Have you been looking for activities for children in Halifax for your 3 or 4 your old child but either you can’t find pre school activity for children as young as your child or the activity is mostly focused on free play?
While it is good that children get plenty of free play, it is also great to start attending activities that have a little structure. The NHS currently suggests that pre school aged children should aim for 3 hours of physical activity a day with at least one hour being of ‘moderate-to-vigorous’ intensity.
Studies that show that the development of FUNdamental Movement Skills (FMS) can start from the age of 3 years old and doing so can increases the chances that your child will still be taking part in sport into their teenage years. Movement skills are the physical foundation of our programme and serve as a great pre school activity for children.
When it comes to trying new pre school children’s activities, with people they don’t know, in a different place, young children may be a little reluctant to join in straight away. Does your son or daughter sometimes tell you they can’t do a new activity before they have even tried?
A child’s belief that they are capable of achieving what you are asking them to do is the first step in them achieving it. The children that think their intelligence and abilities are fixed are said to have a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is a belief that with effort, abilities and intelligence can be improved.
Research has shown that developing a growth mindset can help reduce stress, build intrinsic motivation, realign challenges as opportunities, improve confidence dealing with uncertainty and enhance self-esteem
Is your child easily distracted and struggle to focus on the task at hand? Have they discovered the link between their actions and their outcomes yet?
In the famous marshmallow test run by psychologist Walter Mischel decades ago, studies examined what tactics children would implement to resist eating one marshmallow so they could receive a second after a set period of time.
In following up on the research decades later, Mischel found that those that were more able to delayed gratification had a higher sense of self-worth, lower levels of drug and alcohol abuse, lower levels of obesity, they pursued their goals more effectively, had higher levels of education and enjoyed better quality close relationships.
Is your 3 or 4 year old full of energy but is lacks opportunities to meet other children? When you introduce your child to a new social group, do they struggle to communicate easily?
73% of children have been online by the age of two and one in ten children own a mobile device before the age of five. While mobile devices and tablets can be a useful tool in improving learning experiences, they can also be anti-social when used too in excess.
Social connection is important for well being and an important reason why children enjoy physical activity. While many young children usually start new physical activities due to the motivation of their parents, the main reason they continue to take part is the friendships they develop.
Do the activities you look at for your young children require you to sign up for a term or purchase expensive uniforms or equipment before they have even taken part in a trial session?
Over time sport and physical activities have become more professionalized and many clubs continue to raise the financial barrier to entry. While most parents will expect some additional costs to start a new activity, what they don’t want is additional costs that are added after they sign up.
It is important for all clubs to make a profit (even the not for profit clubs) so they can pay their bills and reinvest in their service and facilities. While most parents don’t mind paying for a quality service, what they want to avoid is paying a large amount for unqualified coaches delivering poor programmes.
Our Little Dragon martial arts programme has been in operation since 2008 and is based on the MAPLE system (Martial Arts Physical Literacy Engine) developed by coach Phill Payne. This system provides a framework for designing fun sessions that are socially, physically and psychologically appropriate for your child’s age and stage of development.
After leaving the world of computer networking and security in 2008 to focus on coaching martial arts for a living, After looking for a way to take his coaching to the next level, he noticed that most martial arts instructors taught their children’s classes the same way as their adult classes. He knew there must be a better way but just didn’t know where to look to find answers.
After failing to find any local coaching courses, he studies to become a qualified Personal Trainer. Within a year of finishing the level 3 PT course, he found a BSc in Sports Coaching and eventually also attended an MSc in Sport Coaching too. The MAPLE system is the result of 10 years of development and over £40,000 invested into improving his coaching skills.
Often in the martial arts sector, students are eligible to coach others after passing a black belt test based on their ability to perform the martial art, not coach it. Within an industry with very little regulation, the Warrior Factory Halifax programme is a little different.
Not only do the Warrior Factory venues use a research-based children’s programme (Little Dragons Halifax), but many of the coaches hold a degree in either sports coaching or early years development. Matching highly qualified coaches with a research-based programme enables us to provide a safe, fun and developmentally appropriate environment for your child to grow and thrive.
In our Little Dragons Halifax programme the children learn various basic Taekwondo techniques. This includes hand kicks, strikes, stances and blocks.
We integrate FUNdamental Movement Skills into fun games to help the students build the skills required to support all physical activities.
Our Little Dragons Halifax programme for also includes helping them learn the skills that will give them a head start by the time they start school.
Social skills are a priority for this programme. The things we take for granted like taking turns, listening and respecting personal space will be developed, just like the other important life skills.
Physical fitness for young children focuses on locomotion, stabilisation, coordination and strength. These are all delivered in a developmentally appropriate way for these Little Dragons.
The aim of this programme is is to build a love for martial arts and physical activity while helping them develop confidence, self control and a growth mindset.