Inside: Intentionally teach kids how to have good sportsmanship skills with these tips and with this free printable: Cheer on a Friend.
There’s a video that will always live rent-free in my head.
It’s a championship baseball game, and it’s the last out of the last inning. The pitcher struck out the batter to win the whole thing, and his team rushed to congratulate him. But he rushed to console the batter, who was his childhood best friend, while his teammates celebrated without him.
It’s an extreme example, but that is what good sportsmanship is about. Winning gracefully, but not stepping on others to do it.
And whether it’s the championship game or a game of checkers at your dining room table, teaching kids to be a good sport is an essential life skill and a valuable social emotional learning skill.
Related: What is Social Emotional Learning?
We can teach kids how to play offense and how to play defense, but at the same time, we have to also teach them how to cheer on others. We can teach them how to be a good teammate, a good classmate, and a good friend, while they gain the athletic or gamesmanship skills.
And one simple way to do that is to give them real examples of what to say to cheer on and cheer up a classmate, teammate, or friend with this free printable.
Why Good Sportsmanship Skills are Important:
Being a good sport means being a graceful winner and a graceful loser. And since kids play all kinds of games as they grow up (board games, sports activities, recess games, learning games, etc.), they will both win and lose.
If they are not a gracious winner or a gracious loser, kids will no longer want to play with them, coaches will no longer want to coach them, and in general, the whole experience will be worse for everyone.
We’ve all seen a boastful winner who rubs it in and makes the opposing team feel bad about losing.
We’ve also all seen a sore loser who throws his bat or screams at the referee or stomps off the court, or flips the board in frustration.
If we’re teaching kids how to play a game or how to play a sport, we also have to teach them how to win and how to lose.
We have to teach them it’s fun to win and not so fun to lose, but if you enjoy playing and if you enjoy the game or sport, then that’s the ultimate goal. And if you’re playing, some days you’ll win and some days you’ll lose.
Kids have to know there will always be someone better than them- professional and Olympic athletes’ records are all beaten at some point- so kids need to win and be proud, but humble, excited, without tearing down others.
Because at the end of the day, it’s a game. It might feel like an important game, but it’s still just a game. We need to walk away from the court, field, or pitch proud of who we are, not just of how we played.
And so with that, we teach kids sportsmanship skills.
One simple way is to teach kids to cheer on their teammates.
Other Good Sportsmanship Skills Resources to Help:
When my son was younger and we were focused on raising a Kind Boy amid a Tough Boy Culture, we used the phrase, “You’re the kind of kid who…” to help.
We teach kids how to give compliments with these Compliment Cards.
And we use this Compliment Sun.
We play sports themed games that help kids figure out what is kind and what is not.
We teach kids these kindness games resources so they’re learning social emotional learning skills while having fun. Gamifying learning helps kids learn skills and can help them become better sports.
We teach kids how to be compassionate by walking in someone else’s shoes.
We read books about good sportsmanship:
And we watch movies about being a good teammate like: We are the Titans, Miracle, The Sandlot, Mighty Ducks, and McFarland USA
We intentionally teach kids how to be a good sport with this Good Sportsmanship Curriculum.
And we help them cheer on their teammates, friends, and classmates using this Kids Cheer on a Friend Printable.
How to Use This Kids Cheer On a Friend Printable to Teach Sportsmanship:
1. Download the printable below.
2. Print the printable out in color or black and white.
3. Go over the options with the kids you’re working with and help them read the list.
4. Talk about the different ways to cheer on a friend or a classmate and why it’s so important.
5. Encourage kids to use these phrases on the playground or during after-school activities. They can color in a cheer megaphone when they use the phrase to lift up others.
The world needs more kids who lift up others, cheer on others, and cheer up others. We can all use more encouragement and someone who cheers us on, so let’s get our kids to do it more often!
Ready to help kids get Good Sportsmanship Skills with this Cheer on a Friend Printable?
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