Dubai - Little athletes at the Children's Oasis Nursery are jumping, climbing and rolling their way towards accomplishing their 30x30 goals during the Dubai Fitness Challenge
Published: Thu 16 Nov 2017, 3:46 PM
Last updated: Thu 16 Nov 2017, 6:09 PM
The extent of the popularity of the Dubai Fitness Challenge can be gauged by the fact that its not only adults who are participating but kids as young as 18 months are loving it too.
Little athletes at the Children's Oasis Nursery are jumping, climbing and rolling their way towards accomplishing their 30x30 goals during the Dubai Fitness Challenge, thanks to the nursery's introduction of parkour classes. Parkour is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. It includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movement, and is said to have some aspects of a non-combative martial art.
At this nursery, children aged 18 months to two years are taking part in weekly parkour classes, led by Dubai-based fitness group, Parkour DXB.
Lily Najjar, mother of two-year old Zaydan, a student at the nursery, said shehas noticed a considerable amount of improvement in his confidence level after he started doing parkour.
"I am glad that Zaydan's school started this activity as I have seen his confidence level go up drastically. We have a little playground in our backyard and Zaydan was always too scared to go up the slide or climb up to a height. But after doing parkour, his fear of falling is over. He runs up the slide.
Lily's elder son Ryan, 5, is also into sports and fun physical activities like parkour and martial arts and she says she has seen how important such sports activities and trainings are in shaping their persoalities.
" Kids are full of energy and introducing such fun and fitness activities is a great way to channelise and release their energy. The best thing is that the kids enjoy while doing parkour and do not feel they are exercising."
"Following the play-based UK Early Years curriculum, we know just how important play and physical activity is to a young child's development.The Dubai Fitness Challenge is a fantastic initiative and it was the ideal time for us to introduce parkour classes to our children, giving them a fun way to channel their energy, practice important skills and of course, help to develop a love of exercise and sport," said Caitriona Ni Fhiannachta, head teacher at Children's Oasis Nursery.
Led by Parkour DXB, a thriving community of parkour trainers that offer training for building body and mind strength, the classes at Children's Oasis Nursery are available in morning sessions and focus on building cooperation and confidence, motor skills as well as a life-long interest in, and enjoyment of, exercise.
Currently offered on a trial basis during the Dubai Fitness Challenge, the nursery is hoping to introduce permanent classes for both children who attend the nursery, as well as for those not enrolled in nursery classes.
"Parkour is great in that its very inclusive, allowing all the children to participate in their own way. In this spirit, we're hoping to add it permanently and open it up those beyond our nursery community very soon," Ni Fhiannachta added.
saman@khaleejtimes.com
iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
