Sports question for parents

[rudel.dietrich]

At what age did you take your kids to their first live sporting event? My son and daughter are turning 3 in July and both already enjoy watching sports on TV with me for limited stretches.

Come this fall, I am thinking about a few one on one outings to see how their attention span holds up.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

At what age did you take your kids to their first live sporting event? My son and daughter are turning 3 in July and both already enjoy watching sports on TV with me for limited stretches.

Come this fall, I am thinking about a few one on one outings to see how their attention span holds up.

I think it depends on the event. I took my son to the Montreal F1 Race when he was 5. He had a blast.

[rudel.dietrich]

It will probably be a FC Zurich game. They are relatively inexpensive and the the stadium has room to walk around in they get antsy and if we have to leave early it is no big deal.

[TGH-Adfabre]

Our oldest daughter was 3ish for college basketball and pro baseball. Her attention span did not hold up.

Our twins are 2 and they have been to college basketball and live broadcast on the jumbo screen college basketball.
They boy's head almost exploded for live basketball, the girl, not so much.
I would do it the exact same way again. It taught me a lot about adjusting expectations.

Good luck.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by RchW

I think it depends on the event.

This is what I would say too. I've taken all three of my kids to minor league games at around three years old. They didn't stay attentive the whole time, but we enjoyed it. I'm not sure I would shell out the money for a major league game at that age though.

[Bluenoser]

Started taking my son to hockey games when he was 3 months old. He's 37 now and still goes

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Started taking my son to hockey games when he was 3 months old. He's 37 now and still goes

But your Canadian, if you leave a hockey game early don't they deport you?

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

At what age did you take your kids to their first live sporting event? My son and daughter are turning 3 in July and both already enjoy watching sports on TV with me for limited stretches.

Come this fall, I am thinking about a few one on one outings to see how their attention span holds up.

Daughter never showed any interest in watching sports until a later age, think she was around 12 when she wanted to go to a football match with me. However took my nephew to his first game when he was 4, his first game though was a semi pro game. Picked that game as knew the crowd would be small, didn't want to scare him at his first game.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by cephasjames

This is what I would say too. I've taken all three of my kids to minor league games at around three years old. They didn't stay attentive the whole time, but we enjoyed it. I'm not sure I would shell out the money for a major league game at that age though.

Minor league games or ST games are ideal. Many of the parks have grass berms that are great for kids. Texas and KC share the facility in Surprize AZ. It's very nice.

[Faroo6]

If you can swing it a suite makes for an ideal place to take young children. We took our daughter to an A's game when she was about 1 and have gone at least once every year since. She watches the game for a little bit but when she gets bored its nice to have the room for her to run around in. We do it as a family get together with my brother and parents and my wife's family so it helps breakup the cost of the suite. Nicest part about the Eastside Suites is that they have their own bathrooms in the suite. No having to worry about long lines and concourse searching.

[rudel.dietrich]

My son is enthralled by basketball so that will perhaps our first outing.

[John Madden]

It's "the sport of the arts" but I'm taking Karli to an indoor marching percussion competition on Saturday. She'll be 3 in July.

[slic1149]

First a couple of comments and second a few suggestions.

If you take a small child to a sports event understand you are doing it for their pleasure and not yours. You will probably not be able to enjoy the game in the same way you have done so in the past. Your child will demand attention, that is a given, and keeping focused on the event will be almost impossible. If you accept that going in then you will enjoy the event much more.

Here are a few suggestions. If possible make sure your partner is with you. A small child will require supervision and observation. Two adults are better than one. Instead of a sporting event, for a first time outing, a circus might be more fun, and keep your child's attention a little better. Make sure drink cups are securely capped and you might want to consider transferring their drink to a sippy cup. Finally, and most important, get an aisle seat, your child will be getting up frequently. Most importantly, always remember this is for your child's enjoyment and not yours.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by slic1149

First a couple of comments and second a few suggestions.

If you take a small child to a sports event understand you are doing it for their pleasure and not yours. You will probably not be able to enjoy the game in the same way you have done so in the past. Your child will demand attention, that is a given, and keeping focused on the event will be almost impossible. If you accept that going in then you will enjoy the event much more.

Here are a few suggestions. If possible make sure your partner is with you. A small child will require supervision and observation. Two adults are better than one. Instead of a sporting event, for a first time outing, a circus might be more fun, and keep your child's attention a little better. Make sure drink cups are securely capped and you might want to consider transferring their drink to a sippy cup. Finally, and most important, get an aisle seat, your child will be getting up frequently. Most importantly, always remember this is for your child's enjoyment and not yours.

Disagree with the underlined.

I took my son to the game because it was for "our" enjoyment, not mine, not his, but "ours".

I would not take my wife, because it would quickly become unenjoyable. She does not like hockey, and would only sit there with a long face while being completely bored. Then start complaining and wanting to go to the refreshment stand or for a walk. I knew well ahead of time what would be required on my part when taking my son, and planned accordingly. I wanted him to see/hear me cheer for my team, disagree with the ref, boo the other team. I wanted him to experience it in full colour and splendor.

I didn't take him because I was babysitting.

A circus? The topic of the post is taking a child to a sporting event, not a circus. Although some sporting events do turn into circuses lol.

And yes, I did take my family to the circus a few times too. Again, it was for "our" enjoyment, as a family.

By no means am I disagreeing with your suggestion, but everyone's experience and style is different. Mine worked great for me. Although it did cost me a lot because he wanted more, more, more as the years went by. A great way to spend my money though.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by slic1149

.

So put his beer in a sippy cup?
You sir are a genius

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by John Madden

It's "the sport of the arts" but I'm taking Karli to an indoor marching percussion competition on Saturday. She'll be 3 in July.

We both had children born in the same month in the same year
How did I miss this

OT needs to get it's sending out memos system down better.

[Tram2Whitaker]

I've taken my kids to baseball games since they were babies; but I've also brought their mother. Usually they get restless around the third inning, so my wife takes them to get refreshments (she's usually less interested than they are, so it works) and I enjoy the rest of the game. For the purposes of getting the most out of the game, without annoying others, I usually sit in the cheap seats.

[KurtBevacqua]

I think my sons were 6 and 8 (or 7 and 9) when I took them to a Spring Training game. They had no interest and we wound up going into the grassy centerfield area where all the parents of equally disinterested children were so all the kids could play with each other.

Took the whole family to the rodeo a couple years later and everyone enjoyed that. Then I took my youngest (who was ten at the time) to a hockey game last year that he got free tickets for a citizenship award and he absolutely loved it. So you never know what will interest them and when.