(
Throughout the year we'll hear from eight bloggers as they share about their family's time in the Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience® and how it inspires them to explore these sports back at home.
This post was written by Children's Museum Blog Ambassador Sierra Holmes. Follow her posts on the blog or follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Did you know that golf is an excellent sport to help your kiddos with hand-eye coordination? Recently we visited The Pete and Alice Dye Golf Experience here at The Children’s Museum to test that theory out. If you haven’t already heard of the super cool golf course at the new Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience®, you’re in for a treat! Tucked away in the corner of the new complex is this amazing golfing area that includes 3 courses to choose from. We started out at the “Blue Course” also known as the Introductory Course. Now, we were here to check this place out because it’s AWESOME, but also work on the kids' hand-eye coordination.
What Makes The Pete and Alice Dye Golf Course Different?
Pete and Alice Dye are a pretty big deal in the golfing world, so when they came together to design their first all putting experience for The Children’s Museum, I was beyond excited! The experience features recreated golf holes from some of Pete Dye’s most famous designs from around the world. The experience is designed to make you feel like you are on an actual “to scale” golf course. It really feels like a golf course too! How cool is that? Right here in Indy!
The Skills Your Kids Learn in Golf Help in Other Sports
Just think about it. Swinging a golf club isn’t that different than swinging a hockey stick. The hand-eye coordination skills learned in golf can help improve the your child’s overall performance in other sports (win, win)! The best part, they will be practicing these skills in an environment that takes serious patience as well. Golfing by no means is a fast-paced sport, giving your little one more time to focus without the constant pressure involved in other great sports like basketball or hockey.
How to Practice These Skills at Home
Unless you’re cool enough to have a Pete and Alice Dye Golf Experience in your backyard (if so, can I come over?), you’ll need to modify how you practice golf at home. Head out to your backyard with a few tennis balls and hula hoops to do the trick. Super easy, and you can grab those supplies at your local dollar store! Remember: encourage your kiddos to breathe and focus.
So, Did it Improve Your Kids Hand-Eye Coordination?
Jury is still out on this one. We realized one visit wouldn’t provide enough data for us to really know if their hand-eye coordination had improved. That just means we will be making several trips back to the UNBELIEVABLE golfing experience...you know...for research purposes.
Hope to see you on the course!
- Sierra
