FAMILY HEALTH Active summer will keep kids healthy and happy

EVERY July parents across the UK are faced with six whole weeks where they need to keep the kids entertained. Coming up with fun, low-cost things to do can be tough – but luckily plenty of sports organisations provide holiday camps and fun days which have done all the hard work for you.

Keeping children active during the holidays is vital. The NHS recommends that 5-18 year olds ought to be doing at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day, but without break times outside, and scheduled school sports, it can difficult to make sure your kids are active enough.

This is why sports and activity camps are a great choice – they’re fun for the children and good for them too.

Choosing the right activities for your kids can be a challenge in itself, but there are a few questions you can ask which should help you make a decision. DO YOUR CHILDREN ALREADY HAVE A FAVOURITE SPORT? THIS probably sounds like an obvious consideration, but a child’s choice can often get overlooked for other factors like convenience and cost.

While you can’t discount those things, children are more likely to enjoy themselves and put effort in if the activities you choose are ones they already like or have expressed an interest in. Perhaps the most obvious example of a sport-specific camp is football camp, but if you look hard enough you’ll find that sports like trampolining, ice skating or volleyball feature in some summer kids programmes. IS THERE ENOUGH VARIETY? EVEN if the camp you choose is focused on one sport, they should be providing a variety of activities over the course of the day.

This is the only way to keep children interested and engaged over a number of hours and is much more likely to ensure your kids enjoy the experience.

If your children don’t have a sporting preference, choosing a camp with as wide a variety of different sports and activities as possible will mean they get a chance to try lots of different things and identify what they enjoy best. WHO ARE THE PEOPLE RUNNING THE COURSE? IT GOES without saying that if you’re going to entrust your children to a holiday camp, you need to have confidence in the people running it.

It’s worth taking the time to check up on an organisation’s qualifications and experience.

You ideally want an organisation that has plenty of experience in teaching and entertaining children, rather than simply qualifications relating to a particular sport. HOW MANY CHILDREN CAN TAKE PART? LOOK into how many kids will be taking part in a camp. You want there to be enough children to provide a good social mix – these kind of camps are a great opportunity to help kids learn social skills and the value of teamwork.

At the same time, it’s important camps aren’t too packed as it’s likely individuals won’t get enough of the instructor’s attention.

The ideal ratio will vary depending on the activity. For multi-sport camps, groups are Summer camps should be able to cater for fans of all sports, from footballers to volleyball players often larger – perhaps one instructor for a group of between 15 and 20 children – but for specialist activities and sports that may require more in-depth tuition, the number of children per instructor is likely to be less. ARE THERE FOLLOW-ON ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE? THE great thing about a holiday sports camp is that it can get your kids into a new sport or activity.

If your child has discovered something they love, then the last thing you want is for them not to be able to carry it on.

That’s why it’s really important to find out whether the camp organisers, or other organisations near you, have related regular activities that your kids can keep attending if they want to. ■ Tom Sellers is the Kids Co-ordinator at not-for-proft organisation Life Leisure