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There is no doubt about the importance of regular physical activity in a person’s life that not only helps them to stay healthy but also improves their emotional fitness. Including such activities right from the childhood is a good idea as it helps them to make it a part of their routine with ease. That is why having sports in school curriculum is considered a good thought.

A student should be physically and emotionally healthy and stay focused to perform well in their academics. Including sports activities in the curriculum can help them to achieve this to a great extent.

Making sports an indispensable element in school days comes with a lot of other benefits than you think. Here we are discussing a few among the most important benefits of making sports a part of the school curriculum.

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1. Can stay healthy: Regular physical activity in the form of sports can help students to stay healthy and avoid unwanted illness. One of the most important benefits is reduced risk of obesity which is otherwise a common problem among today’s kids. Students can benefit from increased cardiovascular fitness and increased bone density reduces the risk of osteoporosis. Also sports activities reduce chronic muscular tension, strengthen lungs, reduce blood sugar levels and regulate blood pressure. Students involved in sports grow up as more energetic individuals.

2. Maintain good fitness level: Being involved in sports activities help students to avoid formation of excess fat deposits and thus stay fit and slim. The training activities for the sports help them to develop a good posture which is an important factor of staying fit. Also they can improve their hand-eye and foot-eye co-ordination and attain a better balance. The interest in outdoor sports also avoids or minimizes their sedentary activities such as playing video games and watching television.

3. Boost in self esteem: Several research studies have noted that playing sports can enhance a child’s self-esteem and self-confidence. Even small gestures such as a handshake from the coach, a pat on the back from their team mate, a high-five from an opponent or praise of words from parents and friends can boost their self esteem as a student. They will learn to welcome constructive criticism and work on their weakness till they see improvement or success.

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4. Enhanced leadership skills: Sports activities not only demand the role of a team player but, a leader at times. Knowing how to lead a team in the school days will boost up their leadership quality which enables them to be good decision makers. Being a good leader not only demands them to lead from front but also need to boost their team with a winning spirit. This also teaches them to manage team emotions and improve team discipline.

5. Undergoes positive mentoring: Sports persons will have to undergo a lot of mentoring from their coaches and support staff before they achieve success. This positive mentoring can be an asset for them in all phases of life in one form or the other. They will learn how to manage emotions well and perform better which helps them to develop a positive mindset early in their childhood. Respecting authorities’ decisions and accept failures just like success is important in certain spheres of life.

6. Improved emotional fitness: The physical stimulation through sports improves their feeling of well being and creates happiness in them. Release of happiness hormones reduces mental depression and helps them to stay emotionally fit and cheerful. If they can change the love for the game and follow it as a passion, they can even form a career out of it. When they stay focused and work towards achieving their dream, it is always a pleasure.

7. Be more social: Being a part of sports team helps them to interact well with people of all ages. Making friends and respecting diversities with a more open mindset becomes easier. Mingling sessions with coaches and senior students gives them broad exposure to the life happenings and the ability to face everything with a smile. It gives them the courage and confidence to come forward in all circumstances and never stay back for an opportunity.

8. Enhanced discipline: Being a sports person teaches them important qualities of discipline which can act as a self boost in many aspects of life. Involving in any sports activity teaches them mental, physical as well as tactical discipline. They learn it in the form of following rules, practicing restraint or obeying the coach and respecting decisions. This enables students to accomplish their full potential and realize their goals, which are critical factors in attaining success.

Also Read : 10 Reasons Swimming Should Be Part of School Curriculum

9. Perform better in academics: Studies have shown a positive connection between sports activities and improved memory and cognitive functions of the brain. This means that students can perform better in academics if sports are made a part of their routine. Also a disciplined student can plan their lessons smart and score well in tests. Being physically active helps them to stay focused in their studies. Also the skills such as coordination, multitasking and situational awareness enhances their academic skills.

