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.

All of them: brownies and guides, swimming, piano, tennis, riding. In my teens I just did tennis and took up squash. Weirdly by 6th form I’d pretty much given up sport completely but got a new lease of life at Uni and did loads and took up tennis again in my forties.

late 70s early 80s
tap and ballet
brownies
majorettes
Sunday school
would like to have done proper gymnastics at proper club but lived in a small village

I started ballet in reception then stopped. We went to playscheme in the holidays, does that count? 😂

I did go to St John's ambulance brigade when I was about 11.

1970s-80s. Yes I did absolutely everything. I was that kind of kid. My mother also encouraged us to do as much as possible as she had very limited opportunities when she was a child.

Note: I got there under my own steam as my mother didn’t drive and my father was always working and would not have given us a lift anyway.

I remember Brownies, Girls Brigade, ballroom dancing, drama, Sunday school, ballet, piano lessons, swimming.

When I was older and had given up most of the hobbies, I went to a youth club twice a week. I would go on my own and come back late at night on the bus.

I don’t remember anything being costly apart from piano lessons and there were no uniforms or costumes like people are pressurised into buying these days.

Reading these stories, I think I was very lucky. My area had a lot of amenities and activities for children. My parents did think activities and socialising were more important than studying however and I never did homework. My siblings and I all underachieved at school as we were too focused on things other than education.

I did recorder lessons, gymnastics and country dancing/maypole dancing after school. These were all free afterschool activities run by the school which I couldn’t enrol myself in. I begged my mum to enrol me in Brownies and she finally did when I was 9. I remember Brownies was 20p a week. I grew up on a council estate.

I then went to a very MC secondary school and then discovered that other children did ballet lessons and other activités outside of school,

Born in 1982. I did: clarinet lessons, Saturday music club (3 hours of choir, music theory, etc), bras and wind ensemble and Brownies.

My DD went to ballet, tap, jazz, tennis coaching, gymnastics and piano lessons.

I was born in 1974. I did ballet tap swimming brownies and gymnastics. It was as much a thing then as it is now (although a lot cheaper - we lived on a council estate and I remember gymnastics was £1.50 for a two hour session)

Yes, I did ballet, horse riding, skiing, music lessons, football and ice skating, I grew up in America though.

I did brownies and swimming and also played violin. My parents had 4 kids and my mum was a SAHM, so they didn't have much money, otherwise I'd have done more, like horse riding, for example. I did do ballet when i was tiny, and also gymnastics actually.

We had horses so that was a given. Also I did ballet, as my mum had wanted to be a ballerina. Randomly Scottish dancing, with my neighbour-we're Welsh!

I also did Brownies/Guides. And in my teens, still the horses and a group of us went swimming every Sunday. Mostly to look at the boys who went to look at us!

I did Brownies, dancing and badminton at various ages. I do remember I was only allowed to do once dance routine for the show, when everyone else did two, as it was too expensive.
None of these were that expensive and they had to be local so I could walk to them with my mum as she doesn't drive.

Nope, my parents didn’t have time, money or inclination

I just remembered about music; I used to have flute lessons.

I also did ice-skating lessons for a few years in the council-owned amazing rink, until it closed down because they sold it to developers to build luxury flats along the river it was situated next to 😢😢😢 The flats cost millions these days, and I wouldn't be surprised if the council sold the land for a song back in those days.

I did brownies swimming and music lessons. School sports.
I remember thinking the more posh girls did ballet and horse riding as well. I have a few siblings so what we did was probably enough!

No, nothing. I did youth club disco for a short time, which I loved at around age 13/14.

Does that count?

I did horse riding for a short time but then my parents hit the financial skids and had to cancel it. Never got it back again and never did anything else.

Unless you count drinking vodka and trying to get into night clubs when I was a teenager?

I did absolutely nothing and my parents were pretty well off. What I was allowed to do was play out all day and evening with my friends on our bikes, not a care in the World. None of my friends did classes either so I didn't feel I was missing out. In comparison, my kids do a lot of activities but, as we live rurally, do not play out with their friends. I feel they are missing out on more than I did as a child.

yes - over the years I did - Ballet, gymnastics, swimming, recorder, guitar, piano, violin, singing, drama, brownies, netball... didn't really find anything I excelled at and tended to quit when the novelty wore off 🤦‍♀️

It's interesting how this varies within families, I always did after school activities and I'm one of 2.
My partner is one of 4 and he said none of them did anything due to money and too many of them to juggle.

Ballet Brownies swimming and piano lessons outside of primary and recorder and gym cubs at school (both free and run by staff).

Guides drama piano and clarinet lessons (paid for) at secondary. School ran loads of extra curriculars so I did swimming, choir orchestra military band drama and first aid at school. Local church ran a free youth club and drama group so I did those as well.

90s child. None! No fancy after school clubs either how times have changed.

I did ballet for a bit but no others, we didn't have much money and I was always a bit envious of my friends who did gymnastics or swimming.

I had Brownies which I enjoyed. Prior to that there was ballet and piano at about 5, neither of which took off. Ice-skating as a young teen and then the school art club.

Ballet, Brownies, then Guides, Church choir, Church youth group, school choir, piano and cello lessons, local youth orchestra holiday courses.

My sister did much the same, plus gymnastics.