How to encourage kids to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities

The holistic development of kids requires much more than just academic engagement. Sports and extracurricular activities are essential components of school education and require the utmost care from parents to encourage the participation of students. It contributes to developing a more dynamic personality that enables students to be more enthusiastic and agile in their academic and post-academic phases. National Public School is among the top schools in Bangalore and has facilitated several activities for student participation. We take such activities seriously and urge parents to encourage their wards to participate in co-curricular activities to ensure their holistic development. 

Participating in these activities has a bigger picture than just another thing students do in school life. Students learn several things by participating in these activities that can not be taught through textbooks. Despite the availability of these activities, the behavior of several students toward these is apathetic. 

To aid students’ disinterest, teachers and parents need to take some ironclad measures and develop the zest in students to participate in these activities. Participating in these activities is about winning and being socially more active. The same contributes to developing an evolved and more profound mindset in students. 

Students’ psychology in disinterest toward school activities

Finding out the reason behind the indifferent behavior of students towards such activities is a crucial task. The introverted personality of a few students can be one reason. However, it does not justify the figures suggesting the disinterest of several other students. 

The primary reason behind this is students think and propagate these activities as a waste of time, and they could do something more meaningful. This mindset could be due to the influence of people around or no care shown by parents. Kids often back down from these activities due to their fear of humiliation. 

Whatever the reason, students not participating in these activities are missing a crucial aspect of student life. Parents need to bring to attention that these activities make students emotionally more mature, enabling them to have a more successful professional life. These activities also contribute to the psychological well-being of students. Negligence towards these seizes the opportunities for children to learn valuable life lessons. The same may also bring inconsistency in their mid-academic phases. 

Things that may contribute to better student engagement 

The motive for conducting these activities is to encourage students to participate. Parents and teachers can do certain things to develop students’ interests and inclinations toward such activities. Both efforts can help shape future generations’ minds into more evolved and practical beings. Despite the academic success, some people lack the way of social interaction, understanding of things that may or may not work at the ground level, and superficial understanding of things outside the textbooks, which becomes a hurdle in their path. 

• Introducing students to these activities

Several students fail to understand these activities and become ignorant of their occurrence. The same makes it difficult for them to engage in these activities actively. Introducing them with details about different activities can bring their interest to them. It may add a quality that attracts people who meet them. Moreover, it can bring other career opportunities to account and open other pathways to make career choices. In both cases, these are favorable for students, and parents and teachers must collaborate to bring this to action. 

• Encouraging participation despite the results

Students often feel insecure about participating in these activities due to fear of losing and embarrassment. Encouraging students to participate in these activities to learn and adapt and ensuring other students do not make fun of other students can be a step that can conclude better results. 

• Promoting group activities

Participation in group activities promotes the spirit of teamwork and enables students to understand that they can accomplish complex tasks by collaborating rationally. 

• Appreciating students for their effort

Students get disappointed when they fail to excel at such activities. Encouraging them by appreciating their efforts can be a good positive reinforcement technique. 

• Providing individual attention to introverted students

Students have different talents and remain unused unless provoked by teachers and parents. Providing individual attention enables them to open up, allows teachers to discover their talents, and encourages them to participate in activities they excel at. 

Concluding remarks

Teachers and parents should encourage students to participate in sports and extracurricular activities to ensure their 360-degree development. Students often feel overwhelmed due to a lack of confidence or hesitation when asked to participate in these activities. Parents and teachers could introduce and encourage students to be more active in these activities. National Public School ranks among the top schools in Bangalore and provides students with an environment that contributes to their holistic development.