To ask how many different extra curricular activities your DC do?

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DC is in yr 2, so not at an age where he has a regular hobby that he does several times a week. We started by enrolling him in a few things that were available at times that suited, eg straight from school to avoid wraparound, Saturday morning etc. he now does quite a lot to the point I think it’s excessive (something every day and some days 2 activities/lessons - E.g we pick him up from after school drama club to take him straight to a swimming lesson). The problem is he doesn’t want to give anything up, wants to do everything etc. when / how do we decide to rein it in to fewer activities? How much is too much for a 7YO?

My older son would fill every waking moment with More Stuff, all the way through school and university.

My sister's son would insist that he couldn't do his trumpet practice on a day he'd been travelling in the car for several hours (he likes being a trumpeter and is good at it).

They all have different ways of being. I think your son will let you know if it starts to be too much for him.

(I suspect both are neurodivergent, in very different ways ;-) )

I do feel it’s a lot, hence the thread. It just sort of happened and now he enjoys them all it’s difficult to know what to drop.

not an only child. We have DC2 (4) who does swimming and rugbytots at the moment. also pregnant with DC3.

DD 8 does 11hrs of gymnastics plus swimming. We had the same dilemma, she had to drop cheerleading and acro - I just told her something has to go and for her to mull over it and eventually she came round.

DS(8) does football (x2 per week), school choir, Cubs, band (during school day), piano, swimming, and maybe cricket in summer. He also goes to after school club 2 days per week.

DD(5) does Rainbows and swimming, and will start cricket in the summer. She also does after school club 3 days per week.

Swimming, gymnastics, trampolining and brownies outside school, then french club, gardening club and music club in school for my 7 year old. She's not naturally academic so we give her opportunities to thrive as much as possible.

Swimming and gymnastics for my 4 year old.

It's both their own choices what they do though, I don't make them do anything, I just fund it!

14 yo DS

Explorers
Swimming
Volunteering at animal sanctuary

10 yo DD

Football x 3
Scouts
Running
Swimming

DD just does rugby at the weekend, she’s only 4 and is always exhausted after school so we aren’t putting anything on to the evenings until she’s a bit better/more focused in the evening 🙂

16 year old with additional needs does Tutor for Maths Monday 1 hour, 1-1 cricket coaching Monday 1 hour, karate Tuesday 2 hours as on high grade, Wednesday cricket 1 hour, Crav Mgar 1 1/2 hours Wednesday, Swimming 1 hour Thursday, Friday 3 hours cricket training, Saturday cricket training 1 hour, Swimming 1 hour some weeks other weeks he goes for 2k run around lake, Sunday cricket training 2 hours. Cricket season starts in April so much of cricket training will stop and matches will begin. He will play Under 17 match once a week, Saturday match for club and Sunday county match. I would 💯 percent prefer driving him around to sports than have a teen constantly sat on a computer gaming.

When mine were that age :

Ds - football training 3 times a week and match at weekend. Beavers one night.

Dd - dance one night, brownies one night, fencing one after school club.

Reception age DD does 7 activities after school or weekends, plus ballet and music lesson during school day. Classes are mostly 45 min - 1 hr, although music lesson is 30 min. It's a lot, but she enjoys all of them and I never had the chance to do any so I'm keen for her to have as many opportunities as she can. Three of the activities are on the school site and I just pick her up later, and those are the easiest on her (and me), we don't need any after-school childcare so she's home quickly afterwards.

Two of the activities are after school on other sites which can be a bit more of a pain as it takes a while to travel there, I have to prep her dinner to bring along with us, and also have to drag a younger sibling in tow. But worth it as they're high quality clubs with a waiting list and a good foundation for building further skills. I couldn't manage more than two after school clubs if they were all off site, I find the ferrying about quite tiring and it's a much later finish time.

None. Don't drive so can't really get them anywhere and nothing on at school they're interested in

DS10: Philosophy, Tutoring, Drama
DD 8: Philosophy, Tutoring, Drama, Brownies

If it feels too much, would probably say it is too much.

If some of the activities are in place of after school club then would def keep these on- will be more enjoyable than child sitting around a hall and you need the childcare. Would then try and prioritise those which are a true life lesson (ie swimming) over something which child could pick up at any age.

