Family & Kids - Sports with Kids

My topic this time round is about doing sports with kids. Depending on their age, on the season, on your own level of fitness, on your budget and availability, there are many many good reasons not to do any kind of sports. But - this would really not be Swiss!

As a newcomer in Basel, you could first check all the information that Basel-Stadt kindly gathers on all kinds of topics. Once you find your way on their webpage, it is actually quite easy to navigate, even if your German is basic.

Now let's find out what you can do!

So - what can you do on a gloomy and rainy Sunday when you are not sure how you can entertain - or exhaust - your kids?

Check out one of the three school gyms which are open every Sunday, for free - this is called "OpenSunday". The gyms are at the Isaak Iselin school, the Brunnmatt school in Gundeli, and the Insel school in Kleinbasel.

During school holidays, have a look at what is being organised by the Verein or association Robi Spiel Aktionen.

For an ongoing activity during the year, browse into the general "calendar" PDF of Basel-Stadt's Sports webpage and look for your favourite sport. The age group is also mentioned in this summarised document, which is super handy.

By way of an example, this is how I found out about activities accessible to 3-year-old kids and attended a trial class for a karate class - with an amazing teacher called Sergio Bustinduy who spoke no less than 6 different languages to 6 different kids! Yes - only in Basel!

For each activity you look at, you'll get the school name, contact details, webpage, days and times, age, place, and an estimation of the cost per trimester or year.

Here's the example of the karate for kids:

Miyabi Dojo Karate School, 078 871 04 01, miyabidojo@gmail.com

Mo+Mi+Fr, diverse Uhrzeiten ab 3 Jahren Klingelbergstrasse 11,4055 Basel CHF 240.–/Quartal

If you are feeling comfortable enough, keep navigating in German and find out about activities ordered by age. For instance, you'll find activities for pre-school kids (Vorschulalter).

Then comes the "Kinder" (kids), "Jugend" (tweens and teens), and even "Erwachsene" (adults) section.

Yes, it can be quite overwhelming to figure out what you can do. Just keep your eyes and ears open and try to find a local buddy to come along, for instance.

Of course, you can also shop around in kids-friendly cafés and community centres and take dozens of flyers in town. Some of these are in English, and they advertise fun and very accessible events like, for example:

Baby salsa (0-12 months) @ Joybeans Café, Allschwilerstrasse 22, Basel on Thursday 10-11h

I haven’t tried it, but it looks amazing!

Be Bop disco: organised at Quartier Treffpunkt QUBA by the BCT: an event that happens about 4 times a year on a Saturday afternoon. It includes pop corn, sirup for the kids and prosecco for the grown-ups. Why not attend the next one this winter?

On a beautiful day, with your family, or with friends, you can also rent an electric bike online via car2govelo (the website is available in German, French and Italian) and hop on a bike with the whole family! Why not ride along the Wiese river or go to a nearby forest or a farm in the countryside (Binningen, Bottmingen)?

- Laure Audidière