Some of the summer sports for kids listed below include basketball, swimming, netball, cricket, surfing, baseball, rugby, kabaddi, gymnastics, oztag, martial arts, volleyball, beach volleyball, floor hockey, flag football, tennis, skateboarding, ice skating, roller skating, biking, etc.

It’s time for that sacred holiday again- the end-of-term summer holiday. There’s no homework, no work to be done simply one month of pure fun. At least, for the kids it is. However, the hyperactive, high on fun kids may easily get bored indoors. But there is a world of sports to explore and when better to do so than the summer, with the sun glaring down, the sky a shade of cornflower blue and no cloud or rain to mar a session of exhilarating sports. You may even send your kids to various summer camps where professional players and coaches give them training in a particular sport. They will gain friends, have a great time and all the while may even find their calling. Great players are often born in these camps. Above all, they will have a great time in the dog days of summer instead of sitting at home watching television.

22 Best Summer Sports For Kids

Here is a list of fun summer sports for your kids.

Basketball

For growing kids, basketball is a great competitive sport. It requires a lot of activity- there is constant running around the court, jumping to intercept the ball mid-air and skipping to shoot the ball into the hoops. Kids learn about defense and offense in sports, team-play and other such important qualities that come handy in real life. It also required simple equipment- a cemented floor is literally all you need. You can easily fix a hoop pole and voila! You have a basketball court.

Source: NewYork Family

Swimming

For that stretch of summer, when the sun gets intolerable and playing outside can be very easily tiring, this is the perfect sport. While waddling around in the cool water seems the best thing your kid can do, swimming also strengthens core muscles and builds tenacity. There are games to be played in water like Marco Polo or your kid can simply swim with his buddies in the pool and have fun.

Source: Swim Otters

Netball

Netball is similar to basketball, where you shoot balls through hoops. But netball courts are smaller and the hoop has no backboard, so more accuracy is needed. This makes the sport more challenging and hence more fun. There is no dribbling or running, but instead, various mad skills like shuttling are involved. It increases flexibility and strength of players.

Source: Fox Sports Pulse

Cricket

All Indian kids become naturally inclined towards this sport because of its vast popularity in the country. Although it involved long matches and quite complicated rules, the kids’ version only needs a cricket bat and a ball and some players. If you can supply kids with wickets, all the better. It is easy to keep a dozen kids involved in this game.

Source: Stuff

Surfing

If you live near the beach, surfing is a great sport for kids to participate in. Parental guidance is very much required, but if you involve them in a program, it is even better. There will be guards and trainers to protect your child. They will learn to surf the waters and various know-hows of surfing, like which waves to catch, which to avoid and such.

Source: Swell Surf School

Baseball

Baseball, like cricket, is a religious sport to the USA, so kids get naturally weaned into its craze. Kids can go to the park and play with a bunch of friends. Or if you want them to be involved with a little more discipline and acquire a few more skills, you can enroll them in a baseball summer camp. This team sport also teaches kids valuable lessons about how to work with a bunch of others towards the same goal.

Source: Youth Sports Daily Blog Palm Beach Post

Rugby

Rugby is, in general, a very rough, contact sport, but kids rugby leagues are there which teach the young ones about the sport sans the violence. Kids rugby prohibits tackling and moves that can injure. If your child is boisterous, kids rugby will surely calm him down and he will make new friends in the process.

Source: Knowledge Allianz

Kabbadi

This game has been played in India for ages. It is a fun game where one player of each team gets to step into the other team’s court to tag as many players as possible and make it safely back into their own court. So kids get to push and shove (which they love doing) good-naturedly and with a purpose!

Source: Deep Fun

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a great sport which teaches children discipline and motivate them to be perfect. It is a very aesthetic sport so girls especially are very attracted to it. It is mainly an indoor sport, practiced in mirrored rooms, but who’s stopping your kid from doing cartwheels with ribbons in the yard?

