the world. It’s also gaining popularity as a means of transport. Many people like skateboarding and some even earn a livelihood from it.
Skateboarding is a sport where an athlete rides on a wooden board with wheels. The rider propels themselves by placing one foot on the board and pushing on the surface or ground with the other foot. But is skateboarding the right sport for children?
There are many reasons to allow your child to start skateboarding. However, you must teach them the importance of safety gear when skateboarding. That way, they can use them and be protected against any potential injury.
Here’s why you should let your child skateboard.
- To Get a Full Workout
Keeping fit is crucial to your child’s overall health. When someone is physically fit, they stay healthier. Moreover, when a child stays in good shape, they’re less likely to fall sick easily. Therefore, you need to find ways for your child to keep fit. That’s where skateboarding comes in.
When your child is skateboarding, they need to use most of the parts of the body to propel the skateboard. For instance, they must use their legs to keep the skateboard moving and their legs for balance and they need to utilize the torso when turning. It’s one of the best ways to ensure that your child gets a full workout that will benefit their overall health and have fun at the same time.
- To Enhance Confidence in Your Child
Children who have confidence dare to try new things. It also helps them to cope with mistakes and try again if they fail at the first trial. As such, they’ll likely do well in class and develop good relationships with others.
You can implement many strategies to enhance confidence in your child. Learning to skateboard can give your child a sense of self-esteem, worth, and happiness. It even becomes better if you can appreciate them for their success or the milestones they have achieved so far. As a result, your child will likely build their confidence so encourage them to learn and practice skateboarding.
- To Instill Decision-Making Skills in Your Child
Many people think of skateboarding as a mere sport, but there’s more than that. As noted earlier, some aspects of skateboarding are balancing and turning. This is also related to making decisions at the right time. So, skateboarding can help your child develop critical thinking and enhance decision-making skills.
Better yet, skateboarding allows the proper flow of blood to the brain. This helps your child to improve and develop their overall brain functionality which makes them more innovative and creative.
- To Help Your Child Deal With Stress
Some parents think that young children don’t develop stress. Little did they know that, just like adults, children are also prone to suffering from stress too, which can even lead to health issues such as chronic complications like depression.
But how can you tell that your child is stressed? Some physical symptoms to check to includes decreased appetite or change in eating habits, nightmares, sleep disturbances, headaches, and upset stomach. As for emotional symptoms, they may include worry, anger, inability to relax, stubborn behavior, not wanting to participate in school activities, etc.
As a parent or guardian, there are several ways to help your child respond to stress. Letting your child learn skateboarding may help the child’s brain to release the endorphins hormone, which prevents or reduces stress. So, allowing your child to skateboard regularly will help them relax their body and mind.
- To Help Your Child To Develop a Sense Of Community
If you’re looking for an effective way to help your child develop a sense of community, allowing them to skateboard will greatly help. Most probably, your child will practice skateboarding with other children which helps them to gain new friends since they’re linked by mutual interests. Your child will join a community that best suits them and be able to develop a sense of community and also improve their social skills.
Takeaway
Skateboarding is one of the popular sports that many people nowadays do. It’s also one of the best approaches to enhance your child’s overall health, increase their confidence, and develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. It can also help your child develops a sense of community.
If you want to let your child skateboard, make sure that they’ll have a skateboard appropriate for your child’s age and the proper gear for their safety as well.