Suggestions for activities for a 8 year old girl

[travelcot]

I have a dd who has been doing ballet up until now. She started at the age of 5 and still hasn't done her primary exam aged 8 which I think is quite late considering how long she's been dancing. She's getting bored and discouraged as she's seeing all her peers moving on.

Since she doesn't seem to have much aptitude for dance I was wondering if anyone can suggest some other activities for her to try.

My dd (7) has just moved from ballet to street dance, her class hasn't exams, it's just for fun and she prefers it, she didn't like the preciseness of ballet. She also enjoys brownies, though long list, unless you volunteer too, quite a few girls now do cubs instead. She also has done drama club which she really enjoyed. Hope your dd finds something to suit her soon,

Judo. My daughter loved it at the age of 8, and carried on until she was 14. It did her loads of good in terms of confidence in her physical abilities, being able to stand her ground with lads etc.

Golf, horse riding, fencing?

At 8 my dds were doing swimming, and cubs.

Brownies

If she isn't mad on ballet she may not like gymnastics either. Trampolining, drama, some of DD2s friends have ridden from that age (horribly expensive), swimming.

Cubs is a good idea if she wants something fun. DD2 was a not terribly keen Brownie, but she loves Scouts. They keep them very busy, I suspect the boys get wild if they don't. Suits her perfectly she's not one for arts, craft and sitting about

Brownies is a good idea. I'll look into that and see what the waiting lists are like.

My dds like judo very much, they didn't like ballet or any other dance, and they don't like team sports. They also like kayaking and other watersports but that's probably harder to find as a club for an 8yo.

climbing is fun, a bit pricey but some friends of mine take their DD every fortnight to bring down the cost a bit.

By going to something like Brownies ir Cubs, they get to try lots of different activities over the years, which is why it's such a good choice of activity - not 'limiting' you to just the one thing.

I'd definitely recommend gymnastics - the benefits in terms of core strength & flexibility will remain long after your daughter has given up. I have 2 friends in their 30s who are quite overweight but yet are far more flexible than I am even though I'm a lot fitter, and they put this down to gymnastics.

Another vote for gym here, or just trampolining? Obvious benefits to learning an instrument too

Gymnastics is an excellent foundation for all sports and great fun.

Gym is fun. Who know, she might have talent and can compete a bit here and there. Trampolining my dd loves too. There's fencing and horse back riding. Swimming/diving if she's a good swimmer already.