Beijing News Sports | Reporter Wang Xiaoxiao
This week, as offline sports training institutions resumed classes, an infant swimming pool located in a business district in Chaoyang District became lively again. Many of the primary school students are only two or three years old, and some babies are even less than one year old and cannot walk yet, but they are already "adept" in the water.
Many people think that children who have not yet entered kindergarten cannot "practice" sports, or they want to introduce their children to sports but have no way of "starting". In this regard, Dong Jinxia, ​​president of the Beijing Children's Sports Association and professor at Peking University, told our reporter that babies before the age of 3 can also do a lot of sports. "In fact, the best early education is exercise."
10 per child Month-old baby is taking swimming lessons. Picture courtesy of Water Bubble International Aquatic Growth Center
Crawling is the most important exercise
Dong Jinxia said that "sports" for children under 3 years old mainly focus on the development of body movements. As a parent, you must not only help your baby exercise, but also create a suitable environment for it.
For babies, raising their heads, turning over, sitting alone, and crawling are all physical exercises. Through these "movements", babies not only develop physical abilities, but also gain a deeper understanding of the world and self-awareness. Parents can consciously train and guide the baby, such as holding the baby's hands and feet to stretch, and helping the baby to make correct force movements when turning over. Even if you hold it, you can stimulate your baby's vestibular development by holding it head-down, rolling it, etc., and help your baby improve his spatial perception.
When the baby can stand and walk, and then starts to run and jump, and likes to kick, catch and throw, there will be more "tricks" for exercise. Just walking, you can also walk forward, backward, sideways, squatting... Even placing a row of books as a single-plank bridge is a good balance exercise. When the baby crawls, parents can also guide the baby's posture changes by setting up different routes and obstacles. Tables, chairs, newspapers, and pillows can all be used as props.
Dong Jinxia emphasized: Crawling is the most important exercise in early childhood. "The basis of crawling is body coordination, and coordination is mainly controlled by the brain's nervous system. Crawling can not only exercise muscles, but also promote brain development. Even if the baby can run, you can continue crawling training by increasing the difficulty of the route." She It is recommended that parents provide suitable venues and equipment to encourage babies to crawl freely. "In particular, do not use tools such as walkers to encourage children's growth, and do not restrict babies from crawling."
Changchun City previously held the "Healthy Doll Crawling Contest". Image source: Xinhua News Agency
Register for classes, the two most recommended projects are
If "practicing" at home is not enough, babies can also participate in training classes. Dong Jinxia recommends that babies practice two sports, in addition to swimming mentioned above, and gymnastics.
Dong Jinxia said that the most important "sports" for infants and young children is gymnastics. "This gymnastics is not broadcast gymnastics or difficult competitive gymnastics, but in a broad sense. Such as climbing, jumping, rolling, flipping, supporting, and walking on single-plank bridges, Front roll , back roll , and assisted handstand are all basic movements of gymnastics. "The Beijing Children's Sports Association has previously launched an online competition for children to hang on the bar (static suspension ). "It is actually hanging on the horizontal bar. Babies are born with a grasping reflex, and many babies over 1 year old can perform hanging bar training under adult protection. As long as regular equipment is used and the time and intensity are controlled, this action will not damage the joints. It can also exercise grip strength and upper limb shoulder girdle muscle strength, and effectively correct and prevent scoliosis, which is common in young children."
According to Dong Jinxia, ​​there are currently some institutions in China that carry out gymnastics training for young children, founded by world gymnastics champion Fan Ye. The club has courses for babies aged 1 to 3 years old. In addition, large early childhood education institutions have abundant venues and equipment, and exercise classes are mostly conducted in the form of games, which is also a good choice.
Infant swimming is different from the understanding of many adults. "Actually, it's about playing in the water. It's not about learning skills, but about cultivating awareness of water and self-protection awareness such as breath holding. Babies can swim as young as a few months old."However, Dong Jinxia reminds parents not to use collars on their babies, as it is not good for the baby's spinal health." "
In addition, Dong Jinxia also mentioned that scooters and balance bikes , which have been very popular in recent years, are very beneficial to the baby's limb coordination, spatial perception, leg strength, etc. But compared with gymnastics and swimming, muscles The overall participation is not enough, and the movements are highly repetitive, which is not conducive to balanced development. “It can be played, but systematic training is not recommended. "
A two-and-a-half-year-old child rides a balance bike on a professional pump track. Wang Yun/photo
Misunderstandings mainly involve going to two extremes
Dong Jinxia said that regarding children's sports, parents can easily fall into two misunderstandings: One is that it is too much Caution, one is too radical.
“Some parents are too worried about their baby’s safety and dare not let their baby exercise. But safety cannot be provided by parents. "Dong Jinxia said, "Only by exercising more, developing strong bones, strong muscles, good sense of space and coordination, and strong body control, will the self-protection ability be strong. "
The other extreme is the premature specialization and specialization of physical education. "What children need is to play, to move and play in various forms at all times, and to strengthen their physical fitness during play, rather than to pursue excellence. She also suggested that parents should not place too much emphasis on "surpassing others" and "taking first place" in their children, and inculcate a sense of competition, "which may have a negative impact on children's psychology." "
In addition, Dong Jinxia also said that while encouraging babies to exercise, parents should also move themselves. "Parents cannot sit still and let their babies move on their own, let alone think that attending classes at a training institution is enough. If you want your baby to be active, you must first have active parents. Moreover, it is best to take your baby for more outdoor sports, which not only exercises the body, but is also good for eyesight and mental health. "
