Sabin, DaVIS, HETRICK, ANDEREGG, Macalady, walker, darling and Katers

Go Team Go! Young children enjoy going to high school and college games with their families.

The schools have a variety of entertainments that involve everyone. Football, hockey, and basketball are often the most popular, but other sports like volleyball and soccer are just as fun, lively, and educational.

Sports teach

Young children learn to face the flag, remove their hat, and stand with their hand over their heart for the National Anthem. The cheerleaders and band keep it lively, interesting, and colorful. Young children love to clap and stomp with the crowd and mimic players at home.

These are good chances to teach children about the American culture, traditions and make good conversations.

Young children feel more included in the sports experience and catch on to the rules with patient simple rule explanations. What are they trying to do? Why is that hockey player going in the box for a time out? Why is that striped guy throwing down a towel? Why do players shake hands? Why are they gathered around in a circle? “Grandpa, what is happening?”

Attending a game in person under the lights or on a beautiful day is a wholesome family experience with many teachable moments. All of these are great subjects for meal conversations, too. The older siblings can chime in about their favorite teams and check out the sports pages, too.

Remember the mascots. They are an important part of any game. Young children may be a bit shy at first, but will enjoy giving high fives and having their picture taken with the mascot. Let them know that the mascot does not talk but likes to do a thumbs up and teach a few dance moves. These mascots are very real to kids and some may be a bit big and scary.

Band music

Then there are the bands. The songs are lively and there is lots of action. The trombone, tuba and drum sections often have special entertainment and go into the stands and engage the crowd, especially the young children.

Back at home you can set up a band in your living room and get moving. Families can go to You Tube and search for their favorite college bands. Then make assorted drums from boxes, plastic containers, and wooden spoons and reinforce the them with layers of packing tape. Listen to the beat and drum together. Boxes of different sizes make different sounds. Drum soft, loud, fast and slow. Then pick up the drums and march around the house.

Marching is great exercise. You can play follow the leader, march right, march left, march backwards, and turn around.Young children can make up their own marching routine. For more family fun see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Grandparents Teach, Too is a non-profit organization of elementary and preschool teachers from Marquette, Michigan. The writers include: Jan Sabin, Mary Davis, Jean Hetrick, Cheryl Anderegg, Esther Macalady, Colleen Walker, Fran Darling, and Iris Katers. Their mission since 2009 is to help parents, grandparents, and other caregivers of young children provide fun activities to help prepare young children for school and a life long love of learning. They are supported by Great Start, Parent Awareness of Michigan, the U.P. Association for the Education of Young Children, Northern Michigan School of Education, the Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum and the Northern Michigan University Center for Economic Education.