Coaching Kids with Clarity

Learn how to keep kids engaged in their activities with brief, relevant instructions. This keeps it fun for them, and less complex for you. Wins all round.

When kids spend a lot of time at home, they can get pretty restless—meaning they need to burn off some serious energy. To help, we've been sharing the 6 Cs of coaching to help your kids get active.

This week, the C is "Clear and Concise", and we're chatting with Elaisa Bonorden, a coach for Nike's Girl Night Sessions at Skatehalle in Berlin, to learn more.

For years, Elaisa has been teaching kids how to skate at Skatehalle. Her approach? "Try it yourself, so you can see how hard it is. This gives you a better sense of what the kids will need to learn in the session, and what they might struggle with".

"The more you know about their sport, the better and more clear instructions you can give to them", says Elaisa. "So research what you'd like to cover before starting the training session".

"Kids have really high energy levels", says Elaisa—which means you don't want them to stand still for too long. Aim to make your instruction time less than 20 percent of the entire session, so that your kids have plenty of time to be active. Just make sure that you're giving yourself enough time to communicate clearly.

When you check in, ask the kids how they're doing on a scale of 1 to 5, so you can adjust the training on the fly. Elaisa also finds that kids respond well to "celebrating every little success".

And that's it! If you found the 6 Cs of coaching useful, we've got you covered with more advice on how you and your family can stay at the top of your game.