No clubs/classes at 5

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What age did your dc start extra clubs (if they did/do?) My Dd used to do gymnastics when little, which was fun, but now she’s at school, we come home, decompress, take the dog in the forest and she plays etc. Her neighbour pal who is one year older has clubs almost every night-swimming, running etc etc. He gets home after, has dinner, then bed.
Should I be actively putting Dd in more clubs at this age?

Started gymnastics at 5 and she has been doing swimming lessons since she was a baby

Most children of 5 do some clubs outside of school such as gymnastics, dance, rainbows etc. I would definitely enroll her in swimming at the very minimum and maybe ask her to see if there is anything she would like to do?

Hmmm I guess it depends on what you can afford. Personally I think gymnastics and swimming are good ones for fitness and safety for swimming but I don't think clubs are essential. Maybe a musical instrument if they're that way inclined as it's easier to pick up younger.

From 3 our kids have done extracurriculars.

They're still doing them now at 16 and 11. I'd really recommend that you offer extracurriculars. It's great for their confidence and socialising.

DS does swimming and gymnastics and has just started athletics but during that time he was in after school club previously where they just gave him jam sandwiches and let him watch TV, he prefers to be active, that'll probably be it until this time next year when he'll be old enough for beavers

Mine does swimming , rainbows and dance
It is a bit of rushing around but swimming is a necessity, and she loves the dance . And Rainbows is cheap and they have fun trips.

We can afford them, I just wasn’t sure if it was necessary/overloaded them at this age? Shouldn’t they relax a bit after school, she plays with neighbour friends, goes on her bike, in the woods, in the garden etc

My dd1 took school in her stride and started Brownies as soon as possible. My dd2 was worn out after school when she first started, she just needed to chill at home. She went swimming at the weekend but there was no way she could cope with anything extra in the week.

There's still plenty of time to relax though even if she does a couple of clubs a week. It's not either or and most children enjoy extracurricular classes.

Dd goes to dancing, gymnastics, rainbows, swimming and forest club. Shes 4 and goes to school next year. She will continue her clubs after school when she starts next year.

Be lead by your child not random people from Mumsnet.

Ask her what she'd like. Do that. If it doesn't work out (she's too tired etc.) then stop. If she says she doesn't want to do anything, that's fine.

There's no way my 4 year old could cope with school plus after school activities at the moment. He's just too tired and needs the time to decompress. We'll start one in the Spring I think.

My 5 year olds not interested in clubs, I've just managed to persuade her to go to a singing/drama type club which is just one 45 minute session a week. Some children just don't like clubs.

6 year old did 2 clubs, swimming and one other when she started school. I absolutely don't think they are necessary though.

Well I'd see how she goes in your shoes. She's probably tired after school so throwing her into after school activities this term might not be wise. Let her adjust to school and once she's comfortable see whether she fancies anything else.

One thing I would say is make sure they give them a good go and don't let them jack things in too quickly.

My 5 year old does swimming and football atm. My 7 year old does swimming and gymnastics.

My 5 year old DS is in year 1. He does swimming on a Saturday. We tried doing it after school and he was just exhausted so we moved it to the weekend. He will start beavers next week. He has ASD and other health problems so we don't push him. I would love for him to play an instrument but private tuition is so expensive!

I think no clubs is fine, although my first did swimming, rainbow's & gymnastics from 5, my second child did very little other than school and my second is the one who's more confident and happy to potter, whereas my eldest has to be doing something all the time. Depends on the kid.

I agree be led by your DC. Looking back mine did too many at that age and should have just done swimming. I was frazzled by the time oldest was 10 that they stopped sooner than I would have liked.

I think swimming is a really good one, and is great from a safety perspective. Other than that, Rainbows/Beavers is brilliant as that's just an all-rounder and they can try lots of things and make new friends. Plus, if they stick with it, it's a group of friends for life as they can go right the way through the system and then even become a leader.

Of course, if your child struggles with interpersonal skills (and some do), it’s just offering them another sphere to fail in.

She sounds happy. I don’t think it is necessary but I’d consider swimming lessons as a minimum. Usually available at weekends. Need to go for a few years to learn properly but it’s an important life skill.
My 8 yo is a crazy extra curricular ninja, does karate, swimming, football, an after school multi sports club, cubs and flute lessons. My other son does almost nothing. His choice.

We only do weekend clubs as I work until 5:15 which seems to clash terribly with the timings fir most weekdays clubs for under 8s. The exception are clubs run by school which are unfortunately few and far between (no offence to the school, I get why).

We still seem to have a good selection to choose from including various sports, swimming, dance and drama. We started both dc at 3.

Mine started swimming at 4. He's now 7 and I've just signed him up to learn a musical instrument through school.

Couldn't afford for him to do much more than that.

My 5yo does a weekly swimming lesson which she's been doing since she started baby swimming groups at 3 months old. She has also started weekly performing arts class which just started in September. She had been on a waiting list for over a year for that class. She did about 6 months of gymnastics lessons prior but made very little progress compared to her peers and didn't make any friends, so we swapped it for the performing arts once she was offered a place there. These are both weekends though. Weekdays it's not really possible because one or both of us is at weekday and she has a 2yo brother too who I don't think it would be fair (or pleasant for any of us) to just cart him around everywhere for eldest. Whereas on the weekend obviously just one of us takes eldest and the other stays with youngest.