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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

How much do you spend on extracurricular activities per month?

74 replies

WhichJob · 11/08/2017 12:35

We spend £100 per dc! Fortunately some of the activities mean we don't need childcare after school but I was still surprised when I added it up.

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ruleshelpcontrolthefun · 25/01/2018 20:56

£45pcm for my 4yo preschooler. It sounds like it is going to get much worse....

elQuintoConyo · 25/01/2018 20:54

€44 a term for swimming. DS is 6yo, he has no interest in anything else and is shattered from school (9-4.30 here).

Stompythedinosaur · 25/01/2018 20:34

We do each month:
£28 piano for dd1
£64 swimming lessons for both dds
£60 riding lessons for both
£32 climbing lessons for both
£60 ballet for both

So that's £232 between them. And next year dd2 will be old enough for piano so it will go up!

Thankfully ball skills, eco club, and choir are free through school.

Equimum · 19/01/2018 20:19

Wish I hadn’t done the maths!
DS1(5) swims, does French and horse rides every two weeks - £136/month (during term time)
DS2(2) swims and doe forest school for tots - approximately £60/month

fedup2017 · 10/01/2018 10:46

4 children.
Ds1(14). Music lessons and county band, tennis X3/wk and conditioning and football about £150 a month in total plus petrol/equipment.

Ds2 (10). Music (cheaper through school) Drama lessons individual and group and tennis once a week. About £120/month.

DS3. (8). Football and dodgeball only £25 ! In total. He was to start scuba diving/bubble maker course asap but I darent look how much it will cost....

DS4 a music class and toddler tennis.... £40

Over £300 a month! No wonder I always feel poor

SnapesTears · 10/01/2018 10:32

DC1 - £180 fees per term, not including any extras that might be needed (music lessons and scouts)
DC2 - has just quit an expensive activity but still has music and singing lessons so £140 per term.
DC3 - Only does Beaver Scouts £30 per term.
DC4 - £210 per term (Brownies and performing arts)

£560 a term in activities Shock

dancinfeet · 10/01/2018 08:27

£200 a month for musical theatre for two teenagers. It would be a lot more, but they don't pay for their dance lessons as I am their teacher. This isn't including what I spend on dancewear, exams, show costumes, dance trips though- which is an amount I don't want to even think about!

Didiplanthis · 06/01/2018 21:42

Not going to add it up. Don't want to know but 3 dc. Between them 8 dance classes, 3 swimming classes, 2 music lessons. And 1 tutor session for dc with dyslexia. Ouch.

foundoutyet · 06/01/2018 16:46

fpr 3 dc per week:
music lessons : £64
sport 1 £15
sport 2 £14
sport 3 £16
sport 4 £21
sport 5 £10
sport 6 £1
so roughly £140/week

2ndSopranos · 06/01/2018 15:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

crazymumofthree · 05/01/2018 22:17

Also this doesn't include kits, boots, badge costs, sports wear

crazymumofthree · 05/01/2018 22:15

We pay..

DS 8 - football team £30, football through school £20, guitar, £69. He was also doing golf which was £60 a month but have stopped that for now.

DS 6 - football team £20 ( sibling discount), £50 piano, £32 tennis and a free multiskills club through the school.

DD 3 - gymnastics £60

Total 🙈 £281 I actually thought I spent half this!! That's crazy and I wanted to do swimming and I didn't include the golf!!

iseenodust · 12/09/2017 10:27

Just over £200 per month across 3 sports, that excludes kit which tends to be birthday/xmas presents. DS is an only so we value these clubs for the friendships/social side as well as fitness.

HannahLily2014 · 06/09/2017 20:50

2 x dds, they dance mon, tues, wed, sat
£500 fees per month, don't want to add up comp/travel/costume fees but in the last year they have competed in New Jersey, Germany, Paris and all over the U.K.

