Taking the pulse of Greater Orlando parents and their kids

Each month, Talking Orlando speaks with parents and children throughout Greater Orlando to get their thoughts on a variety of subjects. This time, we asked participants:

What do your children get out of playing sports and participating in other physical activities, and what are some of their favorites?

“She loves gymnastics. In her mind, it’s play time, but of course we know it helps to not only exhaust her for nap time, but also that physical activity is good for every child just to be healthy.”
—Crystaline Barrera, mother of Zoe (age 3)

“We actually just signed him up for soccer. I thought it was important for him to be part of a team. Being an only child right now [with a sibling on the way], he needed interaction in learning how to share and having to go to something every week where other people depended on him. I thought that was important. He loves going to the playground. He is super active, so anything we can do… [We] bought an indoor and an outdoor trampoline—anything that gets his energy out we will try and do for him. We go to the zoo because he can run, and the science center—anything where he can run and be active.”
—Devin Wilber, mother of Dean (age 3)

“She has ADD and OCD issues, and working her out helps channel it. So she’s more relaxed, she gets her energy out, she’s able to focus more. She loves to play soccer and basketball, and she likes to walk and work out in the gym with mom.”
—Jeni McCreary (mother of Hal, age 14)

“I think the camaraderie of being part of a team and teamwork, and learning to work well with others. And the added benefit of exercise and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They like to play basketball and run, and swimming—really anything.”
—Renee Brach, mother of Brooks and Hudson (ages 10 and 7)

“She gets the value of working as a team to accomplish a certain goal, she gets exercise, and she learns patience and coordination. Her favorites are cheerleading and karate.”
—Christy Haney-Hunter, mother of Nichole (age 11)

“I have a little guy, and we just started him in soccer for the sociability aspect—to interact with other children, to learn some motor skills, to enjoy kicking the ball around and hopefully find something athletically that he enjoys, but more importantly to enjoy what he’s doing. We also go to O2B Kids, where they have all different types of activity classes, and they’ve taught many basic skills from crawling to walking, and again the social atmosphere, interacting with other kids.”
—Scott McNicol, father of a son (age 2)

“Some of his favorite sports are karate, soccer, swimming and running. He just likes to run and play. The importance of that is the karate teaches him leadership skills and discipline, and the soccer teaches him team sports and how to be a team player, and the physical aspects—that it’s good exercise—all the sports are good exercise, so that’s why we do it.”
—Anonymous, mother of a son (age 7)

“They both ride bicycles. I think they enjoy that because we live in the country, and they see neat things and it’s peaceful. My son wants to increase his stamina. My daughter also does gymnastics.”
—Keelan Stuart, father of Braedan and Luna (ages 13 and 9)

“They learn how to handle their bodies and how to appreciate healthy living, and sweating and working out. If it’s team sports, it’s always great to help with self-esteem and learn how to work together with other children and other people, and helps develop skills up until they’re grownups. Their favorites are riding bicycles, dance and playing outside, running around, having a good time.”
—Laura D’Abbondanza, mother of Brayden and Joelle (ages 9 and 7)

“Both play competitive club soccer where they play teams throughout Central Florida. Participating in extracurricular sports teaches them commitment, social skills, confidence, exercise, time management, responsibility and trust. My kids are all about soccer, but they also both play football and basketball with their neighborhood friends in our yard or at the local park. Both also used to play basketball prior to gravitating solely to soccer year-round.”
—Mike Lawrence, father of Aden and Kai (ages 13 and 8)

This article originally appeared in Orlando Family Magazine’s March 2017 issue.