There are so many exciting sports for kids to try!
Here at PKS we love kids to enjoy sports! Not everyone likes the same things though so we’ve come up with an A-Z of exciting sports for kids to try!
Our personalised silicone bottle labels are ideal for children’s sports bottles – they’ll be stylishly named and more likely to come back home!
Athletics – Athletics programmes run for children from the age of 3 in some places and many clubs have nights when children can come along for an introduction to the many areas of athletics. The 7 principles of athletics are balance, coordination, agility, flexibility, speed, strength and stamina.
There are so many different disciplines involved in athletics – why not contact a club in your area and get your kids involved!
Archery – A hugely popular sport for children and adults alike! This one isn’t for younger kids but it’s great for primary age children and above, helping them with coordination, strength and accuracy as well as concentration. There are many archery clubs – have a look around!
Badminton – Badminton is an exciting sport for kids – children as young as 5 can take part in many clubs. It’s a sociable sport where your children can meet others and make new friends as well as building on fitness, agility, stamina, balance and hand-eye coordination. Children can take part for fun or competition and it’s also a fantastic family game. Have a look here for information on badminton for kids.
Cycling – Learning to ride a bike can give children a great sense of freedom and independence as well as being lots of fun! If your kids are really keen then they can join a cycling club where coaches will help them in the direction they want to go – be that racing or cross country, or just fun with others!
British cycling have a brilliant site that even has videos and games to help your child learn to ride a bike!
Canoeing – Brilliant for upper body strength and general fitness, this can be a really exciting sport for kids! They’ll have to be good swimmers though so once your children can swim a world of water sport opportunity opens up!
Dance – Dance isn’t just for girls! Dance is for any child, there are so many types of dance from street dance to ballet, salsa to tap and everything in between! Dance is fantastic for coordination and concentration as well as fitness and fun! It’s also really good for your child’s brain as they have to memorise the steps.
A brilliant activity for mental health too, it’s known for the stress busting benefits! Have a look out for children’s dance classes in your area, many dance schools have classes for children from toddler age upwards!
Equestrianism – This is commonly known as horse riding! There are riding schools all around the UK – even in cities! Many offer classes for kids as young as 5 or 6. It’s really good for the core, stabilising muscles as well as brilliant for balance and confidence!
Horses are known to be therapeutic and riding gives the feeling of communicating with the horse which is very powerful! Many centres also teach horse care and offer ‘your own horse for a day’ camps for kids with organised activities including grooming, feeding, mucking out and riding. Perfect for kids who love animals and a great way to make new friends too!
Football – Yes, we couldn’t leave this one out! Football is a really popular kids’ sport for boys and girls. Great for fitness and agility as well as teamwork. There are many clubs all over the UK and also many holiday camps that are based around football skills – your child can just enjoy them for fun or for more serious competition!
Fencing – A fantastic sport for primary age children and above, fencing combines fitness, balance and stability with etiquette and history! Some schools offer fencing or you can look for a local club.
Golf – You might think this is for adults only but many golf centres offer lessons to kids under 12! It’s a great sport that can be played at any age and is a perfect way to get out in the countryside and have lots of fresh air! Have a look at your local golf centre and see what they are offering for children – you’ll be amazed!
Gymnastics – One of the more popular sports for kids, gymnastics can be fun or more hardcore! If your child is really keen, they can be training nearly everyday from the age of 8, several hours at a time.
Gymnastics is brilliant for agility, balance, flexibility, speed, strength and fitness as well as discipline and focus.
Hockey – Another cracking team sport for boys and girls alike! Hockey is a traditional school sport played all over the world! Hockey builds skills in teamwork, communication, fitness, agility, speed, balance and technique to mention just a few of the benefits!
Kids can start with lightweight sticks – it’s not straight onto wooden sticks like it was years ago! Balls are also lightweight to suit the age of the participants. Contact a hockey club near you for advice on kids’ hockey!
Ice skating – Children can learn to ice skate from toddler age and most rinks offer children’s lessons. Ice skating is a great fitness sport as well as having similar benefits to dance in terms of coordination and also musicality.
If your child is keen, there are junior competitions – they will learn artistic performance skills and develop great confidence!
Judo – Judo is an excellent sport for children, developing discipline and focus as well as general fitness and self esteem. There are lots of judo clubs around the UK operating in leisure centres and gyms as well as dedicated venues. Have a look at the British Judo website for more information!
Karate – A really popular martial art for kids! There are karate clubs dotted all over the UK – and the rest of the world! Again, discipline and concentration as well as general fitness are skills developed by karate! It’s a great way to meet new friends and your children can progress through the belts and gain confidence from their new skills!