It's expensive and can take over our lives a bit but they love it and work so hard it's hard to say no 😫

Cailleach666 · 04/09/2017 06:49

£200 a month on one DD, That includes a new pair of dance shoes every 4 weeks or so.

Mincepies76 · 03/09/2017 18:38

£267 a month Confused that's swimming for 2, music lessons for 2, singing lesson twice a month and dance...

lljkk · 01/09/2017 08:22

If I include travel costs to get to the activity, £25-£50 per month per DC (n=3). Swim lessons, footie , school musical.

Trumpetboysmum · 01/09/2017 07:35

We spend about £300 a month - mostly on music lessons !! but dd also goes to a Saturday stageschool and swims. However in addition to this ds's extra music fees for his CAT place, NCO and a school orchestra tour could add up to an extra £5000 !! this year Shock I'm currently waiting to hear if he has been awarded a bursary!! We are lucky that we can find a way to pay if we don't get one ( and it won't cover all of this anyway) I saw this one coming a couple of years ago and so am trying to put a plan in place to cover this extra money until he leaves school - he's only 12 so we've got quite a few years to cover , and I know there are grants out there if things change for us financially so hopefully all will be ok , but it's very expensive

SE13Mummy · 01/09/2017 00:52

I know we're lucky that we can do it Mini, and it helps that there aren't any travel costs because we're local. Without my new job we didn't qualify for a bursary but couldn't afford JD so I'm really grateful that when the opportunity came up, we were able to find a way to pay for it.

Minimusiciansmama · 27/08/2017 19:43

se13mummy that's amazing of you. I'm only able to send my daughter to JD because of the government music grants, I am extremely grateful for that.

SE13Mummy · 27/08/2017 17:35

DD1 (12) is a massive £120 per week but most of this is because she attends a junior music conservatoire on Saturdays. She receives about 5 hours music teaching there, including a 40 minute, 1:1 lesson on her instrument. She also does a couple of dance classes each week, goes to Guides, has a music lesson at school and attends lots of after school sports clubs. Thankfully those are free.

DD2 (8), it's £30 per week. Over half of that is her 1:1 music lesson through the local music service. The rest is spent on dance classes, Brownies and another sport.

We're in London and I'm aware this is a lot of money - I got a new job to fund DD1's place at the junior conservatoire.

RueDeWakening · 25/08/2017 20:12

Interesting to stop and work this out!

DD age 10 does:
clarinet (paid for by PP, but roughly £8 weekly per 25 minute lesson), plus exam fees, music, reeds etc.
Swimming: £8/week
Guides: £25/term
Chess: £60/term
Church youth club: 20p/fortnightGrin
Plus after school clubs inc choir so costumes etc sometimes need paying for.

DS1 age 7 does:
Swimming: £8/week
Beavers: £30/term
He used to do football but didn't want to carry on, and kind of wants to start piano but isn't sure yet.

DS2 age 4 doesn't do anything yet, he'll start swimming lessons around spring next year though.

So I think that's about £150/month ish for 2 of them.

ilovesushi · 23/08/2017 14:49

No wonder I am always skint. Very roughly about £100-£150 a month for both kids. That includes dancing lessons, music lessons, instrument hire, swimming lessons, cubs, art club. Last two are brilliantly priced. It's the dance which is a financial killer especially round exam time.

JufusMum · 23/08/2017 11:49

endehors....I have had 12 years of the freestyle comp scene and this is one jaded comp mum right here lol!
DD just LOVES competing, she doesn't want to dance for a career, she just loves comps and her friends she has made through dance, and it instils discipline and fitness, so I am happy to go along with it until University where I am secretly hoping she will retire!

endehors · 23/08/2017 10:06

Ah freestyle, jufus. Some of the costumes can be expensive even second hand. My daughter has the usual dance school solos, ballet, tap, modern, Greek etc.

I'm not fond of the competition scene personally, though it's not all bad, but it helps so much with the performance side.