My daughter has never enjoyed school sports and as she is now about to go into 6th Form, these will stop - to her delight! However, I would like to find an activity that she will enjoy. Ideally I would like to find a sort of check list which she could fill in (eg likes/dislikes team sports, likes/dislikes aerobic activity) and which would come up with a few suggestions for her to try. Living in Jersey, we have lots of different sports available. Is anyone aware of such a checklist on the internet? If not, any other suggestions for inactive teenagers would be welcome!!

I'm not a parent and clearly have no idea what I'm talking about here, but just thought it might be worth asking if she likes animals. If so, there might be something she would enjoy around animals that is active without necessarily being classified as a sport. Or would she be interested in something to do with the environment that was physical without actually being a sport. I'll go away now!

My daughter says she should try trampolining outside school as it's different. As someone who loathed PE at school I would suggest looking at non team sports as girls tend to be very body conscious in their teens. Something like yoga or dancing which is non-competitive might suit her better than competitive sports. Don't know of any websites but I wish you luck. You must be doing something right if at this stage of the holidays you are not ready to tear her limb from limb!!

I'd be fairly relaxed and surreptitious about it. Perhaps buy a basic badminton set and head out to the park or garden and have fun with it. We played this for hours with my neice and nephew and it's a great exercise. A trampoline is also a great ides - it would be good to try things out together like swimming, walking or cycling. Best of luck Robin.

Robin
Having had 2 teenage boys one now active at Uni and thin and the other a computer obsessed 15 I would suggest a personal trainer! I did this for my son and he took up running and was adviced on nutrition, stress busting, weights etc.
As a teenager I was not good at sports except ok at tennis and swimming. So focused on these. I have only now got into running with the help of the club and building up slowly. How about dancing of some sort?? Pilates or yoga would help her feel better about her body if that is an issue or plain old walking more. She may well have more time on her hands in the 6th form so planning in activities should be good. How about surfing??

Robin - what sort of a father are you? Just buy her a Wii Fit!

My son (16) has always struggled with ball games, having terrible coordination and a very uncompetitive nature. He prefers activities in which he is improving on his own previous performance so we've set him up with an exercise bike in front of the telly and he pedals away for a set time each day, trying to increase the distance he does. He's been doing that for a year now and his physique has really improved. His next plan is to improve his swimming so that when we return to Australia he can take part in one of the long distance swims in Sydney harbour. I'm hoping that these are the kind of activities that he will continue with all his life, unlike football etc that tend to tail off when education is over.

Melanie
What a good plan you have set up for your sun. Inspiring!

How about aquacise Robin? I haven't done this for a while but you get all ages doing it and it's good fun and not too strenuous if you don't want it to be. Also, if your daughter is self conscious about her body, she is under the water for this exercise. I really enjoyed going to aquacise as it was such fun, and helped me lose a bit of weight, but I haven't been for a while.

My daughters have been very different. The eldest was very sporty, living for hockey. I seemed to spend half my life collecting her from casualty after some headfirst tackle but she also loved trampolining. We have one of those big garden trampolines which are great fun and heve been the best exercise buy for the whole family. The youngest daughter was very unsporty at school and was always last to be picked for teams but discovered a talent for fencing on an activity holiday. She is now the Eastmidlands junior champion and adores the sport. She is also amazingly fit with a fantastic figure. Apparently ten minutes of fencing uses the same calories as running a mile!

Sue
gosh fantastic sporting daughters in different ways!
Neither of my sons are sporty the eldest is into music and drama and the younger one no good at team sport but has taken up Clay Pigeon shooting which he has a natural talent for apparently. It is all new to me but he is outside and walking and the energy you use concentrating is huge!

So if I concentrated really hard on some fantastic looking puddings then I might lose weight? Only joking - of course I would end up eating them.

What about the Duke of Edinburgh's Award?

http://www.theaward.org/participants/index.php?ids =47,1556&id=111

Fortunately we live down a country lane and I refuse to give the kids a lift to the bus stop, so they walk. We bought them a trampoline when we moved house which has been great, although past 16 they only seem to use it for snogging girlfriends on under the moonlight!
One of the only sources of employment round here is beating when the shoot is on, and our 11 year old is about to start. This is great, as they walk miles over the fells. Again, this ceases to be of interest after 16, and I too struggle to get them moving! I'm sure Fiona is right about a Wiifit but I'm too tight to buy them one!

Thanks to everyone who replied - my daughter has decided on walking as her activity and is working towards the Itex Island Walk (almost 50 miles around the coast of Jersey) next July. As her pre-menopausal Mum (not her father despite assumptions due to my name!!) I will be joining her in this ambition and hoping to get fit too!

Well done on getting something positive for her to do. Exactly how old is she, I mean is she old enough to join in with us lot. Don't forget to take a camera and a pair of binoculars though when you go out walking. Out on my bike this morning a deer just went across my path, goodjob I wasn't going too fast.

... sorry Robin - you need to post a photo to prove it now!

That's great Robin. I did the Edinburgh Moonwalk with my 14 yr old daughter last year and it has really brought us closer together. We motivated each other to get out walking regularly and she is determined to do next year's too. Good luck with your training.

Robin
What a great goal. Good luck to the 2 of you.

Don't forget dancing! Nights out at gigs and festivals can clock up thousands of calories lost on sweaty dance floors! Don't know if your kids are ready for that yet? Festivals are great exercise - Tom is at Bestival at the moment, walking miles through thick mud! The mud also makes it impossible to sit down, so more exercise!!

Love the idea of dancing but was banned from Jersey Live (our 2 day indie/dance festival) at the end of August due to "embarrassing Mum syndrome"! This year I was the usual taxi service but assuming the walking is succesful then my daughter will be well able to walk to and from the festival!!

Good Idea Robin. We went to a wet folk festival Croperdy in Oxfordshire this year and the kids were really embarrassed by me so stayed near the stage. It rained all day ...! So the only thing to do was drink and dance around in the rain...!