Approximately 18.5 percent of all children between the ages of two and 19 are considered obese in America. The epidemic of obesity among children is one that’s only growing in the U.S.
If you are a concerned parent, and want to fight this trend, the best thing you can do is take steps to ensure your child is active. A great activity for children of all ages is ballet. However, the benefits of ballet aren’t just physical.
Some of the specific benefits, besides fighting obesity, offered by ballet classes for children can be found here.
1. Dedication and Discipline
If your child wants to be good at ballet, they have to be disciplined and dedicated to going to class. There’s no question that some parts of ballet are challenging and sticking with it teaches your child how to keep trying, even if things become difficult.
While progress may be slow at first, one day they will nail a difficult move and be extremely proud of the achievement. Once they experience this feeling of pride, they will be dedicated to learning and mastering other things, too. This is beneficial for many things in life, including at school and eventually when they get a job.
2. Teamwork
While this may seem counter-intuitive, being a dancer actually requires teamwork. Most, if not all dancers, will have to work with others, creating in-sync movements. If one person’s head or body is different, then the entire dance may suffer.
What’s even more impressive is that all these moves are orchestrated without speaking. Even during the early stages of ballet, children will have to work with other dancers in their class and get along even in difficult situations.
3. Boost in Self-Esteem
As your child accomplishes moves and dances, they will receive a boost in self-esteem. As your child improves and masters even more challenging movement combinations, they will become more self-assured, which will carry into other parts of their lives.
Even better, dance classes can be a great way for your child to relax and use their excess energy that may be left over after school. This helps ensure they can get a great night’s sleep for the next day.
4. Memory Benefits
As children learn movements and dances, they are required to remember sequences to recreate a dance at a later time. This type of memory exercise is great for children of all ages, as it can even help to boost their performance in school.
Also, ballet movements are often easier to remember than other forms of dance. This makes ballet classes the perfect foundation for other types of dance, such as tap, hip-hop and jazz.
5. Physical Benefits
While ballet classes can help your child remain active and healthy, there are other physical benefits, too. For example, these classes can help to improve a child’s muscular strength, range of motion and flexibility.
Learning ballet can also help to boost balance and coordination while correcting poor alignment. The movements that combine leaping and jumping increase your child’s heart rate, helping to improve stamina, endurance and overall cardiovascular health. Just like other types of dance, ballet can also help to improve physical self-control and body awareness.
If you are looking for a physical outlet for your child – boy or girl – consider ballet classes. You can get ballet shoes for all ages at Just for Kix and find classes offered for all ages. As you can see, this activity offers a wide array of benefits, each of which will help your child now and later in life.