January 8, 2024 | By: Jennifer Stitt in For Love of the Game
Why We Are Keeping Your Kids Active This Winter
By the time the holidays hit and the new year rolls around, most of us are almost like bears. We hibernate from the cold weather, eating sweets and treats and wearing our comfiest clothes, just waiting for the sun to come back out and melt the snow.
That may be fine for us, but it’s a lot harder on our kids. If you’ve ever watched your child run around endlessly without tiring themselves out, it’s because kids weren’t born to sit on a couch or watch a screen forever! They’re higher energy than we are, and they’re meant to keep moving until it’s time for bed.
Sure it may be cold outside, but that doesn’t mean that we need to stop moving our bodies. We’re a nation of proud winter sports such as pond hockey, ice skating, and downhill and cross country skiing. Yet we at Field of Dreams understand the power of taking sports indoors, and keeping that love of baseball alive even during the cold months. Beyond that, there are other benefits for keeping kids active as well.
While it’s not great weather for outdoor baseball, here are 5 reasons why we’re working hard to keep your kids active all year round
Increased movement isn’t just good for helping kids sleep better at night. Staying active in a sport year-round can help them physically, with coordination, balance, and focus – all skills that are important off the field as well as on.
That focus is especially helpful in the classroom. Not only are they able to burn off some of that excess energy, but they’re also better equipped to focus on their studies.
Our kids may not exercise for the same reasons that we do, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t see some of the same benefits! Kids who get regular exercise from competing in sports ultimately do build muscle and get stronger, and develop healthy movement habits that they carry into adulthood.
Even while we’re holding our clinics indoors, the winter can be a great time for outdoor activities as well! Those family hikes or snowshoeing adventures are a lot more fun when everyone is enthused and ready to go!
Baseball teaches kids so many skills, including how to make quick decisions and stick with them. So many children are indecisive or don’t understand the importance of decision making, but those children are rarely faced with the decision of whether to swing, take a pitch, or bunt.
Keep honing those skills during the off season! The venue may change, but keeping kids sharp and testing their decision making skills is a great way to keep them engaged in anything that they do. You can even look at augmenting their love of baseball with other skill testing games and activities that keep them quick and agile.
It sounds like something out of Leave It To Beaver, but it’s true – bored kids can easily get into mischief. When they’re younger those activities are usually harmless, but as they get older those behaviours get more and more risky.
Sports don’t automatically mean that kids won’t experiment, or learn hard lessons. They do though mean that kids are focused on their health, and committed to something that requires them to stay focused and clear minded. They may not avoid every mistake, but they’ll definitely avoid a few.
If you’ve seen it on the diamond, you know exactly what it looks like. Whether it’s scoring a goal, climbing a steep hill, beating a personal record, or any other goal – winter sports, just like summer ones, give kids confidence.
We may not be your child’s parents, but we love that smile each and every time we get to see it. There’s nothing more exciting for us than when one of our participants is proud of themselves for doing something awesome, and we love helping them celebrate the big wins and the small ones.
We’ll always place emphasis on school, but the physical for many kids can be just as important as the mental, and one often supports the other. That’s why we don’t take the off-season off! We run a variety of indoor programs throughout the winter, such as fundamentals programs, hitting clinics, pitching training, defense clinics, school-break camps and PA Day Wiffle Ball Tournaments!
Our programs start next Sunday (January 14) and most of them still have space, so sign up today! In the meantime, stay warm, stay safe, and have a wonderful start to the new year!
Play Ball,
Jennifer Stitt
Owner
Field of Dreams Baseball Camp Inc.
