How often do people take their preschoolers to 'paid activities' each week, things like soft play, swimming, pets corners, anything really!

[mimimilk]

Just asking out of curiousity, i think on average we take DS to something 'paid' twice a month, sometimes three. other times we do things like visiting the park, going to library, visiting relations who really enjoy playing with him, but sometimes I think blimey maybe other people are doing lots and lots of 'paid' things.

What other types of paid activities do people take their preschoolers to?

Would probably do more but both DP and I work, (me 3.5 days per week and Ds goes to a fab nursery where they do lots of 'activities'. Ds is 2.5 .

I take ds (nearly 2) to gym class every week. I used to go to a toddler group, but got fed up with it. We occasionally go to soft play and swimming, and have a family day trip every couple of months. We also do rhyme time every week, but that's free at the local library.

Tbh, ds would rather spend a day in the garden with a football than do paid activities - I think they can be a waste of time and money at this age.

I work with children (so perhaps think about it as being a nursery for only two children). We will typically attend the following paid activities (costs are total, for one adult, 2 pre-school):

Toddler Group (£2)
PlayGym (£3)
Music Group (£3)

All activities we do are pay as you go, so if the children do not feel like going, we don't have to go.
In winter when the weather is on the wet side, we will go to indoor softplay, but as the weather is now improving I hope to stop going to that - we didn't go this past week.

We will soon be going to Legoland, probably once a week. That is a big paid activity I suppose - the children love it there... 4 year old keeps asking about when it opens (20 March).

I take DD to soft play perhaps once a month.

DH has just started taking her swimming every Saturday morning - it's free if you get there before 9am (he doesn't always make it on time)!

And that's it.

But we go to the library / playground / park and museum too - they're all free. And I meet up with other mum's and their children at their/my house.

Also sometimes go to the beach (if weather nice).

I work 3 days a week and DD goes to nursery so she does fun stuff there too.

mine do swimming and music each week

dd is 2.10

we do baby ballet every week term time, paid for in blocks per half term.

she then does a toddler group one a week in a church hall, £1 a time.

when it's warmer i take her swimming once a fortnight, too cold now, puts me off! don't do a class though, just free play kind of thing with floats and toys in the pool.

other than that she goes to nursery 3 afternoons a week.

we maybe go soft play once a fortnight too.

DS1 is 2.8 - he is in nursery 4 days a week so only at home 3 days.

On the one weekday, I almost always take him to soft play during the winter - just to get out of the house. During the summer, if it is a nice day, I take him to the park instead which is free.

Swimming - me and DH used to take him pretty much every weekend to the gym we are members off as it is free for under 2's (and no-one has asked us yet how old he is ). We haven't taken him for a while due to DS2 coming along 4 months ago and for various other reasons.

And that is about it. Occasionally I take DS1 to soft play at a weekend if we are meeting up with my sister and his cousins.

If I was at home with him all week I would have to do a lot more - but his nursery is excellent with lots of activities there.

DD is 3y 2m
toddler group (50p a time) once or twice a week depending whether we get up early enough!

we go to a church-run coffee shop on a Tuesday morning where theres toys for the kids to play with and only cost involved is for tea and lovely homemade cake (30p & 50p respectively)

baby ballet once a week (can't recall exact cost, about £50 a term I think)

pre-school 4 afternoon sessions a week (£7.50 a time for 2.5hrs but thankfully free after easter)

sometimes Toy Library once a week (£1 per visit plus £1 per toy hired if any)

soft play tends to be only once or twice a month during term time but may be more frequent during holidays when theres no pre-school, same with our local council-run PlayGym

we used to do swimming lessons once a week too but I didn't feel she was getting much out of them at that time

It's just like an introduction to ballet, they do lots of skipping around the room holding their little ballet skirts out at either side, and learn about "good toes and naughty toes" etc

ds1 is 2.10 (also have 12mo ds2

He does this:
Monday am preschool
Tuesday am toddler group or friend's house (alternate weeks)
WEds am - preschool
Thurs am - toddler group
Fri - no set plans

Afternoons or Fridays we do things like go to the playground, walk the dog, go to the garden centre, plane spotting near the airport, play in the garden, visit friends and have them round etc.

Library once every couple of weeks, but only at weekends so that ds2 can stay with dh (he hates the library).

Before ds2 came along we did swimming, soft play, music lessons, art classes etc, but I find it impossible with 2 of them. Too stressful for all concerned, or the timing wouldn't work with ds2's naps, so that has all fallen by the wayside.

DS is 16 months. Just now we do Jo Jingles on Fridays (about £4 a session I think) but don't think too much of it so will be stopping after this block finishes.

