Why Kids Should Try Karting

Having a hobby is an important part of life. It keeps you entertained, gives you something to think about, and it’s fun amongst other things. It’s important not just for adults but for kids too – they need something to keep their minds occupied and to give them a chance to think of something other than schoolwork. Karting can be the ideal hobby for a child for all kinds of reasons. Read on to find out what they are and why you might want to sign your son or daughter up for a karting lesson right away.

Gets Them Outside:

Many children like to stay inside these days. Whereas in the past you would see lots of kids riding around on bikes, playing on skateboards, or even walking around with friends, today technology has lured them indoors. They often prefer to use their smartphones or tablets to communicate, or to play videogames. While enjoying these things is not a problem in moderation, if it means they never step outside the front door it can become a problem.

Karting is a hobby that gets them outside in many cases, and even if the track is an indoor one, at least they won’t be staring at a screen all the time – they simply won’t be able to pull out their phones to check their social media status or to play an online game. A bit of fresh air is always a good thing, and seeing the outside world from time to time can’t hurt.

Better Reflexes:

The tracks that a kart has to drive around are made to be twisting and turning. It’s not going to be so much fun if it is just an oval track with no difficult corners. Having to negotiate these turns and anticipate the speeds that will work best means that a driver’s brain has to be working all the time, and they need to think carefully about what they are doing.

A track like this will instantly improve someone’s reflexes, and this is a useful piece of training for life – better reflexes will often keep you safer than those who aren’t able to think well on their feet. Plus, your brain will be stimulated when you are driving a kart, and the more you use your brain, the faster it will become, making schoolwork and exams easier too.

Connecting With People:

If your child has difficulty making friends or they are naturally introverted, or perhaps if they are having a hard time at school, karting will help them connect with people. When they get to the track, they will be around people with a similar love for the sport, and they will be able to strike up a conversation more easily. They will have at least this one thing in common with someone else, and that can be enough to start a friendship that will last for many years to come.

Karting may be an individual sport in that only one person sits in each kart, but it is also a team sport in that you are not going to be the only person on the track. You could even choose to have a birthday party on a karting track, enabling your child to enjoy their favorite hobby and helping to introduce it to school friends who otherwise wouldn’t understand what it is really all about. A party like this can be wonderful, but it will also be more expensive than a standard karting lesson, so checking out Bonsai Finance for a short term loan could give you the option if you otherwise wouldn’t have it.

Driving Prep:

At some point most kids will want to learn to drive. This is important; it gives them freedom and opportunities that they might not otherwise be able to take up, and it is something that is a big milestone in their lives.

For parents, it can be a frightening time. There is so much unpredictability on our busy roads, and one wrong move can spell disaster. However, if your kid has already been karting for a number of years, they will have picked up some important pointers and be ahead of the rest when it comes to safety and thinking about what they are doing behind the wheel. It’s true that karting is a different form of driving to what is done in a car on a road, but there are some similar principles, and it can help a parent – and the child – to be more relaxed when it comes to learning to do the real thing.

Builds Confidence:

When your child realizes that they are able to drive their kart and get around the track, perhaps even win a race (although that might not happen every time and shouldn’t be expected), their confidence will soar.

Building a child’s confidence is so important to their overall well-being and their future, but it can be hard to know exactly what to do. Parents won’t all want to push too hard for fear of making their child do something they don’t enjoy, but they know they can’t just sit back and do nothing. A child who truly enjoys karting won’t need any pushing – they will be keen to get out on the track every time. Therefore, the parent can relax knowing they are doing absolutely the right thing and giving their child a good confidence boost at the same time.

Good For Physical Health:

Surprisingly, karting is good for your physical health as well as your mental health. You may not think it considering that the driver is sitting down and not really moving in a particularly active way, but it is true – karting is good exercise.

This is because when you are driving a kart, your heart rate is increased and this aids in weight loss and calorie reduction. Not only that, but a kart is heavy – much heavier than a car with power assisted steering would be – and every twist and turn is building muscle. By the time your child has done a few circuits in their kart, they will have had a great workout and be feeling fit and healthy as well as full of adrenalin.