What activities/hobbies/classes do you recommend for kids?

[StrawBlueRas]

This might seem like a weird question but I have two young kids aged 6 and 8.

They currently play football once a week. They enjoy playing, learning, exploring, etc.

I really want to nurture their brains as honestly this might sound mean but I feel like they’re just turning into zombies half the time. They go to school, come home, eat, read a book or two, watch tv, play together and go to bed.

What kind of activities or hobbies or classes would you recommend for young kids to get their skills increased and confidence improved etc?

I’m looking for something affordable but willing to spend a bit extra if it’s worth it for the kids!

Don’t know why that posted thrice 😬

Mine have always been sport mad and less interested in musical instruments & languages sadly (apart from dd1's 600 day duo lingo streak) so it's tons of football, gymnastics and tennis here (grassroots football cheapest by far) - dd2 did swimming for safety in lessons, dd1 just got taken by me a lot.

• but if I had my time again I would go for drama for sure, martial arts and cricket (because they play in the summer, don't play when it rains and cricket clubs are generally fun places for watching adults)

Do your council have a music service where they go into schools and do individual or group lessons? They could then practise at home instead of screens etc in evening?

This! We are so lucky to have groups run by wonderful volunteers. We also volunteer and help where we can too. Ask around at school to see if there is another group you could join.

Instrument - we tried piano lessons but they didn't work out. However, we now do simply piano - it's an app. All of us use it and I think it was on offer for about £150 for the year. We have an electric piano.

my daughter did swimming from birth until she was 6, I had grand plans of getting to a particular level (competent) before letting her quit but she hated it, progress was so slow, and it was £17 for half an hour. Oh, and an inconvenient location and I had to take her baby brother poolside which became unmanageable once he was on the move. We abandoned and I will reinvestigate in future when she might be a bit more ready to learn. Unfortunately taking her myself doesn’t work as she refuses to do anything and just wants to jump in and mess around and won’t practice.

She has tried and enjoyed: ballet, rainbows, recorder, French, art.

she has not enjoyed: magical maths, football, rugby, but also an alternative ballet class.

Id just get them to try lots and go with what they enjoy.

shame beavers/brownies didn’t work out for you as my daughter loves this, it’s so cheap and they do so much.

Martial arts might be a good shout. Control, breathing, balance, fitness, strength, working with others, learning drills, performing for exams.

And its indoors, great for winter!

Swimming was my non negotiable.
They also then did netball and bouldering (indoor climbing without ropes)

Amazing!!!

can I ask which piano you purchased?

My daughter is 12 and loves Guides she joined rainbows at 5.

But ask around as some groups will be better than others. My daughters leader organises area events and is very proactive, some aren't as varied. I really feel guides/cubs etc give a great rounded experience but as above some groups are better than others.

I have 6dc and between them they’ve probably tried everything!
The stuck at netball, jujitsu, Thai boxing, football and boxing.
They all swam but once they were competent and wouldn’t drown they stopped.
i would definitely recommend martial art. I think the key is getting a good instructor. Our jujitsu coach was also a teacher and very passionate about martial arts helping kids with adhd. The difference between some of the kids that started and them after they’d been there a year was amazing.

Climbing - physical but also problem solving. My ds loves it.

A little young at the moment but when they get to 10 I'd highly recommend sea cadets, particularly if your local unit gets plenty of water time. I live as far from the sea as possible but DS gets 2 sessions a week on the water during summer where they do kayaking, rowing, sailing, paddle boarding and when old enough power boating. For sailing they do RYA qualifications so great for when they're older. In the winter months they learn other relevant skills, do drills, first aid etc. This winter they've had sessions with St Johns ambulance and the fire service as well as biking weekends, catering weekends etc. They also get boating weekends through the year. They match on remembrance day and get involved in setting things up.for it, armed forces day and collecting for charity with the rotary club Santa sleigh? It's incredible value for money at £22 a month.

What are they interested in? I’m a massive advocate for team sports, you learn so much. Swimming is a key skill.
Theyre only 6 and 8 so can try different things but the older one is certainly of an age where they know what they like.

Definitely Scouts (would be Beavers and Cubs for their ages). Also rugby is fab for team work, agility and general fitness. Both of these are great for boys and girls.

It was a gear 4 music one - about £300. Cheaper than a term's lessons and the app makes it like a game - all 4 of us have been learning for over 6 months now.

