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Cover Story: Time it out!
It has always been believed that practice and participation in athletics often make children more adept at sports and physically active, but you would be more glad to know that research shows that this also helps them in their studies.
But what should be kept in mind is the famous saying, “an excess of everything is bad”. So, what you should be doing is to keep a balance between your studies and sports. If you are able to manage your time then you won’t have any problem at all.
Beside the physical strength you are likely to learn a lot of things while participating in such activities. For example you learn to co-ordinate with other kids, make new friends, share things and secrets. These things are an important part of growing up, and besides who in the world would mind having time to play, daydream, chase butterflies, sew, climb trees, catch fireflies, or simply read a good book.
Fun is the key thing that you experience while you are with friends but besides this, these activities are also known to maximize what you learn (as you talk over it with your classmates), and develop self-confidence as you try out new things. In addition to this, sports and games that are played with ball develop a certain eye-hand co-ordination.
The activities you pursue will depend mostly on your age and interests. A perfect activity for those of you who love cricket would, of course, be cricket, while those who enjoy music can join some music classes that would certainly help you out. It is believed that exposure to music helps brain function and leads to better math and science scores. If that happens, great! But the most important goal is to have fun and develop a lifelong appreciation of music.
There are some activities that are available in schools and summer camps for you. A variety of sports programmes can meet the physical and developmental needs year-round. Sports played indoors or outside, provide a great workout.
Hectic family schedules can make it easier to lose the delicate balance between family life, school work, extracurricular activities, and good old-fashioned play. Try to co-ordinate things as best as you can. Never get scared of telling your parents that you can’t carry on the sport they want you to, as it’s better to quit that sport than performing badly in it.
One other problem: I have observed a number of kids who tend to be over-stimulated and want to participate in almost everything. They enrol themselves in cricket practice, from there they go to some painting or art classes, then something else, and at the end of the day they don’t have even time and energy to sit for a little while with their parents.
Now let us see what sport to choose from, and discuss some activities and their positive impact on you. First of all, we will talk about drawing and painting. It enhances your imaginative powers as well as improving your observation. It also helps you out in drawing diagrams for your studies. If you think you can draw better than your friend do get some training and keep it up.
The next activity that I am going to talk about is debates, speeches, quizzes, acting, singing, etc. these help you strengthen your memory and besides they are also a great source of acquiring general knowledge (in case of speeches and quiz competition). They also help you build confidence to speak in front of a crowd. And who knows may be help you out to become an actor, singer, leader or politician in the future.
In games like cricket, football, squash, tennis you face physical challenges, as you have to go through tough training that helps you become strong physically. They are known to affect and increase your stamina and you are able to forebear greater physical challenges with quite ease.
Some extracurricular activities such as dance and swimming, promote overall body flexibility and movement. The dance and swimming clubs offer a kid-friendly atmosphere and a chance for children to explore themselves through performance and movement.
Many parents overemphasize on winning in youth sports. They sometimes take it too seriously and want you to only win. Do try your best at it but make sure you don’t burn out all your energies in that particular sport or studies, and be honest to them.
The best extra-curricular activity is reading. Reading helps you improve your vocabulary and then you learn lots of things. Even storybooks will benefit you a lot as there are some wise things said in them in an easy and simple way. There is moral lesson in most of the fables or tales which, if you take time out to notice, are quite implacable to your own.
There is however a little advice for you to follow and that is: find a balance between spare-time and structured-time. Know your strength and really talk it out with you parents about what you want to do.
Of course, it happens that after a certain time you lose interest in a game. The best way to get over it is to leave it for some time and if you still feel that you don’t want to continue it anymore then you should not carry it on. If the things that you are not interested in are carried on they make you feel dull and sullen, so it is better to say goodbye to them.
Learn what you really want to do, find a balance that works for the family, and prepare yourself to excel in new challenges. And hopefully you will have the physical and social skills to face new challenges and make new friends wherever you go.
Pursue a hobby
Children today have only three things to do: watch television, study and sit at the computer. Gone are the days when a child’s spare time was used in doing something constructive, i.e. playing games, helping around the house, or better still, developing a favourite pastime.
A hobby or pastime keeps a child busy and motivated. Moreover, the child learns a great deal as well. Hobbies cover a wide variety of fields. They can range from collecting items such as stamps, coins, leaves, matchboxes, etc. to gardening, carpentry and so on.
With cable television and a computer present in almost every home, children are exposed to items not suitable for their ages. By encouraging a child to pursue a favourite past time, parents ensure that the child is not only kept safe and busy but also learning something useful. For example, a stamp collector learns about many countries and places never heard of by him. Besides, as the stamps grow older and the child matures, the collection becomes extremely valuable, and the maturing child realizes the worth of these stamps. This encourages and develops responsibility.
A child’s knowledge can increase immensely by collecting coins of different denominations from around the world; and as with stamps, as time goes on, the coins become more and more valuable. Hobbies also help a child discover his own self and his abilities.
If at a young age, a child is encouraged to take up gardening, he will learn how to grow and take care of plants. Soon, after all the hard work, a flower garden, or a vegetable/fruit garden will spring up in the backyard, not only beautifying the house, but also instilling a sense of pride in the child. The child will feel a sense of elation and accomplishment, and realize that apart from learning basic gardening techniques, hard work is always rewarded.
A hobby can also be a favourite sport. At a young age, a child is very eager to learn. By taking up a sport, say squash or tennis, and by playing it regularly, not only is he engaging in a very useful activity, but also keeping himself fit and agile.
Parents often want their child to excel at every thing, be it school life, academics, sports, you name it. But by pushing a child too hard or by forcing him/her to take up a hobby against his/her wishes, the parents remain at fault. A young child is highly impressionable. Whatever he is told, he will try his best to do. It is up to the parents to encourage the child to do some thing, which he himself wants to do. Parents should not force their will upon him. If he is not into sports, parents shouldn’t force him to start swimming or squash. If he likes gardening, good. Let him focus on it.
A hobby greatly aids the development of a child to the fullest, and should be regarded as essential in a child’s growing process.
Adil Ahmad
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