Extra-curricular activities for children

Do you want to organize your child's free time after school in an interesting way? Consider what extracurricular activities to choose to get the most benefit. Remember that your child should be happy to go to extracurricular activities. Extra-curricular activities for children: which extracurricular activities should you enroll your child in.

The choice of extracurricular activities for children is considerable. Foreign languages, swimming pool, karate, tennis, horse riding, playing instruments, theater classes, drawing or clay modeling are only a fraction of the offers that primary school students are offered by schools, community centers, local sports clubs, and specialized educational companies. It is worth taking advantage of them, because they not only broaden the horizons, but also allow the child to develop passions, discover talent, and spend time in an interesting way with peers with similar interests.

Extracurricular activities for children: at school or outside?

Extra-curricular activities for children offered by the school the child attends are often free for students, so it is worth checking its offer first - such information should be available on the website or at the secretary's office. At the same time, even in the same city there may be schools that offer their students a whole range of extracurricular activities, and those in which there is little, because there is no money.

So, if the offer of your school does not meet your expectations, check the offers of local cultural and sports institutions, as well as other schools in the area. It is good to be aware that - which is not obvious especially for first-grade parents - in many schools, apart from classes organized by teachers only for students of a given institution, there may also be those offered by various companies from outside. These classes are usually paid (sometimes they are co-financed by the commune), but the advantage is that people from other schools can also attend them.

Extra-curricular activities for children: what for whom?

It is good to write down any available suggestions and then think together with your child what to choose, taking into account both his interests, personality and temperament. The decisive voice should be played by the person most interested, because the classes are not only supposed to provide educational benefits, but should also be fun. So if you are tempted to enroll your son or daughter for violin lessons, because you once dreamed about it, make sure that your child wants it too.

However, do not rely solely on the child's will, but rather help him choose, not imposing anything, but discouraging a choice that might not be appropriate. A vigorous 10-year-old who is difficult to withstand in a bench, he will feel great in activities that require physical effort and allow to discharge excess energy, and those that require concentration (e.g. clay molding) will quickly tire him. For a delicate, shy 7-year-old who likes to draw, an art club will be a good idea, but you should also consider gymnastics. Extracurricular activities can either help develop talents or strengthen a child's weaker features.

Remember that extracurricular activities for children - wrongly selected, too ambitious in relation to the possibilities, can be a cause of frustration. A young man, from whom everyone in the group will draw better or sing better, may doubt his skills and develop complexes.

Must Read: Educational requirements for grades 1-3

Every student - teenager or first grader - should have some time for himself so that he can rest, calm down, laze around and meet friends after the class. Such relaxation promotes better concentration, so it is reflected in the results in science. It's not good if there are too many extra-curricular activities.

Extracurricular activities for children: how many should there be?

It depends, first of all, on the child's will and on the amount of time he has at his disposal. If he finishes lessons early, he doesn't have a lot of homework, but he has a great enthusiasm and drive for knowledge, he can be allowed to stay busy 3 or 4 afternoons a week - that is, participate in 2 different activities for children.

When the lessons end late or there is a lot of homework, it is better to limit extra-curricular activities to one or give up all of them. The excess of stimuli and the time filled to the maximum lead to fatigue. Children then have problems with concentration, feel reluctant to take up any challenges, and even suffer from depression. Doctors more and more often warn that the result of constant exhaustion is a decrease in immunity. Experts of the "Days of Resilience" program have conducted studies that have proven that children burdened with a large amount of extra-curricular activities are exhausted and fall ill more often than those who have more time for themselves.

Extra-curricular activities for children: TV according to the schedule

Programs, especially broadcast on educational and scientific channels, can provide a large dose of knowledge that extends that acquired in lessons and interest groups. But television should not become a child's primary source of information. So it's good to know that some cable operators offer parental controls so that parents can decide what programs (and how long) their children can watch when they're home alone.