Why Parkour is the Ultimate Activity for Kids

Parkour is not just a sport, but a beneficial activity that helps children grow, move, and explore in new and exciting ways. Parkour is a sport that uses the environment as an urban playground, involving natural movements to make it from one point to another. Through this sport, children can develop their strength, coordination, and motor skills while also enhancing their problem-solving abilities and sense of self. 

Vortex Freerunning is a youth parkour gym that uses the sport of parkour to inspire growth and development in children and teens of all ages. We utilize parkour to help build up the strength, motor function, coordination, and confidence of kids. Whether you are seeking an after-school activity to get your child moving or a cross-training sport for your youth athlete, our classes can provide the perfect balance of exercise and engagement to help your child experience everything that parkour has to offer.

To learn more about how parkour can benefit your child, we encourage you to contact us online.

About the Benefits of Parkour

Parkour is an urban sport that aims to get from point A to point B most efficiently. This sport uses movements such as running, climbing, jumping, and vaulting to get over and through hurdles, rather than around them. This sport is known for being highly beneficial for both athletic and mental development, as those who engage with this sport train incrementally. This allows them to focus more on their overall progress and growth rather than just landing the biggest jump or trick. 

Parkour has been known to be a beneficial sport for children due to its ability to build up athletic strength, coordination, and agility while also enhancing cognitive development and confidence. As your children overcome each new challenge, they can build up the courage to tackle new obstacles both inside and outside of the gym.

How Parkour Enhances Athletic Performance

Unlike traditional sports that involve repetitive movements, parkour utilizes each muscle group simultaneously through a variety of natural movements. Parkour teaches kids to traverse through different obstacles and environments in new ways that drill-based sports do not, providing them with a deeper level of physical literacy. Parkour often uses movements such as vaulting, jumping, and climbing, activities that work the legs, arms, and core. As kids learn these movements, they can naturally elevate their coordination and balance.

 While sports in general are beneficial for the development of children, early specialization in a single sport can lead to the underdevelopment of fundamental motor skills (FMS). FMS includes object manipulation, locomotor capabilities, and balance. These movements are considered to be the building blocks for further, more advanced athletic movements, such as hitting, kicking, or striking. (Williams, et al.) 

Parkour has been suggested to be a highly effective way to transfer movement skills to young athletes.  (Williams, et al.)  Studies have shown that adolescents who engage in parkour have enhanced jumping performance, balance, upper body strength, and certain gymnastic skills. Traceurs, or athletes who practice parkour, have also been shown to have enhanced physical fitness and motor skills overall. (Konushevci, et al.) This also means that parkour can be a highly efficient way to cross-train athletes who play other sports. 

How Parkour Can Enhance Cognitive Development

Parkour is not only about improving your child’s movement, but also their mental capabilities. Exercise in general has long been known to benefit one’s overall cognitive function and well-being. Engaging in physical exercise can help improve memory, attention, and executive control processes. Studies have also shown that physical exercise has been related to academic achievement, especially when compared to children who live more sedentary lifestyles.

With parkour specifically, each new obstacle challenges your kid’s problem-solving skills as they analyze their environment, plan each movement, and adapt quickly when things go unexpectedly. When children enter adolescence, their brains have higher neural plasticity. This is a period of time when the brain is capable of forming new neural pathways. Parkour takes advantage of this period by fostering advanced cognitive skills and adaptability, preparing your kids for increasingly more complex learning and problem-solving challenges.

Parkour Can Improve Your Child’s Self-Esteem and Confidence

Parkour teaches children to learn how to set realistic and attainable goals and work their way up incrementally to achieve them. With each new trick or skill set, your child is filled with a sense of accomplishment and pride, elevating their overall sense of self. Our classes are structured in a way that allows even the newest of beginners to succeed at parkour, which can help build their sense of self-belief early on. Studies have also shown that children who engage in parkour have lower levels of anxiety and greater self-confidence. (Rabaglietti, et al.) By combining physical challenges with personalized goals, parkour can help children develop not only athletic skills but long-lasting resilience and personal growth. 

