You’re having a conversation with one of the parents at school about extracurricular activities. It turns out that their children are doing after-school dance and hockey classes, tennis, chess, extra maths, violin, piano and singing lessons. Your kids play the piano and your daughter has singing lessons, but it’s nothing compared to this long list of activities! Panic and guilt wash over you at the thought that you’re not giving your kids enough opportunities. You wonder - Are my kids missing out? Am I depriving them of discovering what they’re truly passionate about?

You’re certainly not alone in your panic. Scrutinizing about whether you can fit more activities into your family schedule is something that most parents go through.

First of all, we’d like to invite you to take a deep breath. It’s so easy to get stuck in an overwhelming cycle of thoughts on this subject of extracurricular activities. So we’d like to offer you some information which should hopefully bring you some relief when deciding what activities your child should be involved in.

First of all, let’s take a look at the benefits of doing after-school activities.

What are the benefits of doing after-school activities?

After-school activities are essentially a form of childcare. So whether it’s football, dance or piano, see it as after-school coverage for your kids.
Some activities are essential tools for life. For example, swimming. Swimming is a valuable skill that will help them throughout their life.

These activities benefit your child’s body and mind. For instance, sports are great for physical health, music and arts nourish creativity, and chess develops spatial reasoning.

Not only do after-school activities help your child to make friends and form close bonds with other children, but they also help your child to build character through teamwork and collaboration.

Your child will feel a greater sense of belonging.

It may help your child get into certain secondary schools.

Perhaps best of all, kids enjoy doing them!

Now let’s take a look at what you may want to be aware of when considering after-school activities for your children.

What’s the downside of your child doing after-school activities?

It could mess with your family schedule/agreement. For example, if you have decided that you eat family meals together, then this may limit your possibilities for after-school activities. Even if your children are pressuring you to do something or you’re feeling that your kids are falling behind, try not to give in. You made your family agreement for a reason. Stick with it.

It’s easy to fall into a trap of encouraging your child to do an activity because of your own unfulfilled dreams. Pushing your kids to do things you wish you had done isn’t fair on your child. And if your child does end up getting involved in an activity you wish you had excelled in, be careful not to push them too hard.

Should my child be doing after-school activities?