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[quote=Anonymous]He's 5 years old.  I think I wouldn't do a "sport" at this age, especially for a child who doesn't like it.

What I would do:
take him to the playground every single day and encourage him to climb, jump, run, balance, etc.  And if he won't do it/can't do it, work with him until he can do it.  Some kids naturally are great at making friends, others need coaching.  Some kids can scamper up a ladder without thinking about it at 15 months old, others need coaching.  Your's needs coaching.

And you might have him work with an OT for balance issues if he just won't do stuff at a playground.  But if he likes being active at the playground, then I'd leave it with that.

Then, when he's in 2nd or 3rd grade, he could get involved in more individual sports, like golf, swimming, archery, gymnastics, whatever.  He might never like team sports like baseball, soccer, basketball, where kids are running all over, in each other's faces, pushing, shoving... ugh.  I never liked that stuff, either.

For now I'd focus on making sure he knows how to ride a bike, gets lots of experience at playgrounds being active (not just playing in the sandbox all day every day) and if he just won't or you see lots of balance issues, having him work with an OT who can also give you tips on ways to work outside of OT, for 6 months might make a world of difference.

I don't think all kids need to play team sports, but I do think it's good for all kids and adults to be comfortable with their bodies, feel that their bodies do what they want them to do (which he might not feel right now), and that they have good balance, and feel "like they can".  [/quote]

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