There are many types of sports activities that can be practiced. For simplicity, we present them in two categories: the first according to their health benefits, and the second according to the age groups of children. The following is an explanation.
Types of Sports Activities According to Their Health Benefits
Current sports activities fall into three categories:
1- Endurance Activities. These activities focus on maintaining the health of the heart, circulatory system, and lungs, and providing the body and organs with the energy necessary for daily functioning and movement. Examples of current sports activities include:
* Walking, in its various types and times, using regular field activities or special equipment currently available.
* Household activities that require various movements during daily family tasks and responsibilities.
* Working in the home garden, if available, or in agricultural, commercial, or manual activities that children perform as a daily duty when economically necessary, or to help the family when such responsibilities arise.
* Riding a bicycle is a common practice.
* Indoor swimming in regular or outdoor pools near beaches.
* Rhythmic movements accompanied by music.
* Using inline skates, which are available to children at a relatively reasonable cost, or using skating shoes on ice, which are available to children in affordable circumstances, as ice rinks for this sport charge a fee.
* Sports such as football, basketball, table tennis, volleyball (and netball), table tennis, or other well-known ball games.
2- Flexibility Activities.
These activities focus on improving the body’s readiness for movement with lightness and ease, relaxing muscles and joints, and living with greater vitality and longer life. They also provide children with a better, more enjoyable, and more optimistic quality of life when they grow up. Examples of these activities include the following:
* Various household chores. Hence, we advise families to assign as many family responsibilities as possible to their children, both boys and girls, given the benefits to their physical health first, then to their psychological, social, and personal well-being, as they develop self-reliance and skill in performing daily life duties in adulthood. * Various sports (other than weightlifting or weightlifting)
* Various rhythmic dance movements, whether folkloric or contemporary.
3- Strength Activities
These activities provide the body’s muscles and bones with strength in their structure and function. They improve overall physical appearance and prevent osteoporosis and the curvature of the body known as kyphosis, which occurs with aging and often occurs after the age of sixty. Examples of current activities include:
* Work that requires high effort in giving and receiving, transporting, carrying, cutting, or sawing at home, in the home garden, in agriculture, or in various professions in general.
* Climbing the stairs, especially if they are long and extend over several floors, as is sometimes seen in high-rise residential buildings.
* Exercises for the abdomen and body parts, and relatively intense body movements.
* Lifting various weights.
* Known athletics.
* Sprinting.
Types of Sports Activities by Age Group
We present examples of current activity types, including the following:
1. Sports activities suitable for children between the ages of birth and two, such as: the mother or siblings making sounds from the sides of the child’s bed, turning their face and body towards the sound, performing movements that are themselves considered sports. The child crawls towards the mother and siblings for several steps, and the game “Where Am I?” where the mother and siblings hide while the child closes their eyes with their hands. The child then begins searching for the mother and siblings to find them. Skiing, climbing, and descending using special play equipment and tools, grasping, holding, pulling, pushing, pulling, walking, standing, and sitting.
2. Sports activities suitable for children between the ages of two and three, such as: “Logo” games/plastic blocks, vehicle games that require children to move, open, fill, and empty specific boxes, playing with real plastic balls, jumping, walking, running, moving objects around the house, riding a tricycle or two-wheeled bicycle, swinging, climbing, and playing with sand and water.
3. Sports activities suitable for children aged three to four years, such as the games and movements mentioned in number 2. In addition, there are games and competitions that involve simple rules, such as playing with family members or a group of peers, with each member performing a specific role for the required time, or imitating the movements or gait of family members, animals, or others.
4. Sports activities suitable for children aged four to five years, such as: In addition to what was mentioned in number 3, children can engage in activities and games such as chasing siblings or peers, arranging objects by color, size, or length, or sorting them by type or color, performing household chores that require walking and/or movement, and playing games available through children’s equipment in public parks. Skating and rhythmic movements can also be performed.
5. Sports activities suitable for children aged five to six years, such as playing ball, walking, running, jumping, cycling, and peer group games in general, which involve some competition and adherence to roles and rules.
6- Appropriate sports activities for children aged six to twelve. Children at this age are in elementary school. Examples of activities they participate in include: group games, Swedish movements, ball games, running, jumping, athletics appropriate in terms of intensity and equipment, morning exercises, swimming, taekwondo, gymnastics, and other activities offered at this age.
7- Appropriate sports activities for children aged thirteen to eighteen. Children at this age are in middle and high school. Children at this age participate in all team and individual sports that require competition, such as specialized football teams, swimming, running, athletics, cycling, and many others.
Children at this age are also expected to exercise for at least half an hour, on three selected days a week, and to make physical exercise a part of their daily lifestyle.