If you grew up in the 80s/early 90s. Did you do extra curricular activities?

We had horses so that was a given. Also I did ballet, as my mum had wanted to be a ballerina. Randomly Scottish dancing, with my neighbour-we're Welsh!

I also did Brownies/Guides. And in my teens, still the horses and a group of us went swimming every Sunday. Mostly to look at the boys who went to look at us!

I did brownies and swimming and also played violin. My parents had 4 kids and my mum was a SAHM, so they didn't have much money, otherwise I'd have done more, like horse riding, for example. I did do ballet when i was tiny, and also gymnastics actually.

Yes, I did ballet, horse riding, skiing, music lessons, football and ice skating, I grew up in America though.

I was born in 1974. I did ballet tap swimming brownies and gymnastics. It was as much a thing then as it is now (although a lot cheaper - we lived on a council estate and I remember gymnastics was £1.50 for a two hour session)

My DD went to ballet, tap, jazz, tennis coaching, gymnastics and piano lessons.

Born in 1982. I did: clarinet lessons, Saturday music club (3 hours of choir, music theory, etc), bras and wind ensemble and Brownies.

I did recorder lessons, gymnastics and country dancing/maypole dancing after school. These were all free afterschool activities run by the school which I couldn’t enrol myself in. I begged my mum to enrol me in Brownies and she finally did when I was 9. I remember Brownies was 20p a week. I grew up on a council estate.

I then went to a very MC secondary school and then discovered that other children did ballet lessons and other activités outside of school,

1970s-80s. Yes I did absolutely everything. I was that kind of kid. My mother also encouraged us to do as much as possible as she had very limited opportunities when she was a child.

Note: I got there under my own steam as my mother didn’t drive and my father was always working and would not have given us a lift anyway.

I remember Brownies, Girls Brigade, ballroom dancing, drama, Sunday school, ballet, piano lessons, swimming.

When I was older and had given up most of the hobbies, I went to a youth club twice a week. I would go on my own and come back late at night on the bus.

I don’t remember anything being costly apart from piano lessons and there were no uniforms or costumes like people are pressurised into buying these days.

Reading these stories, I think I was very lucky. My area had a lot of amenities and activities for children. My parents did think activities and socialising were more important than studying however and I never did homework. My siblings and I all underachieved at school as we were too focused on things other than education.

I started ballet in reception then stopped. We went to playscheme in the holidays, does that count? 😂

I did go to St John's ambulance brigade when I was about 11.

late 70s early 80s
tap and ballet
brownies
majorettes
Sunday school
would like to have done proper gymnastics at proper club but lived in a small village

All of them: brownies and guides, swimming, piano, tennis, riding. In my teens I just did tennis and took up squash. Weirdly by 6th form I’d pretty much given up sport completely but got a new lease of life at Uni and did loads and took up tennis again in my forties.

I did loads. Not sure I can remember everything I did but I’ll give it a go:-

Swimming, water polo, mountain biking, gymnastics, tennis, badminton, hockey, netball, athletics (running), athletics (high jump), table tennis, canoeing, sailing, roller skating, roller hockey, badminton, brownies, guides, rangers, drama, choir, ballet, other dancing, gang show, new image rugby, football, unihoc, cross country

Some things my parents suggested, some I asked to do, some were through school (if there was a club I joined it), some were through guides (our leader was good at contacting eg the local canoeing club and saying “I have 20 guides who would love to learn to canoe - can you do us a six week course at a discount”).

I remember our local leisure centre used to run something called “select a sport” where you would go for the day in the holidays and there would be (very loosely supervised) football, hockey, tennis, table tennis, badminton, netball, unihoc, etc going on and you could just decide what you joined in with.

What was interesting was that I lived in a very small town. The same girls seem to turn up at everything over and over again.

Yes…at various times ballet, disco, trampolining, Brownies and Guides until I was 14 and several years of church youth club.

I think my parents were keen to give me opportunities to meet kids my own age as I’m an only child as we didn’t have vast amounts of cash.

Swimming until 14 and brownies / guides (boring, didn't last long).

I did swimming, ballet/tap/modern, brownies, piano when young- probably up to age 9. I then did athletics club, horse riding, and a church youth group for a bit, age 9 to about 14.
my bothers did rugby, swimming and athletics club.
This was 1984- 1994 ish
My Kids do even more, every day of the week except Thursday

I did Brownies, Guides, swimming, Sunday school. I think that was it. I had friends who did things like dance classes. I feel like kids do more extra curricular activities now but most people I knew still did extra activities in the 80s.

Nothing. But then I had a very working class upbringing. People will start yelling that it isn’t a class issue, but it is. It’s about not having the money, having a parent who doesn’t drive, about it being a cultural norm not to do extracurricular activities, and there not being many opportunities to do activities in the town.

I realise now that we didn’t even go on many day trips at weekends and during the holidays, because my Dad couldn’t be arsed!

Brownies, netball, stoolball, gymnastics, riding, cello, orchestra, tennis, swimming, rollerskating and trampolining but not all at the same time!
Born in 69.

Oh, I forgot there was hockey at school (secondary) & I played in the team at weekends. And choir and a glee club during the primary years - all run by volunteers, so free.

Born 1967. I did brownies (later guides followed by rangers) did ballet for a short time and had ballroom “lessons” which were more drop your kids off on a Saturday morning type of thing, (terrible at both) and guitar lessons (equally bad).

Few years earlier. Swimming club and dance (ballroom - before it was cool!). Fairly rural upbringing, so mainly I had to entertain myself.

Primary age in 80's
Did brownies but only if I walked there myself and home.
I had a pony... again had to get there and look after pony myself

We never had family days out or "family time" which seems to cause so much angst on MN.
My mother did chores on Saturday, my father took my brother to rugby, on Sunday it was church and then lunchtime drinks at rugby club.

I did swimming and Brownies. When I was to old for Brownies (didn't like Guides) I did horse riding. I did netball club at school for a couple of years and had recorder lessons.
Gave it all up at about 14

I was in the Girls Brigade, as it was within walking distance from home, and cheaper than brownies.

I was horse-mad as a kid, and desperately wanted to learn to ride and have my own pony, but growing up in a single parent family on benefits, this sadly was not an option.

I did swimming and brownies, and later at school, netball.