5 Sports to Keep Your Kids Active and in the Backyard These Summer Holidays

This is a Guest Post from Mick Simmons Sport, a place where you can find clothing and equipment from many different sports around the world.

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Kids are getting overweight and in Australia the epidemic is more and more evident as time goes on. It’s not getting better and with the internet becoming more and more useful it’s hard to get the kids out into the backyard. Here are a few fun things you can suggest to get them out on the town.

Backyard Cricket

Over the fence is six runs and out! If you’re going to set out and play a game together cricket is a pretty worthwhile choice. Pick up some wickets and a couple of bats and it’s time to have some fun. It’s a game that has some structure, the ability to encourage teamwork and it’s not too athletically demanding or exhausting. Have fun, though you can pick up some pads at Mick Simmons Sport AUS or any other sports retailing website if safety is a concern.

Backyard Soccer

Keep in mind for this one that you’re going to need something to stand in for goals, preferably something you can afford to lose or break without any problems. Someone is going to run into it or slam the ball there and everyone has one story about when they broke something important. This is pretty similar to any other kind of soccer and it should be relaxed fun for everyone.

Croquet

This is a much more relaxed game that the entire family can get involved in. As it’s a game that requires only basic skills and not a lot of strength kids and old people can get involved without any handicaps. This is a great sport for taking the time to bond together and play the game without straining yourself too hard. Besides, it’ll make you feel classy, croquet is a game classy people play, and everyone knows this.

Football

From low to high energy, as Australians a love of football is almost built into our DNA. Some families live and breathe it and it’s easy to see why. Its recommended you go down to a park if you don’t have a big back yard and you want to play two hand touch to prevent injuries and allow everyone to play unless you’re certain there’s going to be problems. It’s a fun fast paced game that’s going to give everyone a bit of fun.

Lawn Bowls

A simple sport that gives coordination, depth perception, tests your arm and your aim and doesn't involve any risk of running yourself ragged or getting hurt in hot weather it’s good to play a sport that doesn't involve you catching sunstroke or stumbling and running into someone’s elbow. This can help your kids and entertain them all at once.

Summer days are a time for fun, for going outside, relaxing, having fun. Sitting in front of the screen feels like wasting a summer once you've really been outside. It’s time for kids to go back to basics, go outside, and play.

Save on your Childrens Education Expenses

This is a guest post from Fox Symes, Australia's largest provider of debt solutions.

School is an exciting prospect for many children, as they enter those first independent years and start testing the boundaries of your authority. It may be a bit heart-wrenching, to watch them patter up the path and out of the realm of kindy-hood forever; it will be predictably quite expensive, the sudden influx of school fees and demands, from books, to time, to lamington drives, there’s a ream of hidden extras associated with schooling, even the cost effective public system hide a caveat of unexpected outlays – Excursions, anyone? Though it might sound a bit extreme, readying yourself for your child’s education through the different age groups will allow you an insight into what you have to save, what is achievable and if you should look around now for a better price, before they become too invested. Being new with thirty other students is a giddy experience; being the new kid half way through term is incredibly difficult!

Primary School: Shop Around

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How much will be due and when? Even if your child has yet to start school, asking around to potential campuses will assist you in matching the right institution to your means, without sacrificing other fundamentals, like small classes, religion (if applicable) and engaged teachers. Take the collated numbers chart and work it against your current income, allowing for inflation and fee increases over the set number of years until your child starts school. Do you have another little one coming up the ranks? Is it important that your kids attend the same campus? Do they have different talents and focuses that will be better served by different schools? Be honest about your income and only enrol when you’re certain you can meet the financial outcomes of the institution, even if your debts require consolidation and the expert eye of a company like Fox Symes.

Secondary Education: Be Prepared

Though primary education is highly important and essentially formative, high school gears budding students achieving an optimal University entrance score, securing their future livelihoods and building their self-confidence to handle real world situations. You want to invest in their schooling. Creating a savings plan now, even if they've only just entered second form, will open up a range of closed doors, as your frugality and perseverance pays off and admission into a highly sort after grammar school is well within your reach. The benefits of saving are unimaginable, as a positive management practice facilitates discussions between child and parent, emphasising the importance and value of a dollar earned. They will be grateful, when they mature and their lives are just that little bit easier thanks to your influence and sacrifice.

Create a Trust: University Daze

University can be an expensive jaunt, even with the added bonus of FEE-HELP and other assistance schemes; though financial pressures are alleviated now, they will come back to haunt your child after they make over a certain amount. If you want your kids to be free from the debilitating effects of student loans and subsequent repayments, setting up a trust will allow you to deposit and manage funds for the purposes of education, while still granting access to your child. Trusts are fantastic when it comes to crunch time and union fees roll in on top of new text books and costly accommodation.

Do you need advice? Who doesn’t? While nobody has all of the answers, and no, not even Google, financial bodies like the FSA Group can be a guiding light when planning for the future.