How Parkour Improves Focus and Discipline

Parkour demands a sense of focus and discipline from kids that is practiced and reinforced as they run through each course. It takes concentration and discipline to learn to learn the self and movement literacy to time your landings and control your body in certain ways. Our coaches at Vortex Freerunning help kids learn to build focused skillsets one step at a time through persistent practice and careful guidance. This process helps strengthen their physical ability but also grounds them mentally. Over time, this approach helps develop self-discipline in kids as they learn to set personal goals and stay collected as they face new challenges. 

How Parkour Creates A Safe Environment for Risk Taking

Play is essential for the development of children’s physical, mental, and social health, especially risky play. Risky play is defined by thrilling and exciting forms of free play that involve an uncertain outcome and the possibility of physical injury. Risky play allows children to test their limits on their own in an open environment. (Beaulieu, et al.) Parkour takes the idea of play a step further by providing a safe and supervised environment for your children to tackle new challenges and push their boundaries. Our gym consists of padded surfaces and courses tailored to each class’s age range and skill level, so that kids can try daring movements while staying safe. This allows children to learn how to assess levels of risk in a controlled manner, which can improve their decision-making skills later on. 

The Parkour Community Welcomes All 

One of the biggest benefits of parkour is the community associated with the sport. Unlike traditional sports, parkour allows children to grow at their own pace and participate at their own level. Our instructors encourage celebration rather than criticism, and even use skill-based tracking to monitor their progress over time, help them in areas they need to develop, and celebrate their milestones.

Each of our classes at Vortex Freerunning is also designed to help foster a positive learning environment where kids can share advice, tips, and tricks when tackling new tricks or obstacles. This approach not only helps children feel more accepted but can teach empathy, respect, communication skills, and teamwork as they train and practice alongside athletes from other backgrounds.

Finding a Kids Parkour Gym in Newbury Park and North Hollywood

If you have been looking to find a kids parkour gym near you, look no further than Vortex Freerunning. Our gym uses parkour as a tool to help children grow and push their limits both physically and mentally. We offer weekly coach-led sessions that are personalized to your child’s age and skill level to help them build up their strength and confidence in an environment that fits them best. Each of our classes has a 1:5 coach-to-student ratio, so that your child gets the individual attention that they deserve. Additionally, with the purchase of a membership, your child will have unlimited access to supervised open gym sessions. These are drop-in sessions where your child can practice their skills outside of classes. This combination of structured classes and open practice time ensures that your child not only stays actively engaged but also develops their focus and confidence. 

We have two locations in Thousand Oaks and North Hollywood to serve families in the Conejo Valley and San Fernando Valley. For more information on our memberships, we invite you to contact us online.

References

Beaulieu, Emilie, and Suzanne Beno. “Healthy Childhood Development through Outdoor Risky Play: Navigating the Balance with Injury Prevention.” Paediatrics & Child Health, vol. 29, no. 4, 1 July 2024, pp. 255–261, https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxae016. Accessed 24 Aug. 2025.

Konushevci, Chris, et al. “Comparison of Basic Motor Skills and Physical Fitness between (Pre-)Pubertal Children from Parkour and Team Sports.” Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, vol. 7, 27 Mar. 2025, https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2025.1562561. Accessed 24 Aug. 2025.

Rabaglietti, Emanuela, et al. “Parkour vs Artistic Gymnastics among Pre-Adolescents: A Multidimensional Study on the Psychological Adjustment in the Sport Activities.” Advances in Physical Education, vol. 11, no. 01, 2021, pp. 47–60, https://doi.org/10.4236/ape.2021.111004. Accessed 24 Aug. 2025.

Williams, Mark David, et al. “Parkour-Based Activities in the Athletic Development of Youth Basketball Players.” Frontiers in Physiology, vol. 12, 15 Oct. 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.771368. Accessed 24 Aug. 2025.