My daughters thrieve at Girl Guides and son at Scouts.

They play an instrument - own choice. The play church organ, flute and oboe.
They do a sport - own choice. They do ballet, rugby and swimming.
They sing in a choir.
One loves art classes online.
One loves German classes online.

They did swimming for 2 years.

Beavers is great. If you have a few different ones in your area then maybe try a different one if you drive. My DS is 7 and been going for over a year, he still absolutely adores it. The extra trips they put on and camps as well are just great. It’s good old fashioned screen free fun, reminds me of the 90s.

This only works if you live on the coast. I believe they occasionally exist in towns with a big river too. BUT army cadets is a great alternative, they start at 12. My teenage DS has been going for 3 years and loves it. It’s free, uniform is also free. The only thing you have to buy is the boots and you pay for the camps but they’re dirt cheap.

it really depends what your kids are into and what's available in your local area. Swimming would be non-negotiable for me until they're confident in water and can swim at least a couple of lengths in a deep pool. Definitely do not rely on a couple of years of lessons at school, they were rubbish as trying to cater to abilities from club swimmers to kids who'd never been in a pool before.
football, rugby, cricket for kids who are always messing about with a ball outside.
cycling/bmx if they're into their bikes
singing / choir can be a lot more affordable as you don't need to buy an instrument
junior parkrun is free if you have one nearby
check your local library, they often have things like lego clubs, coding club etc.

They definitely don't only work if you live on the coast! I'm in Nottinghamshire and out unit uses a reservoir ☺️ There are lots of units locally using lakes and reservoirs. Agree though that any cadets generally are great for kids.

The best activity is one they want to do so I’d get a list together of what is available and works for your schedule and logistics and ask them to pick something. It’s also fine to have downtime - my kids now have clubs every day of the week and I’m exhausted from it. They love it and for various reasons it would be tricky to pull back, but it’s a commitment for your time too.

My daughter has always been a dancer. She’s 13 now and has dance 4-6 days a week and a self defence class on the last day as I think that’s a life skill she needs.

My 9 year old son has done football and taekwando since before he started school. It’s now football 3x a week and taekwando twice. Plus swimming but he can swim well enough now so we are dropping that this year.

personally I think martial arts are great - personal satisfaction and listening and it’s usually quite gender balanced (as opposed to either football or dance) - my son has men and women teachers and all ages in the class which he likes.

He does coding club at school when it’s offered a couple months out of the year and I’d love to find more things like that for him but I simply don’t have any more time so we look for summer camps for coding and Lego and such.

Along side clubs and activities I think children love having a bit of garden or a few pots that they can grow easy annual flowers or tomatoes and lettuce in. A little early in the year as yet but a trip to the garden centre to choose some seeds might 'sprout' a whole new hobby! Gardener's World has shown some amazing clips of what little gardeners get up to

Hunt around for martial arts - our local club is £4 pay as you go! Many are cost effective and offer sibling discount.

Swimming is expensive but my local leisure centre gives free swimming to kids who take lessons, so we do an extra hour every weekend for the price of one adult. It has massively accelerated my dc’s swimming skills and confidence by doing that extra hour (we do a mix of skills and fun; you can learn how to teach the skills by watching the lessons to see what they are working on and watching YouTube videos!).

Id also recommend a weekly library visit, explore on your bikes if you have them and good access to local paths.

Mine do swimming - they enjoy it now but previously I made them because to me it was a non negotiable skill to have
They also do another sport each - karate and tennis at the moment
I sign them up for taster classes of lots of different things to try it out and we take them to parkrun, to the local climbing wall, on bike rides, hill walks etc and also look for holiday clubs that will let them try something new - we have done drama class, science and engineering workshops, arty stuff
One also does a language at an after school club and we have done music classes previously and would like to start this again but it is quite expensive and it is more the logistics of it that is challenging to fit in. I think having some time to just play at home is valuable

If I had my DD’s again, they’d be doing some form of martial art. It seems to
do so much for their confidence, posture and general self possession.
Scouts was a real success
A (very expensive!) yoga studio nearby was really useful when they went through difficult teen times and they both continue to use yoga as relaxation

We’ve got a 6 and two 4 year olds . Our daughter 6 does football, rainbows and swimming . The two four year olds have just started squirrels and Rainbows and are enjoying it