Parents are pivotal in their children's physical development. Participation in sport and physical activity is fundamental to the health and development of our children and youth.

It provides the foundation for a healthy lifestyle and is associated with a range of benefits throughout life including social interaction, increased attentiveness, confidence, health and overall wellbeing. At the same time, we know that being inactive is a cause of many health problems such as obesity and diabetes which have increased in recent years.

Without parental encouragement and a willingness to become involved in recreational activities at various levels, children will not receive adequate exposure to activities that can enhance their lives, both in the short and long term.

Just as research has shown children whose parents take an active interest in their education (e.g. encouraging reading) have a better chance of academic achievement, children whose parents encourage physical activity will be more inclined to lead healthy, active lives.

US studies have shown parents have the most influence on whether or not their children will participate in inclusive recreation and leisure. Parents are usually the "strongest allies" to recreation professionals and play a key role in promoting inclusive recreation and leisure.

There are many areas which parents can become involved with to help encourage their children. This page offers some suggestions on how this can be achieved.

Anyone with any involvement in sport has seen "the ugly parent" - the ones who adopt an aggressive, overbearing, or pushy approach to their child's involvement. It doesn't go down well with anyone ... particularly the ugly parent's child. The basic premise of all physical activity for anyone, adult or child, is "have fun".

There are many strategies for encouraging children to adopt a more physically-active lifestyle. These can be found on the Australian Sports Commission's web site.

Children should be free to take part in sport and recreation without risk of abuse.

By implementing volunteer screening and member protection policies and procedures organisations add to the overall safety of those who participate in sport and recreation.

The department provides guidelines on initiatives that aim to minimise the risk of children being harmed within the sport and recreation industry. These areas include harassment, abuse, discrimination, sport in schools and photographing children.

One of the department's youth initiatives, intended for regional areas, is the Smarter Than Smoking scholarship. Selected athletes who have been identified by their State Sporting Association as having potential to reach state or national selection, receive assistance for sport development directly associated with their performance (e.g. support to attend training sessions, state and national team selections, state and national competitions, special coaching sessions, etc).

Scholarships

The Department of Sport and Recreation provides four fantastic recreational camps situated around the greater Perth area.

The camps offer schools and organisations the ideal location for conferences, personal development, team building and participation in a safe and fun environment.

What are you doing these school holidays?

If you are looking for fun activities for the kids these holidays, you have come to the right place.

We have listings of activities, events, clinics, camps and much more. You can search the list by activity or by simply entering your postcode to discover all the events in your area.

So tell your friends, parents, grandparents, local sporting clubs and teams about this calendar and let's get active! Check out the Active Kids School Holiday Calendar

Holiday sport and recreation activity providers can submit program information online at no cost. Click here to register your program for the calendar

Suggested strategies and best practice examples for initiating and maintaining partnerships between sports and schools.

Forming links

Getting young people involved

Long term involvement

Making sport safe

Passport into schools

The Lab is an online library of research on education and youth issues.

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