Organizing Extra Curricular Activities for your Children.

Actively participating in any Group enables the participant to explore their physical, creative, social, political, and potential career interests with like-minded people; often creating new friends who share their interest and curiosity. Today there is a huge array of activities for children that can be participated in at any level, but with that, comes the obvious dangers of over-scheduling, which we’ve all read the warnings about. Extra curricular activities are supposed to be about experience and fun. Sadly, you often see little groups following each other into all sorts of activities; only to leave a trail of equipment; paraphernalia and wasted money in their wake with no real experience gained because the activity wasn’t really self-chosen. Your child should want to do the activity and be motivated to get there on time and to practice. If not, forget about it. We need to teach our kids about commitment and responsibility and this is a great way to do just that.

• Advantages – There are many benefits to participating in extra curricular activities for children and as a parent you will learn to ‘qualify’ each new interest based on your child’s excitement, and how long they have talked about participating. Another way to ensure they are really keen, if you are in doubt, is telling them they need to pay for the classes and you will pay for the gear and insurance. If they have to put their money where their mouth is, it will get them thinking seriously!

• Motivation Levels - If your child is getting their gear ready early; practicing their new skills on their own; checking who is taking them and making sure their chores are done before going, they are obviously getting something out it and enjoying it.

• Not a Fit for Everyone - Some children don’t enjoy extra activities full stop. If this is the case for your child, observe what they do with their time – What do they watch on telly: how often; how much homework are they doing? Do they still get outdoors much – if so, what are they doing? It might be that your child really isn’t a physical type of kid and may be better suited to something like music, archery, chess, or learning to sew. It might take time to find the right way to ensure this child is getting what they need, so be patient with this. 

• Look to your Local Community to provide the stimulation your child may need. Try enquiring about the activities your local schools and community centres offer and listen to other parents & children with regard to their experiences.

• A Retiree might be only too happy to teach your child how to make a dog kennel; how to tend a veggie garden; repair bikes etc. Generally speaking, people are only too happy to share knowledge with others. Besides which, it’s a great way to meet older people who have much wisdom to pass on to us all.

• Start Locally and only if your child has great interest and/or ability, commit to travel to bigger far flung clubs. The commitment for you and your child will go up if you commit to this, so be sure to discuss this thoroughly as a family. There may need to be a trade off or two within the family dynamics for this to occur.

• Scouts and Guides are great for providing a safe environment with a varied interacting age group and program; from crafts to drama expression, cooking outdoors, to first aid and bush survival skills. Often new interests come out of the sampling done at Guides and Scouts.

• Time Out  - If your child indicates they want some time off for various reasons, no matter how good they are – it may be wise to give them the break. It is much better than forcing them to do something they are no longer feeling inspired by. However, discussing rejoining a new group of kids, possibly at a lower skill level, can sometimes cajole them to dig deep and turn their energy around and persist with it.

• Quitting - Kids often only participate for a term or so then quit without a second thought–leaving you thinking “Hold on… how did their passion go from full-on to nothing?”  Considering the fact you have bought all the gear; paid the insurance fees, gotten to know the instructor and the other parents, etc it’s understandable to want to make your child ‘stick with it’. Stop before doing this and initiate a chat with your child to see if there is something they aren’t comfortable with– i.e. too hard; or a friend has stopped etc. A discussion may need to be had about the importance of making decisions for themselves and not living their lives following others. If they are participating because of another child, organize a play date to fill that need.

• What about Mum and Dad! - As with over-scheduling our kids - we need to remember our own massive over scheduling as parents!  Like all areas of life there has to be balance.

• Looking to the Future - Keeping a record of activities that children have participated in shows a diversity of interests on college and job applications. Active involvement in voluntary activities shows someone who actively participates in life, is willing to learn new things, cares about their physical self, etc. It shows too that they are responsible for managing their time.

• Specific Activities help with Specific Goals — If they want to work as a journalist or be a lawyer, being the President of the debate team shows a depth of commitment.

• Volunteering within an area of interest for a group that supports the interaction and education of kids with special needs can enhance some special caring traits in your child.

• Ultimate Goal – Often, the main reason for joining a club or team is that it keeps children out of trouble and helps to prevent them from becoming a self-absorbed TV/computer zombie. Kids and adults who are involved and engaged in something are less likely to become addicted to anything; be it smoking or drinking and they are statistically more successful, (not just in the monetary measure of success but fulfilled with what they are doing), which as parents, is our main goal for them isn’t it?