Outsude school, my 7 year old does activities 3 nights a week
ballet and modern
ballet, piano and acro
swimming

and Saturday morning football

She does football, gymnastics and tennis at school, which are not an issue as they replace wraparound care.

She has known since year 1 that she must drop something to take something else on if it requires parental transportation, as we have no other evenings free. Scheduling at weekends is already complicated because of balancing football matches and extra dance lessons for shows and exams.

I think even if I didn’t work, I wouldn’t want her to take on more physical activities, as this is 8 hours of organised physical work a week, rising to 11 hours if there is a show, outside of PE and general running around/cycling/family walks.

She is a busy girl by nature, and is generally well organised. If I had to chase her to practice her piano or dance, or to get herself ready on time, or to pack her kit for school clubs, we would be dropping things sharpish. She’s also lucky that homework is still pretty quick and easy, and that we have not yet hit big clashes that will make her have to choose between dance and football. We understand that these time pressures will come as she gets older.

One of the main reasons I am happy for her to do all this activity is because girls often stop sporting activities quicker than boys, so hopefully if something sticks, she’ll have the habit of moving for pleasure.

I would add that ballet can be a gateway drug. When she started ballet, I thought it would be like when I did it - a chance to wear pretty clothes and twirl around with your friends for a couple of years - 30 min a week in the village hall.

It has now spread to modern and acro as well, with extra sessions for shows and before exams. And this year, also festivals which means an additional private.

I’m just very glad that she was horrified when she heard a troupe of tappers at a festival last year, as she doesn’t want to add that too.

It’s not a world that either my husband and I understand, but we’re willing to support her as she clearly loves it and it has done wonders for her confidence. And to my absolute surprise, she seems to be good at it, and willing to put the work in by herself.

It’s maybe one to avoid if you don’t want to get sucked in. But then again, keen swimmers train daily and at silly o’clock. And most of my waking hours outside school were spent doing something related to ensemble music. So perhaps anything can get its hooks into you!

My 7yo does
Tuesday - coding club 3-4 (at school); choir & music theory 5-6
Wednesday - piano in school time
Thursday - swimming 5-5:30
Friday - football 7-8
Saturday - theatre school 9-10.

Mondays and Wednesdays are totally clear after school, and weekends free except Saturday morning.

We've only just added the music.

What she does feels right for us in terms of cost and time (ours and hers). It's handy that a couple of activities are at school, the others are all very close to home.

Total speed is about £33 per week

My DS (reception) does swimming and one extra club afterschool, this term was art club.
At 6 he'll join Beavers.
That's all I would want to commit to.
We're too busy with family time on a weekend with parties and days out, play dates, seeing relatives etc plus he enjoys playing in the house with his toys and his little sister.

Some children thrive on lots of activities and it sounds like your ds is one of them. Mine when younger did no more than two or three, occasionally four, activities at a time, two of them consistently music related.

If he is loving it, more power to him I say. If you think he is exhausting himself then cut back, but otherwise sounds great. I am amazed at the number of activities some kids can juggle.

DD7 does a lot and was coping fine with it until school increased the amount of sport lessons after Christmas to include a swimming lesson on Thursdays and an extra PE lesson on Fridays. Like your DC she was adamant she didn’t want to give anything up but she was just too tired and I insisted we had to make changes. She has decided to drop tennis after school on Fridays and we moved her swimming lesson to a closer pool which also means she has a free day at the weekend. She will now be doing:

Monday - ballet (at school straight after school), swimming lesson
Tuesday - French club (I had decided she would stop this after Easter but DD was so upset we have agreed to carry on!)
Wednesday - Gymnastics
Thursday - Nothing
Friday - Nothing
Saturday - Riding lesson
Sunday - Nothing

DD is an only child and doesn’t have many good friends at school. Her hobby friends are her closest friends as she is a high ability child and prefers slightly older children who seem to be more on her wavelength. That all came out when we discussed dropping French and that’s why we agreed she could carry on.

My 9yo does choir and Eco/science club at school. He also does parcour and cycling club. He enjoys them all but he’s needed encouragement to try things.

He was 7 during Covid- I suspect he wouldn’t have wanted to do anything anyway.

If he seems able to keep up with all of it then I think its fine.
For my DS I avoided letting him attend two sports (football followed by rugby) on the same evening because I think thats too much. For your DS though, drama followed by swimming sounds fine.