wipeouts for winners: helping your kid avoid a sports injury As our kids get back into the swing of fall sports, we've asked our favorite experts to help us keep our small athletes safe while having fun on the field. Jennifer Hood is the owner of Jump! gymnastics and an advocate for physical literacy , and Laura Patrick is a pediatric physiotherapist and owner of Kids Physiotherapy . give little ones an active start It's never too early to get kids moving! Jennifer emphasizes that the years from 0-6 are the Active Start phase of development -- a critical time for introducing fundamental movement and physical literacy skills. Give little ones the opportunity to explore a variety of movement, like skipping, running, jumping, throwing, and climbing, plus make sure activities are done in a variety of environments (think water, land, ice or snow). Save the sports drills for when they're older -- instead, focus on linking everything through play. let your kid be a kid Common causes for the sports injuries Laura and Jennifer see all the time are specializing too soon (which leads to overuse injuries), trying to do things the "adult" way, weak core muscles, and growth spurts. "While kids are going through rapid times of growth, their bodies are at risk of soft-tissue injuries. Bones are growing far more quickly than muscles, which can lead to injuries in repetitive activities such as running," Laura explains. "In addition, kids can become clumsy during these times of growth putting