I was playing some ball games with my son, who was turning 2 years old, a few months ago when it struck me that in a short span of 6 months, he had already gained so much development in terms of movement and balance. I recalled back when I was doing my degree in Exercise and Sport Science, I came across children development through physical activities and how important it is to the children growing up to accumulate physical activity hours.
It is imperative that children below 7 have about 3 accumulated hours of active play throughout every day and about 1 hour of physical activities every day for children above 7 years. Active play can be anything that involves movement such as crawling, rolling and gross motor skills like picking up stuffed toys, etc and physical activities involve movement of bigger muscles groups that are usually vigorous in nature, resulting in some perspiration.
Instead of introducing them to mobile devices to attract their attention, let them learn how to kick and run after a ball, throw a mini ball and maybe catching in a park etc. Just make them perspire!
Benefits of physical activities include:
• Improved cardiovascular endurance and muscle hypertrophy
• Better body composition
• Improved bone health
• Higher self esteem
• Better control of anxiety and stress
• Engagement with family members
• Plus many more
I have started getting my son to be clocking those hours and these activities are simple ones such as catching up and around my home, kicking a ball back and forth along the corridor/walkway/void deck, playing with water during weekends, and many more. These moments definitely allow me to grow a tighter bond with him and I definitely look forward for more of such moments!
Roy Chan, Senior Manager