Pre-schooler - cost of clubs/classes?!

[BeenChangedForGood]

Sitting down having a look at our outgoings as we need to tighten things up a bit and I guess had never really thought about how much these things cost 😳

DS (4yo) enjoys them and is an only child (and no other kids in the family) so I like him getting the socialisation. They will be the last things to get cut but they definitely eat into our monthly budget.

We have:

• swimming - £35 per month (1x 25 min group lesson per week)
• gymnastics club - £20 per month (1 hour per week - but classes on term time only)
• Gymnastics freestyle session - £6.50 per week - 1 hour
• Drama - £35 per 5 week block - 45 mins per week
• Football - £7.50 per week - 1 hour

I don’t know how people manage with multiple children 😳 Does this sound fairly standard? I don’t think any of them are particularly expensive on their own but they soon add up 😬

beavers / cubs / scouts tend to be good value for ££
but get his name down on the wait list asap !
as lists can be very long !

Blimey! We didn't do any of that. We took ours to free playgroups or 'pay as you go' ones that we could just turn up to.

What does it matter what other people do? As long as you and your child are happy with the activities you’ve chosen then everyone’s a winner.

That a lot but if your both happy and can afford it fair enough.
when DS was four he was at nursery 5 mornings and in the afternoons we would visit grandparents/go park/see friends/chill at home. He did swimming on a Saturday morning .
Before school nursery he was in private nursery 2 days. We did toddler group/library/ park/ grandparents on the three days at home.
I was always a get out the house person but would typically do one thing per day or possibly library then park.

@August1980 I feel guilty too and I know that has a lot to do with it. We don’t have much in the way of family and DH works away for weeks at a time so I worry that he’ll be lonely and bored with just me. I never planned for him to be an only child but unfortunately I’m unable to have any more

Way too much. My eldest did a riding lesson once a week maybe at 5. Then COVID happened and nothing until she joined cubs at 9. Youngest started beavers at 6. Nothing else and nothing before that. They have plenty of socialisation at nursery and then school.

We did a similar number at that age (and more now eldest is 7) and it's common around here, but families are well-off and keen to offer wide opportunities to their dcs. We have 2 dcs and the logistics of ferrying them about (and keeping younger one entertained while the other is in a class) is the worst bit!
I think it's fine if you can afford it, but if you need to cut back I'd choose a couple that they are most keen on, and do some cheaper/free activities the rest of the time. Our local leisure centre does much cheaper classes (for all sports) if you get a concessionary membership card, so check if you qualify for that as it can bring costs down significantly. There are also community organisations which do subsidised/concessionary rates for various classes so see if there any near you. Our local council does free swimming lessons in school holidays, for example. We also do lots of free days out to museums and festivals etc, although that's more for family days as we tend not to mix much with other dcs there

us too! We just had friends stay and our little one just seemed so much more contented with the company. They were 9 and 6 but still she sat in her high chair happier no fuss to get out as she was at the kids table.

it really made a difference to see her play with her toys differently too!!! I have been demonstrating for months how to crawl down stairs safely, a little 6 year old showed her and voila! She can come down stairs.

we started going to groups when she was 9 weeks old. I don’t know when she started noticing it but I tell you what. I found a song on my apple Judy’s that they normally place in her music class. About tidying up. Never played it at home but I was tidying up her toys and she was watching me.. when she recognised the music - she got very excited so she defo registered and recognised it!

Children need to learn to be able to occupy themselves without constant input and intervention from other people and organised clubs/activities etc.

It does children good to be bored sometimes. How else are they ever going to figure out how to entertain themselves?