Gymnastics offers children a wide variety of benefits, ranging from physical and psychological development, to developing their social skills - as well as simply just being good fun! 

Let’s take a look at the top 5 reasons why you should take your kids to gymnastics.

Cognitive Development

Gymnastics helps to stimulate and activate each part of our brain and can be a vital part of exercising it. For children, gymnastics can therefore assist in their cognitive development. Developing strong cognitive abilities at a young age helps children with their learning, focus and their dexterity.

Our brains are split into two, the left side is responsible for analytical thoughts whereas the right side of the brain is focused on spatial awareness and creative thinking. The vast majority of sports require both - but not at the same time. It is usually the case that one side is thinking of one activity whereas the other is focusing on an alternative activity.

Gymnastics, on the other hand, requires the athlete to coordinate both hemispheres of their brain in what is called a ‘coordinated skill’. An example of this in gymnastics is the use of the parallel bars, a child must hold both their legs and feet together simultaneously whilst moving both arms in tandem. The child has to engage both sides of their brain together. As a result, gymnastics naturally promotes coordinated skills and assists in developing this specific cognitive function.

Teamwork

Gymnastics is a highly team-based sport, children are encouraged to work together and to lean on their peers for personal development and enjoyment! 

Gymnastics classes can therefore help your child develop key social skills, such as following directions, supporting and assisting others, showing empathy and encouragement as well as an overall respect for both authority figures (the teachers) and equals (other children).

Confidence

Gymnastics goes a step further than many sports, by providing continuous achievable challenges and goals to aspire to. The challenges children face at school can often be abstract learning tasks. Gymnastics gives kids another type of task, by offering a direct form of challenge and achievement. Children can use this sport to develop confidence in their abilities, and therefore be more willing to engage with challenges presented in other walks of life.

Confidence development is vital for developing strong self-esteem – an increasingly integral and important part of a child’s life with the prominence of social media.

Self-Discipline

Gymnastics also helps children to develop an understanding of self-discipline. Children may sometimes want to avoid their commitments, but having your child regularly attend gymnastics classes on days when they might be tired will build their discipline. It allows them to develop an appreciation for commitments, which is the very essence of self-discipline.

Moreover, unlike many activities that children must do (homework being one key activity), they will thoroughly enjoy themselves when they attend gymnastics! Gymnastics associates positivity with self-discipline, making it far easier to perform tasks that are less enjoyable for your child. 

Health & Wellness

An obvious, but clearly hugely beneficial aspect of gymnastics is that it promotes healthy living and a healthy body. Gymnastics allows children to engage with exercise in a fun, safe and positive environment.

Getting children to exercise is challenging at the best of times. As adults, we know how difficult it is to get exercising - so finding a fun activity for your kids to do which also gets them active can be priceless. Gymnastics offers a broad range of activities that will engage your kids’ imagination and make them more eager to try new things. Your children will be exercising without even realising it!

These are just 5 of the many reasons why you should get your child involved in gymnastics – I hope they proved helpful!

Ready to get started? Find out about the best gymnastics classes for kids in London and Manchester.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko