Picking the Right Extracurricular Activities for Your Child
Extracurricular Activites
Soccer, dance, art class, instrument lessons, karate, and gardening club – the list goes on and on. These are just a few of the extracurricular activities that your children can participate in their free time. At the beginning of each semester, multiple notices come home advertising all of the various sports, clubs and other activities at my children’s school. Of course, they ask to participate in everything, in addition to the activities outside of school they already have. In order to prevent my kids from being burned out and over-scheduled, I had to narrow down the number of things they participate in based on a few determining factors. The following list are the things I considered when making this decision.
Determine how many days per week your children should be in an activity. If your time is limited, choose one activity that your child really loves and enrolled him in it. If they have time for more than one activity, you can either do multiple days of one sport or break it up a little bit by doing a music lesson and another activity. Also, take into account how much practice time will be required at home. I started by allowing my kids to do one day each week when they were in kindergarten and then increased each year.
What do they like to do? If your child hates running around, then soccer might not be a great idea. However, if you want them to still be involved in something athletic, maybe try a swimming team, karate or ballet. Many places will allow your child to try one class for free. You can also choose to sign up for just a couple of weeks to see if your child enjoys the choices they make. Take into account your child’s strengths and weaknesses and go from there. Would your child benefit from an activity that requires them to be a team player, to focus on specific tasks, or to follow directions well? Also, ask your child what they would like to try.
How much does the activity cost and how far do you have to drive to get there? If the fee is out of your budget or if you are required to drive 45 minutes each way, you might want to reconsider the activity. Some ways you can reduce the cost is to do group classes or lessons rather than individual classes. Also, if the class is really far from your home, you could try and find the same activity somewhere closer to home.
Make it fun! These extracurricular activities are meant to be a positive experience. Our kids spend 6-7 hours in school each day, sitting and focusing (we hope!). While their activities are meant to be somewhat structured, they are also during your child’s precious down time.
Meet The Bella Behind the Blog: Kristen Farley is a mother of three and a domestic goddess. She is a former teacher who enjoys spending lots of time with her kids, healthy eating, volunteering at school, and mommy blogging for the masses.
Be on the lookout for more of Kristen’s expert advice and brilliant tips!
