Recreating the Art of Recreation

By Steven Henle

Remember when our parents would push us outside to play on the street with neighbours and then holler us back inside for dinner? Remember when Hide n’ Seek, Mother, Mother May I Take a Step, and Dodge Ball were simply games we played and not conscious efforts to improve health as an end goal?

Today, it can be challenging for parents to motivate their children to participate in any kind of physical activity, particularly when competing with Facebook, xBox and iPods for their precious downtime. The key is to offer them recreation options that are in line with their needs and wants.

Recreational activities have benefits that cannot be underestimated: Improved fine and gross motor skills (coordination and strength), social connections improved self-esteem, improved self-confidence, reduced obesity.

Leisure is based on four main principles: Fun, enjoyment, freedom to participate, and freedom from obligation. When people have “perceived freedom” they find their inner-motivation and when they use their inner-motivation to make choices they’re more likely to stick with the program than when motivated by outside influences (parental pushing or peer pressure).

Within recreation there are so many wonderful opportunities and all of them offer benefits: Sports like tennis, martial arts, and diving as well as swimming, dancing, and skiing can be done just for the fun of it, or on a competitive level. Team sports like hockey, soccer, and baseball have the added value of working together toward a common goal.

Mother knows best

Recreational activities need to be fun and kids at any age, should have a say in the programs we choose for them. Sometimes we ignore the messages our children tell us so it’s important to have a dialogue with them before enrolling them in a program. We learn a lot by listening. Allowing them to have a voice, not only empowers them in the decision-making process but helps give you direction in choosing the right physical activity fit for your child.

Be careful in your approach though, because too often we motivate kids to participate through bribes. This is called extrinsic motivation and the result is that children participate, but they don’t really learn about their likes and dislikes. For example, “go to little league and I’ll buy you ice cream after the game” doesn’t help them find intrinsic motivation, so that their desire to participate comes from within. To help achieve this state of mind think beyond sports and offer them other options such as fine arts, drama clubs, sailing school or dancing, the list is endless.

What benefits do you want for your child?

As almost any parent, we want our children to be physically active, to be accepted socially and to connect with other children. We encourage them to develop friendships, gain self-respect, follow the rules, and learn discipline, and within the structure we want our children to play and have fun!

Get in the game

Playing for the sake of participation is most important and that is why recreation that is non-competitive is also beneficial. Children in non-competitive programs develop skills, make friends, build self-confidence, and enhance their repertoire of recreation activities. Winning or losing in sports has a definite impact on children and their motivation. The ideal situation is when there’s a balance of sometimes winning and sometimes losing to create a healthy life lesson.

Our job is to increase motivation and reduce barriers to participation so that kids want to participate in recreational activity. The opportunities found in meaningful leisure experiences whether competitive or non-competitive are the golden nuggets of life.

You can read more about leisure at my blog: leisuring.blog.com