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

[Jellycatjellycat]

I'm interested to see what is the norm.

I did nothing, no swimming, dance, brownies or anything like that. I do remember other girls doing Brownies and Ballet after school and asking my mum if I could go. She shut it down and told me I wouldn't like it.

These days of course most children do a lot of extra curricular activities but wondering if perhaps it wasn't such a thing years ago.

My brother said recently that we never did anything, but I did. Urdd ( which is like Welsh scouts, but more focused on music etc.), theatre and piano. Probably not as many as kids these days though, but we were allowed out on our own and didn't need entertaining all the time.

I did dancing for a short time on and off but nothing more than this. When I went into middle school this is where I liked netball and athletics so would do that for the school after school most weeks in the summer.

Primary school in the 80s, I did Brownies and Red Cross.

Secondary in the 90s, I did guides, youth club and Pony Club.

My son (12) currently does Scouts external from school but all other extra curricular activities my three do at school (so does that count?). My son does fencing, sax lessons, band and orchestra. My daughters have violin or flute lessons, orchestra and choir.

I went to a "music school" in my Central European country which meant instrument 2x week, music theory 2x week, choir and orchestra. Afternoon after "real school"
Lots of extracurriculars at the school (afternoon/evening)
I was pretty busy..
1980s

I did brownies, quit guides. Did ballet for a very short time and did horse riding for a few years. I don't do anything now

I did loads of music as a kid (born 87 so at school in 90s and early 2000s) but it was all council funded/subsidised and basically free - lessons, ensembles, music theory, aural etc. But it really started late Primary/secondary and I did nothing else.

I think a few kids I knew did swimming outside school and possibly brownies but it was nothing like the options available to my kids now.

I mostly read books, watched tv and played in the street after school. I’m very conscious of not overloading my kids so atm DS does swimming, football and music which still leaves 4x weekday evenings plus Sunday completely free.

In the eighties - swimming lessons, brownies, brief stint of trampolining at a horrific time on a Saturday morning. A couple of local youth clubs. Through school: netball & choir. Not all at the same time.

My father was in prison. We lived in a council house in a small Scottish village. I wanted a pony.

Ballroom dancing! ( free i think) Brownies( bullied so left) drama group every Saturday from 11- 13. Piano/ guitar lessons. Did Duke of Edinburghs award so did horse riding for a bit. Wanted to go to Tennis club but it was too expensive!

I did Brownies and then Guides. Played rugby. Played musical instrument and did ballet. Still involved in Guiding and played rugby into adulthood (then broke my neck and not allowed to any more). My parents were very into extracurricular activities. My children do fewer than I did.

I wanted to go to brownies/guides like everyone else in my class - never allowed.
I was a sporty kid excellent at tennis - never allowed lessons recommend by the school.
I was a great swimmer - never allowed to go to the club as that meant galas etc. no idea why it was such a deal for her, she didn’t work.
I was desperate to learn ballet - never allowed. Had to do Irish dancing which was NOT popular in the early 80’s (and I objected to the bloody awful shoes), the teacher put the fear of God into everyone, and it was hugely expensive. I’ve never been able to watch any sort of Riverdance-style performance on tv without breaking into a sweat…
I was made to do piano and violin lessons - exhausting for me and the teachers as I bloody hated it and never practiced. Never allowed to give up, even though the teachers were clear a dead horse was being flogged. I’ve never touched either since.

After-school activities were quite commonplace where I lived (normal state school upbringing) as were team sports at school. Mums didn’t tend to work though so were available for ferrying around.

My mother wanted me to pursue her childhood dreams of piano lessons, Irish dancing etc, didn’t understand the things I was interested in/good at so the conversation was shut down by her. It’s Sad but her unwillingness to try and understand that I was an individual meant we never really had a great relationship because activities (and attendance of )were such a flashpoint. Looking back, the battle of wills she created was such a waste of money that could’ve been spent to make at least one of us happy. She wanted an Irish-dancing, piano-playing show pony to boast about to her friends (which to her frustration, I was not ). Consequently my kids were allowed to focus on anything they enjoyed and made them happy (apart from learning to swim as I see this as a safety/lifeskill issue).

I have ALL the tennis lessons for myself now. It makes me very happy.