Lacrosse – Lacrosse is a great team sport for boys and girls! It’s a little less mainstream than some other team sports but it’s been known as ‘the fastest game on two legs’ and it’s superb for fitness and teamwork skills! Lacrosse for kids nowadays has many rules so that children can play safely. Have a look and see if there is a club near you – lacrosse is really worth a try!
Mountaineering – This is one for really adventurous kids! Mountaineering also includes climbing and general hill walking.
There are climbing walls in many leisure centres as well as specialist venues – most of these offer lessons for children and they can even learn on ‘soft’ walls. Climbing is a popular sport and is fabulous for flexibility and strength – think of the fitness and focus needed for climbing a rock face! Look around for a climbing centre near you and let your kids stretch to new heights!
Netball – Everyone is familiar with the old school game of netball! It’’s a brilliant team sport played by both girls and boys! Different positions in the game need different skills so if you’re child isn’t fast and agile they might still enjoy shooting or defending! Maybe your child plays netball at school, if not then there are many netball clubs all around the UK and all over the world!
Orienteering – This is a great sport for kids who like running and following directions on a map! Teaching navigational skills, often team work and improving fitness, this is a sport for those who like to get out in the countryside and get lots of fresh air! There are events and competitions to take part in and your children will always benefit from the map reading skills involved!
Paintball – Really good fun for kids and requires fitness and teamwork too!
Quoits – More a game than a sport, this is a brilliant thing to play in the garden or if the kids have friends round! It involves throwing rope rings over pegs or into a bucket and is actually really good for coordination and accuracy as well as being lots of fun!
Rowing – Rowing is a great sport for kids! Rowing clubs are really proactive at involving juniors and there are lots of rowing clubs around on rivers and inland waters. Rowing can either be an individual or a team sport and is extremely good for overall fitness, working heart and lungs as well as strengthening muscles.
If your child would like to try rowing, have a look at the British rowing website where there is lots of information about the sport.
Rugby – We couldn’t miss rugby out when discussing sports for kids! Rugby offers a lot for children – fitness, teamwork, fun, competition! A sport played the world over, rugby clubs welcome children and run special training for all ages. Great socially too, if your kids like rugby, Sundays will be taken care of!
Running! Of course! Running is cheap, great for all levels of fitness and fun for children!
Swimming – The classic one among sports for kids – in the UK we are lucky with lots of swimming pools and a lot of parents put their children into swimming lessons. Swimming is a basic lifesaving skill as well as a sport which makes it quite unique! Contact your local pool if you are interested in swimming lessons of a swimming club for your children.
Squash – Less played than some other sports due to the lack of courts, this sport is nevertheless brilliant for fitness, hand-eye coordination and strength as well as reaction time. If your leisure centre has a squash court, ask about kids lessons as it’s one of those sports for kids that’s really worth a try!
Tennis – Tennis is one of those really social sports for kids and adults. There are lots of mini tennis programmes for younger kids starting from the age of around 3. They can move from using sponge balls at first to increasingly harder balls, which have different amounts of speed and bounce as kids progress.
Tennis is a great game to play for fun with friends or competitively. It can be played at a club or in your local park – have a look and see where your kids could try tennis and contact a coach for lessons. They’ll love it!
Ultimate frisbee – Ultimate frisbee is frisbee played on a football pitch as part of a team! If your child has the knack of throwing a frisbee then they might like this! Excellent for fitness as you have to run up and down the pitch and it’s a fast game!
Have a look online and see if there are any ultimate clubs near you! You don’t think of frisbee when you think about sports for kids, but it is really good fun!
Volleyball – A fast and furious team sport, if your kids get involved in this sport they’re sure to work on fitness, speed, agility, coordination and cooperating with a team!
Windsurfing – Better for older kids, you need to be a reasonable swimmer to try this sport. Find a centre that gives lessons, get the kids in wetsuits and give them a go! Builds on balance and strength as well as general fitness. One of those sports for kids that’s a bit different!
X country running – A great individual sport for kids who like endurance running. This sport is brilliant for fitness and stamina!
Yoga – Perfect for mental health and flexibility, you can find kids yoga at leisure centres and village halls as well as online! Great to start when kids are young and then they can continue all their lives!
ZZZZ – Time to sleep after all that sport!
So many exciting sports for kids to try! We haven’t listed them all either! Your child doesn’t have to like the same sports as others, there is something for everyone, whether it’s individual sport or team games!
Remember too that children develop at different rates and you might feel that other kids are ahead of yours. Sometimes it’s just about finding a sport that your child enjoys and finds fun, they don’t have to be the best!
Sports for kids provide so many benefits for physical and mental health – after the lockdowns it’s great that everyone can now take part in a sport if they want to.
Don’t forget if your child is doing any sport, name their water bottle clearly with our personalised bottle note bands! Head to our shop for the full range of colours and see for yourself how your child’s band might look!
Enjoy a summer of sports with your kids and personalised bottle bands!
