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Does your child have energy to burn but you can't find a suitable activity for them?
Have you been looking at different activities for your 3 or 4 your old son or daughter but they either don’t cater for children as young as your child or the activities are just free play?
While most of the children’s play at this age should be free play, this is also a great age to start activities with a little structure. Current guidelines from the NHS suggest that pre school aged children should be taking part in 3 hours of physical activity a day with 1 hour being of ‘moderate-to-vigorous’ intensity.
Studies that show that the development of FUNdamental Movement Skills can start being developed from the age of 3 year old and doing so increases the chances the child will still be participating in sport into their teenage years.
does your child get shy and anxious at the thought of taking on new challenges?
When it comes to taking part in new activities with new people, in a new place, young children can be a little clingy. Does your son or daughter sometimes tell you they can’t do something before they have even tried?
A child’s ability to learn something new is first dependent on them believing that they are capable of achieving what you are asking them to do. The children that think their abilities and intelligence are fixed are said to have a fixed mindset. Growth mindset is the belief that with effort, we can improve our abilities and intelligence.
Developing a growth mindset has been proven to help reduce stress, realign challenges as opportunities, build intrinsic motivation, enhance self-esteem and improve confidence dealing with uncertainty.
Is your child confident but gets easily distracted and lacks focus?
Does your child’s focus need more focus? Do they not yet discovered the link between their actions and their outcomes?
In the now famous marshmallow test run by psychologist Walter Mischel in the 60s, they looked at what tactics children would implement to resist eating one marshmallow in order to receive a second after a specific period of time.
In follow up research decades later, they found that longer delayed gratification times correlated with a higher sense of self-worth, lower levels of obesity, lower levels of drug and alcohol abuse, higher levels of education, pursued their goals more effectively and enjoyed better quality close relationships.
have you been looking at different ways to build your child's social skills?
Is your 3 or 4 year old full of energy but is lacking opportunities to meet other children? When you introduce them to a new group, do they struggle to make friends easily?
73% of children have been online by the age of two and one in ten children have their own mobile device before the age of five. Electronic devices can be a useful tool in making learning experiences interesting but they can also be anti social when used too much.
Social connection is not only important for general well being but is also an essential element of why children enjoy physical activities. Young children usually start activities due to their parent’s motivation but one of the main reasons they continue to take part if the friendships they develop.
looking for an activity that won't break the bank that puts your child's development first?
Do the activities you look at for your pre school child require you to sign up for a term or purchase expensive equipment before your child has even tried the activity?
As sport and physical activities become more professionalised, many clubs are making the financial barrier to entry higher and higher. While most parents will expect there will be some additional costs to starting a new activity, often they will be hit with excessive fees.
It is important for all sports clubs to make money (even the not for profit clubs) so they can pay their bills and reinvest in their facilities and their service. While most parents don’t mind paying for a quality service, what they want to avoid is paying a small fortune for unqualified coaches delivering substandard programmes.
Development for life
Age specific martial arts
Our children’s pre school martial arts programme has been running since 2008 and is based on the MAPLE system (Martial Arts Physical Literacy Engine) developed by coach Phill Payne. This system is focused on delivering fun sessions that are physically, socially and psychologically appropriate for your child’s age and stage of development.
After leaving the world of IT in 2008 to focus on coaching martial arts full time, Phill was looking for a way to take his coaching to the next level. He noticed that most martial arts instructors taught their children’s classes the same way as their adult classes. He knew there must be a better way but just didn’t know what it was.
This search led him to become a qualified Personal Trainer, before studying for a BSc and MSc in coaching children before eventually starting a Doctoral programme at Leeds Beckett University in 2022. The MAPLE system is the result of 10 years of development and over £40,000 invested in education.
Traditionally, students have been able to transition from student to coach just by way of passing a black belt test based on their ability to perform the martial art, not coach it. With a sector with very little regulation, the Warrior Factory Leeds Martial Arts Centre does things a little different.
Not only do the Warrior Factory venues use a research-based children’s programme (MAPLE), but many of the coaches hold a degree in either sports coaching or early years development. Matching a research-based programme with highly qualified coaches enables us to provide a fun, safe and developmentally appropriate environment for your child to train.
