How to Involve ALL Children in your Annual Sports Day

The final summer school term is fast approaching and while this means exams or tests for a lot of pupils, it also evokes the thoughts of fun and cultural activities, such as school plays, talent shows, awards ceremonies and possibly the most highly anticipated of them all… sports day.

For the majority of students, sports day in school is an exciting and memorable day where they can play fun games all day with their friends and classmates. However, this enthusiasm isn’t shared by all children unfortunately.  

When done correctly, sport days are a fantastic way to finish the school year off on a high note but with some children naturally more gifted in the sporting department than others, it’s important to get every pupil involved and feeling comfortable, and emphasise that taking part and having FUN is just as important as winning!

Here are a few ways to get all pupils involved and thoroughly enjoy the school’s annual sports day, including sports day medals, parent involvement and games for all abilities:

Get Children Involved in the Early Stages

If a child comes to you with any reservations or anxieties about taking part in the school sports day, you should have them help you with the organisation of the day to ease them in gently and make them realise it’s nothing to be nervous about.

Allowing them become involved in even the most simple of tasks such as setting up sports day games equipment or the refreshments table will help them to feel more comfortable about the day as a whole and hopefully bring them out of their shell by the time they come to participate.

Encourage the Parents, Guardians or Relatives to Participate

Having the parents or guardians spectating on the day is usually a successful way of getting nervous children to feel more comfortable and their presence alone is often enough to bring the child out of their shell.

However, you could take it one step further and have the parents or guardians taking part in a few of the sports day activities.  Parent interaction is often fun in events such as a parent and child relay, egg and spoon races and of course, the star of the show – the parent and child three legged race!

Parent and guardian involvement at the annual sports day brings an air of excitement; the children can have a laugh with their parents and maybe even a laugh AT their parents. Almost instantly, this brings a sense of calmness to the children underneath all of that buzzing exhilaration, even for the un-sportiest of children.

Incorporate a Sports Day Games that Test Technical Abilities

Some children are gifted in sports, some children not so much and it is these children that tend to have worries about the sports day with obvious reasons. To ensure everybody has a chance of playing to their strengths, you could try to include a few sports day events that test a child’s technical abilities rather than strictly sporting abilities.

Sports day games that you could include are walk the plank and the classic egg and spoon race. Both of these events test a pupil’s balance and how much they can hold their nerve. No matter how fast you are in the egg and spoon race, if you can’t balance your egg, it’s unlikely that you will win.

Another good sports day activity to include is the tug of war. Pupils with lower sporting ability could be on a team with some of the best sports boys and girls in the school, and if they are on the winning team, this will naturally give them an extra boost of confidence for the rest of the sports day.

Give Participants Sports Day Medals and Sports Day Awards

Sports day awards and incentives are another fantastic way to inspire and motivate the less enthusiastic sports students to give it their all throughout the annual sports day. At a young age, students are very much encouraged by the prospect of being rewarded for their efforts and by recognition from their peers, students and parents.

From the first mention of sports day, you should assure students that partaking in the sports day in school and having fun is just as important as winning. This helps eliminate the fear of losing and encourages the winners to exhibit great showmanship and congratulate their opponents for taking part in the sports day activities, regardless of their finishing position.

A great way of instilling this message is rewarding winners of the sports day games and races with sports day medals and giving the recognition they deserve for their efforts and successes. But also by providing participants with smaller sports day awards or sports day medals for things such as sporting conduct and sportsmanship.

If your school is prepping for its annual sports day and the excitement is building up within your pupils, now is the perfect time to order your sports day medals and sports day awards, ready for the big day!

Badges Plus design and manufacture outstanding bronze, silver and gold sports day medals that your students can wear with pride and glory. To order your sports day medals or sports day ‘well done’ medals, you can use our online ordering systems immediately. But if you have any questions or queries, contact one of the team at Badges Plus on 0121 236 1612 and we will be happy to help.