Nike has posted a several seasons’ worth of videos – with seven to 12 per season – on the Nike for Kids section of its YouTube page. (The seasons are numbered up to eight, but the first one appears to be absent.) Each video is a how-to lesson on a couple of physical motions. For instance, one covers a variant of jump-rope and two kinds of ballet leaps. The American brand has posted interactive children’s content on its Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat pages as well. “We wanted to show kids that sport, at its core, is all about play,” says the global head of Nike Kids, Jessa Moon. “It doesn’t have to be soccer or football or traditional sports – it can be a mash-up or something totally wild and different.” Nike Kids’ global vice president, Rami Jabaji, goes further, saying that the phrase “play sport” can be discouraging and scary to kids, because it comes from an overly structured, overly competitive world. With the stressful situations and the excessively tough coaches and parents who push them to play some particular sport, kids ”feel disconnected from its benefits, from its joy.” This year Nike will in addition be introducing the Nike Play Council of young athletes and creators. In Jabaji’s conception, the council will reserve “a seat at the table” for children, enabling them to “co-create the future of sport.”

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