Source: Harford Gymnastics

Oztag

Oztag is an Australian sport and is a spin-off of the classic rugby. It is suitable for kids whose parents don’t feel rugby to be a safe sport to let them participate in. There is much less chance of injury, but it does have all the fun.

Source: Daily Mercury

Martial Arts

For the combative child, this is the perfect sport. Various clubs and camps are hosted every summer to teach kids martial arts. There are various disciplines of martial arts- tae kwon do, jujitsu, karate, judo, kung fu and so on. Of these, Aikido and Tai chi help kids find their own balance and work on movement fluidity. Jujitsu and judo teach competitive self-defence.

Source: Derby Martial Arts

Volleyball

Again, it is a very lax sport which requires very few rules and even fewer objects for kids to play. Simply prop up a net in the middle of a spacious yard and divide the kids into teams. Now all they have to do is pass the large volleyball from one side to the other without letting it drop in their court.

Source: Ebay

Beach volleyball

This is the more fun cousin of regular volleyball as it takes place in the sand of the beach where jumping up and down can lead to hilarious results. There is also less risk of serious injury by falling down on the sand, so that’s an added bonus for worried parents.

Source: Pongauer Hof

Floor hockey

Hockey required specialized playing turfs. But floor hockey requires a level, cement floor. Your kids can have all the fun if you have a spacious garage or any clear floor space. All you need to buy are kids’ hockey sticks and balls and a couple of nets.

Source: Big Foot Recreation

Football

Football is all the rage in every part of the world. So undoubtedly, football camps spring up in every corner of your neighborhood. Go enroll your kid in one and imagine the stories he’ll be telling when his school reopens, of his conquests on the grassy battlefield.

Source: E Riding

Flag football

This is derived from American football, but involves no tackling. So if your kid loves American football and is urging you to enroll him in such a camp and you are wary of injuries he may garner, you can settle on the middle ground that is flag football. Here, instead of tackling, ‘de-flagging’ is the way to go.

Source: Ever Green Recreation

Tennis

Tennis camps are great for your kid if you want them to become strong and healthy through a sport. Tennis also builds stamina and concentration. Buy a good quality tennis racket and send them packing to the camp. Kids learn new moves, and make friends all in the span of a lazy summer.

Source: Tennis Advice

Skateboarding

This is one of the coolest sports among kids and its popularity is as high as it has ever been. All you need is a good skateboard, some safety gear like helmets and knee, elbow, hip pads. Kids are more likely to get hurt in skateboarding than older skateboarders, so make sure your kid has learnt the basic tricks of maneuvering the board before he goes out on the streets.\

Source: The Boardr

Ice skating

In the summer, the ice skating rink can become the much needed refuge. If your kid learns a new sport in the process, what can be better? But again, just like skateboarding, make sure you buy the best equipment- safety gear and ice skating shoes. Also, be sure to enroll him in a training program so that a coach or trainer will be there to watch over him initially.

Source: Visit Bellevue Washington

Roller Skating

Similar to ice skating and skateboarding, roller skating is another fun sport that attracts many children. If you happen to have a roller skating training program, do think about enrolling your kids there. Your kids can have so much fun learning how to skate and can offer you a big relief during summer. You can also check one of our previous articles on Roller Skating.

Source: Twin Qu

Biking

Biking is not exactly a new sport to your kid because he or she probably knows how to ride a bike. But in the evening, when the sun has set and the cool breeze is blowing, riding a bike can seem better than any sport in the world.

Source: Balance Bike Blog

Athletics

Running, pole vaulting, jumping- all of those things your kid loves to do and in a sport. What could be better? Athletics camps have the equipment to let your child practice these safely with trainers, so you can enroll him in such camps.

Source: Sports Fun

Summer is a time for fun and physical activities. So while your kid is outside, earning bruises and scratches that he will wear like badges, make sure that you make him eat healthy to keep up with his growing body and busy schedule. Who knows how long these summers will last?