Articles Index
Sports and Fitness for Kids with Attention Disorders
Coping with attention disorders can be stressful for kids (not to mention parents, siblings, and teachers). Ensuring that your child with ADD or ADHD gets plenty of exercise can help. Consider these sports and fitness activities.
Physical Activities to Build Your Preschooler's Gross Motor Skills
Preschoolers are developing gross motor skills—learning to use the large muscles in their legs, arms, and trunk--so they need lots of opportunities to move their bodies. Try these playful physical activities to help build your child's skills.
Keep Your Child From Being a Quitter
Are you afraid your child is a quitter? It can be tough to hear him say he wants to quit a team. But before you say no, listen to his reasons and react accordingly.
Sports and Fitness for Kids with Learning Disabilities
Kids with learning disabilities can sometimes find a place to shine in sports. Find out why sports benefit children with learning differences, and how to help them succeed.
Pick an Inexpensive Active Toy
Stuff your child's stocking (or stock a birthday party goody bag) with an inexpensive active toy--like these small, low-cost goodies that promote exercise, fitness, and physical activity for kids of all ages.
Why Kids Need Water
Kids need water every day to stay healthy and hydrated. The best beverages for children are water, low-fat milk, and 100% fruit juice.
Youth Sports Profile: Kids' Ice Hockey
The slam-bang sport of kids ice hockey isn't just for boys, or big kids either. Find the basics on this popular youth sport, from costs (yes, they can be high) to risks to finding a program in your area.
Youth Sports Profile: Water Polo Team
Is your child ready to show some serious power in the pool by joining a water polo team? This sport is demanding, exciting, and gaining in popularity. Check out this unique youth sport.
The Best Sports for Kids
Looking for the best sports for kids? Joining a team encourages your child to be active, practice teamwork, and learn new skills. He may even find an activity he'll enjoy for decades to come. So choose sports for kids with care.
Dealing with Homesickness at Sports Camp
Is your child going to sports camp? Even the toughest-seeming athlete can succumb to feelings of homesickness. Find strategies for dealing with homesickness at overnight camp and helping your child enjoy his camp experience.
Sports Camp Packing List
Include these essentials on your camp packing list for summer sports programs. While your child's camp may provide a packing list, you can get a jump start (or a reality check) with these suggestions.
Find the Best Sports Camps for Kids
Sports camps for kids vary widely in focus, intensity, and quality. Find out how to choose a camp that helps your young athlete improve his skills and have fun too.
Prevent and Treat Childhood Obesity
A diagnosis of childhood obesity can be devastating for a parent to hear. But prevention is possible, and so is treatment if a child is already overweight. Taking steps to reduce obesity lowers the risk of serious health consequences - most likely for the entire family.
Healthy Half-Time Snacks
Learn the best healthy half-time snacks for kids, plus what to eat before and after a game. Kids' nutritional needs are different in the hours before and after physical activity, so provide pre-game, post-game, and snacks that give young athletes the nutrients they need.
The Dangers of the Food Reward
Using food as a reward can have unintended and unhappy consequences for your child's diet, now and in the future. Although they can be effective in the short term, food rewards have a serious downside.
Youth Sports Profile: Rowing Crew
Don't be fooled by the boats gliding gently down the stream. Rowing crew is an intense, physically challenging sport, one that requires more teamwork than almost any other. If your child is interested in rowing crew, find out more about its exciting events.
Create a Healthy Sports Snack Policy
Create or improve sports snacks by asking your child's league to institute a healthy snack policy, or even to ask parents not to bring snacks to share at all.
Sports and Fitness for Children with Intellectual Disabilities
Children with intellectual disabilities need opportunities for fitness and sports just like every child does. Find out what kind of physical activities are best for children with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities.
Sports and Fitness for Kids with Autism
For kids with autism, fitness activities can help improve motor skills, muscle tone, sensory integration, and social development. Find out what kind of physical activities are best for kids and teens on the autism spectrum.
Vacation Packing Lists for Active Family Travel
These vacation packing lists will help you prepare for your next family trip, no matter what special activities you have planned. Includes packing tips and advice for adventure and active vacations.
Let's Move: Michelle Obama's Obesity Awareness Campaign
First Lady Michelle Obama's obesity awareness and prevention campaign, Let's Move, has become more than a worthy cause--she describes it as her passion and her mission. For Mrs. Obama, obesity is a crisis, especially for children and families, and one that must be addressed aggressively.
Youth Sports Profile: Cross Country Running
Races go off-road with cross country running, in which kids compete to run the fastest time on a natural terrain course. Cross country running can be a great fit for kids who like to run and love the outdoors.
Sports and Fitness for Kids with Asthma
For kids with asthma, exercise-induced asthma is a concern, but need not limit participation in all sports or fitness activities. Find out how to make sure kids with asthma get plenty of healthy exercise.
Youth Sports Profile: Kids' Ice Skating
Getting kids started in ice skating can open the door to several other youth sports, as well as a recreational activity they can enjoy for a lifetime. Find the basics on kids' ice skating, from when lessons can start to how to find a rink or program in your area.
Gross Motor Skills Development Timeline
A gross motor skills development timeline tells you when you can expect your child to crawl, walk, and run, and how to help build large motor skills and muscles.