Guest Author - Susan Thompson

These days you rarely hear of a child who does not have at least one after school activity. It is understandable that parents want to keep their kids busy. It is also a proven fact that these after school activities keep kids out of trouble. When it comes down to choosing which activities are right for your kids, how do you decide? How many activities do children need to keep themselves out of trouble, yet not so busy that they have no down time? I know some parents who spend every weekend shuffling their kids to so many different activities, that the need to keep a separate calendar for each kid. That, in my opinion, is a little excessive. Keeping you kids out of trouble is one thing, but if they do not know how to handle down time, you are not doing them any good.

Each child is different. Some kids can handle homework and several different activities at a time. Some kids can only handle one activity and some cannot handle any extra curricular activities without being stressed. Only you can decide what is right for your child. My suggestion would be no more than two activities during the school year. I have three kids, and if each of them does two activities, that makes six activities for me to keep track of. That is more than enough for me. Of course, the options in your area may differ, but in general, the basics are the same.

I would suggest talking to your child and visiting the activity before committing to anything. Also, talk to the leader or coach to find out what the weekly commitment is and what exactly will be expected of your child when he/she joins. I normally told my children if they joined something that they made a commitment to the group and they would have to see it through. I am not a big advocate of quitting, but there are exceptions to every rule here is one example. My daughter was seven and wanted to play indoor soccer very badly. We talked it over and allowed her to join. There were no practices or anything. We go the first night and the gym is divided into two separate playing fields. Looking around, I see approximately 80 kids in the gym, my daughter being the smallest (she was very tiny for her age). The coach makes her the goalie! I could not believe it. Long story short, she did not get hurt, but she didn’t ever want to go back, and I couldn’t blame her. I let her quit.

Most importantly, try to support your children in their activities. Go to the concerts, shows, or games. Even if you child is not the star of the team, knowing someone is watching and supporting them makes them feel like a star.

Please look for my next article in which I will outline some of the options for extra curricular activities.