What happens in our............
children's dragons martial arts classes
Martial Arts techniques
Our young ninjas will learn various basic techniques from our Taekwondo syllabus. This includes hand strikes, kicks, blocks and stances.
Movement Skills
We integrate FUNdamental Movement Skills into fun games to help the students build the foundational skills required for all sports and physical activities.
Pre School Skills
Our Dragons programme for 3-4 year olds also includes helping them learn the skills that will give them a head start by the time they start school.
Social Skills
Social skills are a priority for this age group. The simple things like taking turns, listening and respecting personal space that we all take for granted will be developed, just like the other skills.
Physical Fitness
Physical fitness for young children focuses on locomotion, stabilisation, coordination and strength. These are all pitched at a developmentally appropriate level for children of this age.
Cognitive Development
The aim of this programme is is to build a love for martial arts and physical activity while helping them develop a growth mindset, confidence and self control.
What do our customers think?
Andy Neal
20:38 22 Apr 24
My son has been attending Warrior Factory since he was three and he’s now eleven. The team at Warrior Factory have always been brilliant and work so hard to help their students develop on so many leve
Laura Ann
11:46 01 Oct 22
Both my children love attending these classes. Staff are friendly, welcoming and keep the sessions fun and interactive. The club is a family and both my children have made many new friends, whilst… having fun.
The dragons classes are made up of lots of multi skills activities chunked into smaller burst which prevent the kids from becoming disinterested and disruptive. Making them manageable and enjoyable.
The juniors classes give the children different opportunities to practise the varying skills they need to pass their gradings. They are given individual feedback in order to help them improve and continue to progress at the right rate for them.
The classes allow everyone to grow in confidence and ultimately have lots of funread more
The dragons classes are made up of lots of multi skills activities chunked into smaller burst which prevent the kids from becoming disinterested and disruptive. Making them manageable and enjoyable.
The juniors classes give the children different opportunities to practise the varying skills they need to pass their gradings. They are given individual feedback in order to help them improve and continue to progress at the right rate for them.
The classes allow everyone to grow in confidence and ultimately have lots of funread more
Sherri Godsell
14:08 04 Jul 22
My son really loves attending his classes here. Great for building confidence. Fantastic, skilled instructors who keep the classes varied and enjoyable. Highly recommended.
Ijjub Gup
19:18 04 Apr 22
Fantastic team
Brilliant teachers
Very good work ethic
Helping overall development of kids
Children enjoy and look forward to classes every week, twice a week
Brilliant teachers
Very good work ethic
Helping overall development of kids
Children enjoy and look forward to classes every week, twice a week
Natasha Bug Riley
11:10 22 Jan 22
Absolutely lovely staff who are really good with the kids. There is always a great range of activities to keep the kids interested and developing new skills. They are flexible with days if you can’t… make your usual class, which is amazing.
It’s very thoughtful that at the end of some classes they sit the kids down to discuss that the moves they use in class aren’t for home, school etc.
Would highly recommend as a friendly and fun kids martial arts class!read more
It’s very thoughtful that at the end of some classes they sit the kids down to discuss that the moves they use in class aren’t for home, school etc.
Would highly recommend as a friendly and fun kids martial arts class!read more
Ian Fletcher
19:50 01 May 19
just done my first taster session at warrior factory. very enjoyable and instructor very professional
Donna Alderson
20:47 13 Jan 17
I started at the Warrior Factory in February 2015 at the age of 46, I felt like a fish out of water at the first but all the instructors were really supportive and gave me lots of encouragement as I… struggle with co-ordination . At first there weren’t many adults training but the numbers have really increased since I started. What I enjoy most about learning taekwondo at the Warrior Factory is not only learning a new sport and getting fit but how training has really helped my confidence to believe in myself that I can achieve and learn new skills. I even competed in my first sparring competition at 48! My aim is to get my black belt by the time I’m 50 and I’m on target. You are never too old to learn a new skill I’m proof of that.read more
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