He goes to nursery 2 days a week and loves it, they do loads there. Other days we go to the shops, to friends / relatives houses, swimming maybe once a month and also to the park when the weather is good.

what forces said.

they wear tutus and dance about. not much falling over! dd loves it. they learn basic ballet steps and posture while having fun singing and dancing with their friends. and us mums get to sit at the side and have a chin wag.

Pre-school twice/week: £16 (eek, funding hurry up pls)
Toddler song at Sal Army - £1.50/week
Toddler group - £1.50/week

erm, that's it!

Pre-school dance when she's 3, more pre-school sessions in Sept.

The rest of the time Cbeebies or watching older sibs doing stuff.

DS is 24mo. He goes to pre-school two mornings a week and we go to a toddler group twice a week. I usually take him to soft play once a week, too -- probably won't when the weather's warmer, though.

I stopped doing all those organised things like music groups because a) they cost a fortune and b) DS is happier doing his own thing at toddler groups.

now and again take DS (23mo) to soft play, but don't really take him to anything else besides the free stuff like the park, visiting grandparents and friends with kids, library etc. I have to say (sorry!) I grudge paying money for these things when there's no guarantee that DS will actually manage to stay the full time to get our money's worth. Sometimes he's just too tired.

DS is 3.5. He goes to preschool 4 mornings a week costing 170 euro a month.
Softplay maybe once a month costing 7 euro.
Swimming maybe once every couple of months...cant remember cost.

He's as happy sat at the kitchen table counting and practising his writing as going out. If we lived in a more urban area I would probably have him signed up for a couple of classes. But as it is the travelling would be too much.

DD is 3.5 and goes to pre-school 3 mornings a week (cost of 50p per session for snacks).

She has swimming lessons once a week (cost about £50 for the term). I did this as she was very nervous around water and did it as an experiment to see if it would help. It has and I am debating whether to have another term after this.

Apart from that we go to a small soft play about once every couple of months.

DD is almost 2 and goes to a swimming class once a week (term time). I work FT and she's in nursery so there isn't time to do anything else.

I've got a zoo membership so we go there most weekends, even for just half an hour or so. Gets us out and some exercise.

Goodness I feel like mine do quite alot - DS1 is at pre-school every morning but does swimming lessons one afternoon, a drama thing for pre-schoolers one afternoon and football with DH on a Sat. The drama thing has just started and whilt he lves it we'll stop after Easter so he can spend most afternoons tearing around the park. The other 3 afternoons are for playdates/hanging out at home

DS2 has music group, tumble tots and a playgroup 3 mornings a week.

I work 3 days a week so DS2's activities are all done with the nanny.

We do when I can't persuade them to play nicely at home, and I've done all the free things.

Oh, and swimming once a week because the older two have lessons and we're at the pool anyway.

DD is 23 months and we don't do anything! She doesn't go to nursery, either.

We did go to a good class when she was about a year, but the autumn/winter session was full. So we started going to an art one instead, but it meant having to have a really early nap and didn't end up working out.

I should go and see whether the original class has free spaces now that a new session has started. She needs it, too, because we live abroad and she has very little exposure to the community language. My excuse is that we've been potty-training, but I think she's ready now to brave class in knickers.

(And yes, there are more than two classes in the whole city. I'm just lazy. Or we've been on holiday. Or it's been Christmas. Etc.)

I seem to do a lot!! DD is 2years 3 months.

We go to a todddler group once a week in the church hall which costs £1.

She goes swimming with her dad every Sunday am (I sit in the cafe and read the papers watch them as I'm so heavily pregnant now my swimming costume is indecent and I'm too tight to buy a maternity one)

She goes to gymnastics on a Saturday morning for an hour which costs £3.

Also - If we meet up with friends in the week - we tend to go to a childrens play area. So we mums can sit and chat and the children can run around.

Since I've stopped working as I'm on maternity leave, I have found that she likes just helping me in the house - such as sorting out things for the baby and clearing cupboards and drawers.

I think that we go out quite a bit as I like to get out of the house!

DD2 is 2.3 and she does...

Baby Ballet. 30 mins a week. Mum takes her whilst I am at work.

Preschool gymnastics. 45 mins a week.

Casual toddler splash type thing. Not a class, but just splashing about etc...

We also tend to meet with friends, so we'll go to softplay or swings or park in the summer usually once or twice a week.

But she doesn't yet go to preschool. I suspect this will change when she starts preschool in Sept. She also doesn't go to nursery. My mum has her whilst I work 2 days, and she goes to a childminders one day. She sometimes does stuff with her childminder, but that's all.

It seems quite a lot on paper, but actually she spends a lot of time doing 'housework' and stuff when my mum looks after her, and I don't do toddler groups!