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What kind of sports have you found great for 3.5-4yo kids?


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DD3 is a natural sports girl. She has been able to dribble a basket ball for 6mths, often 15+ times in a row, one handed. She can shoot baskets on a 5' tall hoop with 75% accuracy. She can kick and dribble a soccer ball with no instruction, she just does it on her own. She strikes natural poses for sports that she has never played, often trying for the first time, like baseball. She had great coordination and just seems to understand body mechanics and movement.

 

My two older kids can play sports okay, but never had her innate ability. Even her Occupational Therapist is always amazed at her, so it isn't just a mom's opinion.

 

 

We live in the PNW. She loves to play outside and gravitates towards....sports. She rarely plays with toys, most often it is a ball of some kind/size. Due to lousy winter weather, I have more attitude issue with her in the fall/winter. I know it has a lot to do with less outside time. I do let her play outside during these months, in the mist/light rain, but often, I don't want to be out in it when it increases to more than that!

 

I am looking for a physical 'sport' for he to do. I know I can do it myself, but honestly I think she would absolutely love a class or two. My older kids did swimming at this age; we are planning that for spring. I live outside of a large city so we have many, many things to choose from. I just don't know where to start.

 

 

Anything you suggest or don't suggest?

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1. If you don't already have one (and can accommodate one) get an adjustable basketball hoop. And just let her practice, practice, practice. Even a little "Nerf" basketball hoop for cold weather indoors is good.

 

2. While most sport teams are still probably 2 years off age-wise, as Chuckie suggested either the YMCA or City Parks and Rec often have sports for young children. Anything from ballet, gymnastics, or martial arts to mixed introductions to team sports.

 

Bill

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Check the Y if you have one. When dd was that age we lived in a large city with a Y. This particular Y had something called Short Sports, It was basketball, soccer and I think t-ball for 3-5 year olds.

 

1. If you don't already have one (and can accommodate one) get an adjustable basketball hoop. And just let her practice, practice, practice. Even a little "Nerf" basketball hoop for cold weather indoors is good.

 

2. While most sport teams are still probably 2 years off age-wise, as Chuckie suggested either the YMCA or City Parks and Rec often have sports for young children. Anything from ballet, gymnastics, or martial arts to mixed introductions to team sports.

 

Bill

 

I hadn't thought of the YMCA, I will check them out. I'm not looking for competitive sports, just more of 'coach' and 'team' style learning where she can learn some skills in a structured setting. I think she would like a class format instead of teams competing against each other. I know there are several sports like soccer and basketball, that start competitive teams at kindergarten. Ds played on a soccer team when he was barely 5yo. Dh was the coaches assistant and it was supposed to be just for fun, but man, some of those parents really wanted to win!

 

We have an adjustable hoop on the covered patio that she loves. I think it maxes out at about 5', where she is now. In the front of the house, there is a regular hoop, for when she gets older.

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Tae Kwon Do is a great sport for kids; it combines strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, self-discipline, responsibility & leadership (helping younger kids, as they move up the ranks), and self-defense (always a bonus, especially for girls). TKD is now an Olympic sport, and all of those skills transfer well to other sports, too. At our dojang there is a special class for 3-6 yo's.

 

Jackie

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We had community soccer and iceskating for 4 year olds. It was fun and low key. I agree with the little basketball hoop, set up little cones and have fun dribbling the soccer ball through. At this age you can just have fun at home and still encourage their natural ability.

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Check the Y if you have one. When dd was that age we lived in a large city with a Y. This particular Y had something called Short Sports, It was basketball, soccer and I think t-ball for 3-5 year olds.

 

At our Y, classes are a month at time. She could rotate through several classes to see which sport clicks. I recommend trying gymnastics. It improves flexibility, balance, and coordination. Swimming is another whole body sport.

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My kids have done:

Dance-- the class is great motor-wise. Lots of balance, rhythm, flexibility type exercises. The shoe aspect bumps the cost up. Especially, if they do a combo class like ballet/jazz. When their feet grow, it's 2 pairs of new shoes to be worn once a week. Plus, I loathe recitals. They are expensive an time-consuming for a payoff of being on stage for 5 minutes . We put them off dance this year for that reason. We've used a few different studios and never had a problem with inappropriate costumes/music at this age. They are usually very sweet but you would want to check that aspect out.

 

Soccer-- At that age, I prefer a non-competitive situation. We have a few venues for that and one of them is indoor, so no bad weather to deal with. Lots of running, which is great to wear them out

 

Gymnastics-- we use a gym that has a non- competitive younger track. Actually, even my older is still non- competitive. So the only cost is lessons (comparable to dance) and leotards. LOVE this for the upper-body conditioning. That's why we've left them in it. It complements the running and lower body exercise they get more naturally.

 

Swimming--my younger does this year-round. This is GREAT for tiring them out.

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Tae Kwon Do is a great sport for kids; it combines strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, self-discipline, responsibility & leadership (helping younger kids, as they move up the ranks), and self-defense (always a bonus, especially for girls). TKD is now an Olympic sport, and all of those skills transfer well to other sports, too. At our dojang there is a special class for 3-6 yo's.

 

Jackie

 

:iagree:

 

At this age, there is little competitive action going on other than gentle sparring depending on what your dojo is like. There are tournaments as you get older, but early-on, you're really into learning the art. You can find dojo's who do not focus on the eastern philosophies if that's important to you, as well as dojo's who do not focus on sparring as much as individual accomplishments. You can visit any during classes to get a feel for how the school is run, etc.

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Our city Rec department has classes/teams for the 4-6yo range (and they don't tend to be too hung up on birthdates) where kids have a half-hour practice and then a half-hour "game" (soccer is 3-on-3 -- not sure about other sports) where coaches are on the field with the kids helping them out. No scores recorded at that level. They cycle the sports according to the season. Anyway, it's a nice set-up for getting kids started...

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You might want to check the Young Champions website and see if they have any programs in your area. They offer professionally taught/coached sports and activity programs for young kids that are very low pressure. My DD started a cheer/pom program with them when she was 4 (because mommy had missed the deadlines to put her in dance, and this was the next best thing), and has really enjoyed it. They have other sports, too-but cheer was the one that appealed to my little dancer.

 

Watch the coach for any team before you let your child sign up. I made the mistake of letting DD do soccer in the church league this year, and we won't be doing it again, at least not with this coach. While he's reasonably good with the girls as a whole, the way he talks to his own daughters on the field makes me cringe, and makes DD nervous. She wants to finish the season, so we will, but I wish I'd done more homework before I gave in to her desire to play.

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My DD has been playing soccer since she was 2.5. Anytime someone asks for recommendations about a sport for young children, this is the one I recommend.

 

Soccer is a team sport, so children get to interact and have fun with others. All levels can play together and still enjoy it. There is plenty of exercise in a session.

At this age, most programs are non-competitive. Last season, the team DD was on (3 year olds) did a half hour of practicing skills and then a half hour of a "game", and the parents were allowed out on the field to encourage and help the children. It really was a sight, 10-12 children (5-6 kids on each team), plus parents running around after a little tiny soccer ball!! :lol:

 

She really loves it and looks forward to each new season.

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