Action Kidz at The Centre in Dural is a multi sports class for 2 to 4 year olds. We popped in to see what it involved recently!
Firstly, if you’re not familiar with The Centre, it’s an indoor sports facility based in Dural, although it actually offers a lot more than just sports. We know of it for a number of reasons, including netball and because it’s previously had awesome inflatables during school holidays before! (Psst…inflatables will be back in April!)
Action Kidz runs on a Tuesday and Friday at 9.30am. It focuses on movement and the fundamentals of a range of sports such as futsal, netball, racquet sports and basketball along with obstacle courses, fitness and gross motor skills. But most importantly it’s just FUN! Each week there’s a different sport in focus – the week we visited it was soccer!
There was a mix of boys and girls in their Action Kidz t-shirts – some were old hands it seemed and others were newer to the class. The environment is super relaxed so some of the mums were able to sit back (with a coffee!), while a couple were a little more hands on. Coach Elijah spent a couple of minutes (small people have small attention spans) talking about what the focus of the lesson was going to be – this is good for practising listening and also sitting still for a bit! But he knew to quit while he was ahead and dive straight into the fun!
The kids started the class with a great obstacle course which involved balancing, kicking, jumping and crawling – a fun way to warm up. What’s great about the class is that lots of coaches are on hand. This means a team member can focus on and assist just one or two kids at a time, getting them to practise and repeat the particular skill.
The kids then got stuck into a number of little activities at different stations that focussed on various soccer skills such as kicking, running and foot work. The variety of activities is great for this age group as they only spend 2-3 minutes on each and therefore don’t get bored. And the smaller groups mean they get that one on one attention from a coach and don’t distract one another too much!
While half an hour doesn’t seem long, it’s the perfect amount of time for this age group. It’s a really great way for kids to get moving, burn some energy and develop their coordination – all while having FUN!
Some more details about The Centre
If you’re not familiar with The Centre, it’s worth checking out as it probably covers a sport for your kids, partner and/or you – summer and winter, competitively or socially! There are various adult sports comps on offer and, when we visited, we saw a Tuesday morning netball game in action on the newly laid floor. PS – there’s a creche on offer at this time too, if you’re a mum keen to join a team!
The Centre is great for many reasons. Firstly, it’s indoors and as far as Action Kidz goes, this is handy for mums because it’s secure and confined for those that have runners! Also, you’re not reliant on the weather so you have consistency, routine and pleasant temperatures all year round! Next, it offers various important ‘mum’ things – these include clean toilets, easy parking (of which some is under cover and would only require you to walk about 15 metres uncovered if it was raining) and an onsite cafe!
To find out more about Action Kidz and register click here, call 8989 0030 or email sports@thecentredural.org.au.
The Centre Dural
1 Pellitt Lane Dural.
