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I am a father of a 4 year old daughter. I'm not trying to push her to be a professional athlete, but wanted sports to be a part of her life. She is currently in soccer class, and seems a bit disinterested compared to the other kids. I don't want to push too hard, but don't want to be too laid back either. For those who have been down this road before I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.
I wouldn't take her attitude toward one sport at the age of 4 too seriously. 4 yo are easily distracted....I would spend the next few years letting her try a variety of sports just for fun. Not all kids are team-sport oriented - she may prefer dance or rock climbing to soccer or volleyball. I think the most important thing you can do at this age is to lead by example and use postive reinforcement. Be an active family - hiking, swimming (whatever is available where you live). Have fun with it.
I wouldn't take her attitude toward one sport at the age of 4 too seriously. 4 yo are easily distracted....I would spend the next few years letting her try a variety of sports just for fun. Not all kids are team-sport oriented - she may prefer dance or rock climbing to soccer or volleyball. I think the most important thing you can do at this age is to lead by example and use postive reinforcement. Be an active family - hiking, swimming (whatever is available where you live). Have fun with it.
Excellent, excellent advice.
My sons, who all became athletes, were still looking for bugs in the grass when they were four.
(And if she isn't sports-oriented at all, I hope you will accept that. It's not everybody's cup of tea.)
There are other ways to have an active life aside from participating in competitive sports. My boys are not into traditional "sports" at all, but they bike to and from school everyday regardless of the weather (it's 2 miles to school one-way, so they each ride their bikes about 4 miles a day, more if they ride their bikes with friends after school), they swim several times a week (often taking private swimming lessons and springboard diving classes just for fun), they sandboard (like snowboarding but on sand dunes - which I think is a LOT more work than snowboarding because once you board down you then have to hike back up these huge towering dunes yourself - no lifts to pull you back up the mountain!), and we regularly hike, backpack, and camp as a family. They used to practice martial arts but after a few years they lost interest in it, and that's OK. Our oldest son is an avid tree climber and even began a tree climbing workshop over the summer with other tree climbing enthusiasts. He's also a certified lifeguard - at age 15. We follow their lead. As long as they are active and healthy and not couch potatoes we are happy.
Your daughter is so young still... you have a few years yet to go before you need to be concerned about an inactive lifestyle. Like others have suggested - she'll follow your lead. If you're active, chances are she will be, too.
I am a father of a 4 year old daughter. I'm not trying to push her to be a professional athlete, but wanted sports to be a part of her life. She is currently in soccer class, and seems a bit disinterested compared to the other kids. I don't want to push too hard, but don't want to be too laid back either. For those who have been down this road before I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.
Having been a child once, I feel qualified to respond. Not all children are interested in the things you want them to be interested in. Perhaps she is artistic and wants to be a artist or a singer or something like that.
Encourage her to do what SHE finds interesting and wants to do. And anyway, at 4, I'd think she'd rather be playing with dolls than getting dirty kicking a ball around a field. If you want her to be physically active, try a pink tutu and pretty pink ballerina shoes. I'll be she will like that a lot more.
I never played team sports, other than in gym class. It was just never my thing, although I did compete competitively in a solo sport. Don't fall into the trap of thinking organized team sports are the only athletic option out there (or, as noted, even the only opportunity for activity out there). As she grows older give her the chance to try out different sports, and maybe she'll find one (or several; kids specialize way too early these days) that she likes. I think it's reasonable and admirable to expose her to many different options, but think it's unfair to her to try to push her into playing a sport just because you want her to do so. Still, given the wide range of athletic options out there she's sure to find something she enjoys. And if the goal is activity, don't forget options like dance. It might not be a sport, but it's certainly extremely physically intensive.
I always thought gymnastics where nice to do as a child. Its fun because you have to work towards more advanced stuff. and practice is learning. Unlike the 6 years of "mandatory" softball I had to endure that my father coached. We have home movies of me sitting in the outfield picking dandelions and drawing in the sand. I remember for some really weird reason (not weird, I was 9 year old and that was the last year for whatever league I was in) I was in the all star game. And I remember thinking "I dont even like the regular games".
My daughter loved gymnastics from 3 to 5 yrs. She started dance at 4 and continued in it for 8 yrs doing ballet, jazz & hiphop. She lost interest going into middle school, but did finish out the year, being we had paid for it. In 7th and 8th grade, she did basketball. Now in 9th grade, she is a color guard in the marching band which keeps her plenty active. She also takes English riding lessons.
My daughter never had an interest in playing soccer on a team, but she did love kicking the ball around in the backyard w/ her dad.
she is only 4- find one thing for now- that is age appropriate- she shouldn't have much of an attention span for sports yet- let her try a few things each year then she will decide later what she likes to do- when my d was 4 she did a ballet class that was geared toward the younger ages....
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He's also a certified lifeguard - at age 15. We follow their lead. As long as they are active and healthy and not couch potatoes we are happy. 
