Little Fit Kids Origins

 

Dear Parents

            Welcome to Little Fit Kids!

We have been involved in Sport for as long as we can remember - competing ourselves, studying a degree in Sports Science and then spending many years coaching athletes of varying ages and abilities. Once our little boy Logan arrived, we became naturally interested in sport and young children.

When watching Logan and his friends playing in the playground, we noticed that certain kids are more agile than others, certain kids take bigger risks whilst others seem clumsier and a lot more cautious. Some of our little ones are more than happy to try new things whilst others prefer to sit quietly and observe and doing anything new is out of the question!

We realised that the little ones who aren’t clambering up jungle gyms whilst permanently giving their parents’ heart failure are perhaps struggling with poor motor coordination as well as poor core strength. This could be caused from varying factors such as premature births, difficult births, low birth weight, family history or hours of bad posture in front of a screen!

The good news is, as a young child, low core strength and/ or bad motor coordination can be easily taught, and so we began the thoughts of a fun and enjoyable program that would help develop these aspects of a child’s development…. Little Fit Kids!

Little Fit Kids is more specifically for ages 5-10 years old. Whilst all of us parent’s love throwing our young children into varying sports such as football, rugby, swimming, karate, athletics (and the list goes on), we sometimes forget that our kids need to be taught the basic fundamental skills for these sports in order for them to excel in the sport they are embarking on, to prevent unnecessary injuries and of course to help them enjoy it more. If your child is confident in throwing a ball or balancing on a balance beam, then the sport of choice will become so much easier and therefore more fun for them, and isn’t this the ultimate goal for our kids?  

Little Fit Kids can be run in small groups or as a one-on-one session focusing on the following aspects:

  • Cognitive Development - help the child develop and improve cognitive skills, such as greater concentration capacity, that can in turn help them in the classroom. Cognitive skills on the sports field are extremely important when making decisions ie. When to pass a ball to a teammate
  • Developmental Milestones – reaching milestones that some kids don’t have the luxury of being taught eg. A somersault or standing on 1 leg for 20seconds
  • Core Strength – some children do not have a naturally strong core, and this must be worked on to prevent injuries, for better balance and coordination when playing, climbing, jumping, throwing, running etc. Children who are premature at birth are often very weak in the core. This may hamper their achievements in sport later. A weak core can also prevent your child from concentrating in the classroom because he/she is constantly fidgeting whilst trying to hold his/her core in place.
  • Speed & agility – young children should focus on speed first, endurance later. Agility helps the child move fluently, quickly and easily. Mental agility is the ability to think and understand quickly.
  • Technique – correct technique in running can help with many different sports ie. Athletics, hockey, rugby, football etc.
  • Hand-eye-Coordination – all ball sports require this! Some children have a natural ability (my 2-year-old nephew can hit a golf ball better than I can!) whereas some children need more practice in this skill.

The aim of Little Fit Kids is for our children to work on all the above aspects whilst having loads of fun and burning off excess energy!

Please feel free to ask questions, share concerns or give your comments.

Claire & Kent