Physical activity is good for children of all ages. Many children find participating in organized sports (such as being part of a soccer team or taking gymnastics lessons) to be a fun way to keep active. To get the most benefit out of a sport, children need certain skills. Otherwise, they may get frustrated and not want to play at all.
Learning basic skills such as throwing, running and jumping is a normal process that most children go through. They learn each skill in little steps. Some children learn faster than others.
By the time they are three to five years old, most children have learned some of these skills. To play organized sports, kids need to learn how to put these skills together (for example, how to run and throw at the same time). That doesn’t happen until they are about 6 years old.
Sports can be changed to make it easier for children to play at their level. This can be done by:
- using smaller equipment;
- changing positions often (for example, the catcher becomes a fielder for a while);
- making games and practices shorter; and
- making the game fun so that children want to keep playing.
To learn different skills, children need to play different sports.
To know if your child is ready to play a sport, you need to know if he or she has the different skills needed. The chart on this page may be helpful. It shows the skills that children of different ages usually have and what sport they can start to play.
Children should start participating in organized sports when they have the needed skills to play the sport and when they want to play a certain sport. Children should be encouraged to play sports that they like, but they should play a few different sports at first and not just one sport, which may lead to injuries. Parents and coaches can help by making sure that each child is ready to play the sport and by making the sport fun so that children can be more active and healthy.
Children’s skills at different ages
| Early childhood: 3 to 5 years old | Middle childhood: 6 to 9 years old | Late childhood: 10 to 12 years old | Early teens: 13 to 15 years old | Late teens: 16 to 18 years old | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motor skills (movement) | Can run, jump, throw Able to balance a bit |
Basic skills (running, jumping, throwing) getting better Balance improving Starting to learn harder skills (for example throwing for distance) |
Getting better at harder skills (such as kicking a ball into a net) Learning some complicated skills (such as doing a lay-up in basketball or hitting a pitch in baseball) |
Children have growth spurts but body becomes less flexible Puberty occurs at different times |
Continuing to grow into adults Skills are closer to an adult level. |
| Vision | Not mature until 6 to 7 years of age Hard to follow direction and speed of moving objects |
Better at judging speed of moving objects but still hard to tell direction of moving objects | Fully developed (as good as that of an adult) | Fully developed | Fully developed |
| Learning | Very short attention span Learn best by copying others |
Short attention span Hard to remember a lot of details and make fast decisions |
Better attention Better able to remember |
Better attention span Able to remember plays and strategy |
Good attention span Good memory |
| Skills to focus on during this age period | Learn basic skills Fun play and trying different things is more important than competing |
Practice basic skills and learn harder skills | Practice skills Learn tactics and game strategy |
Focus on individual strengths | Focus on individual strengths |
| Suggested activities | Running, tumbling, throwing, catching, riding a tricycle | Entry-level soccer and baseball, swimming, running, gymnastics, skating, dance, racquet sports such as tennis, riding a bicycle, noncontact martial arts | Entry-level football, basketball and ice hockey | Early-maturing boys: track and field, basketball, ice hockey Late-maturing girls: gymnastics, skating |
All sports depending on interest. |
More information from the CPS:
Reviewed by:
CPS Healthy Active Living and Sports Medicine Committee
Last updated: August 2005