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10. Improved teamwork and cooperation: Sports competitions and matches needs a very good coordination, teamwork and cooperation. These skills will help students when they grow up as tomorrow’s individuals. In addition to participating in individuals sports, team sports improves their role as a team player which helps them a lot when it comes to group projects both in academics and future career. They will learn how to cooperate with others to win as a team which enables them to respect others’ views.

11. Efficient time management: This is another important skill gained by a student who is part of sports activities. Discipline on the clock is very important when it comes to any sport and this skill is an asset for students for life time. Their passion for sports will help them to efficiently divide the available time for games, practice as well as academics. Knowing how to manage the available time can be a great factor in their success journey.

12. Develop a success mindset: Being a sports person enables students to grow up with a success mindset which is really advantageous. In addition to strong focus and concentration development, they learn when to take risks and not. They will develop internal skills for handling pressure and will be dedicated to finding creative ways to improve. Critical thinking skills and coping skills gained during the phase prepares them to smartly deal with adversities.

13. Better patience and perseverance: These are two important elements they gain during their involvement with sports-Patience and perseverance. Athletes will easily learn how to keep practicing until they see the results. The perseverance helps them to go through bad times and become more resilient.

14. Improved sleep: Just like the improved health and fitness and every other factors, having a peaceful sleep for at least 8 hours a days is important. Research studies have noted a positive link between a better sleep and involvement in sports activities. Getting proper rest to the body just like relaxing your mind can help students to focus better, avoid illness and stay healthy.

15. Develop good life long habits: School days are the time when students tend to develop bad habits and start being in wrong relationships. However, keeping themselves busy with sports and academics gives them lesser free time to reckon and walk the disruptive path. The love and passion for sports would help students to develop good food habits and make exercise a part of their routine to stay fit. The discipline they earn during their sports phase helps them to refrain from any bad deeds which help them to grow up as good social beings.

School authorities can plan healthy competitions among students to evaluate where they stand and give away prizes for their achievements to keep them motivated. Let them taste success and failures right from their childhood which enables them to be good individuals with sportsman spirit.

When you say about including sports in school curriculum, it need not always be a supervised and well guided one always. It is better to form a group of students who have passion in certain sports skills and guide them to become good athletes.

However, not every student may like the pressure of being guided in their leisure activities. Let them play sports with minimal guidance just to ensure that they are safe but give them the freedom to form their own team, rules and just play for fun.

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Learning with fun is one of the most effective teaching strategies that are being adopted in most of the smart schools in the country. The right mix of games and curriculum are proved to be really effective in improving the learning skills of students. The game based learning enhances their interest for studies with an improved memory and attention.

Smart schools are including the proper mix of these games to help them learn better. Here let us have a look at how different games are fun and at the same time improve learning:

Memory games: Memorizing what they have learnt in class is important to apply it in real life and to excel in exams. Game based learning can be always fun and certain games can boost up their memory skills. Activity based learning always helps them to grasp the subject better than just one way lecture sessions. Some popular educational memory games such as bingo are good to teach mathematical expressions. Games such as Jeopardy are good to revise lessons at end of class or before exams. The play way method in fact increases their interest for learning as kids always crave for more games.
Computer games: Today’s world is dominated by technology and so it is important to make your kids well versed in adopting at least some of them from their early days. Computer games are one of the best ways to help your kid to learn more about technology and use of devices. With this strategy, even kids now know the working of computer and they can easily gain technical efficiency while they grow up. With cartoon network games, children would easily follow up the eye hand coordination and proper usage of keyboard and mouse. The exciting games in the internet also help them to enhance their general internet navigation.
Puzzles: Teachers now bring puzzles to classrooms to take away the boredom of one way teaching. Puzzles help them to improve their thinking and problem solving skills. Most of the games demand utilizing their logic and assessing the problem from different levels. Students will have to think out of the box to solve many puzzles. Understanding its importance in today’s education, teachers are using games as a tool for teaching. Even kids can learn spelling through spelling puzzles such as Hangman and formation of new words through a game known as chain spelling. Teachers have to wisely choose the type of puzzles for different levels of classroom to make the strategy more effective.
Vocabulary games: Improving a student’s vocabulary is really important to enhance their communication skills. Reading comprehension is a widely used strategy in which students would read aloud the lessons and teacher would correct their mistakes. However, some vocabulary games such as sentence race is really fruitful in improving their vocabulary in a much better way. This is actually a vocabulary review game for high school students in which they are asked to frame a sentence and write on the board that includes a given word. Some funny mime games are also now a popular choice to revise particular words or verbs. Engaging scenarios that include real life situations can improve the essence of gaming.
Adventure games: There are various digital and non digital forms of adventure games that are brought as part of learning sessions. This is one of the best ways to learn a new language in your school days. Exploring different levels of a game by clearly going through the guidelines itself give a chance to understand the language better. Adventure games are also good to develop a mindset to explore new things while you are a kid. This quality can really help a student to try and learn new things in life without a second thought. Gaming in classrooms promotes interactive learning and sometimes it can even give way for peer supported learning experience.
Skill acquisition games: Smart schools are including skill acquisition games into daily learning which helps kids to develop their social, cognitive and physical skills. The skills and knowledge one will get through activity learning can be retained for a comparatively longer period than what they gain through conventional learning methods. The video games such as car races are not only entertaining but teach them to control speed, move accurately or type quickly. Some games even trains them to have fine motor skills and spatial skills. This can be an added advantage once they move out of the school life. Some skills can really impact the way they face real life situations.
Creativity games: Bringing creativity in classrooms can make the learning phase more productive. Creative games are made a part of the lessons that help them to think creative and imaginative to find out solutions. Interesting games such as blind artist is popular in the list in which a kid has to draw a picture using his creativity and imagination by listening to his/her friend. More than entertainment, educational games are aimed at teaching the player about something new. Teachers are using such games to introduce new topics or discuss hard to understand subject areas. Nowadays, teachers are also promoting student made games that takes their creativity to new quality levels.
Competitive gaming: Competitive games are often challenging and students are forced to think out of the box to give their best. In a game based learning environment, students are utilizing the freedom of choosing their learning method. By pushing themselves harder and asking more questions, they are taking up an active role to learn on their own whenever they can. In multi player games such as competing with students from other schools, they can develop their non-cognitive skills too such as self control, motivation, perseverance and patience. This type of learning also promote mental stimulation, decision making and reasoning which they can apply better in real life.
Team work activities: Smart schools are also focussing on including games that promote team work activities. When you play as a team, it is not only fun but students can experience collective learning and collaboration. It is also an open platform for developing social skills while getting a chance to interact with your peers. He may also asses about his position among the peers and work towards achieving the goals. Students can break the cultural and language back grounds while working together towards achieving the goals. Game based learning is always a part of constructivist learning theory that backs students to perform better next time.
Outdoor sports: Being physically active by engaging in one or more sports can boost their energy level. More than simple fun, the characteristics associated with gaming such as definitive objectives, rules, challenge and measurable goals helps them to easily relate learning with practical life. The results of their decision making during game are understood almost instantly as compared to waiting for weeks or months for class test results. In fact, this is an open platform for them to try out their decision making skills without any fear. Higher retention rates are one of the key highlights in comparison with book learning.
Gamification at home: The classroom learning experience can be integrated with learning at home through gamification. Parents can take the role of bringing in some game based activities at home to revise what they have learnt in class. Kids are nowadays spending quality time in playing video games during their free time at home. In the present era, a student should be qualified in digital literacy which includes accountability and ethics in addition to strong communication skills. Playing by utilizing the possibilities of today’s technology can really help them to gain sufficient knowledge in digital learning.

These school games are gradually becoming part of the learning curriculum. Most of these games are in one way or the other effective in raising the learning spirits of students. Gamification alleviates the stress of a typical classroom and the concepts can be retained better through positive learning memories.