How much are extra curricular activities

[Letterposter]

Hello fellow mumsnetters,

sitting here pondering about potential (nearish) future expenses for kids activities.

How old are your kids/ kid, what do your kids do for any extra curricular activities and how much do you pay for it a month per child?

It’s not something I thought about but a friend has slightly older kids and spoke about this which made me think it’s something I might need to think about. So far our child only does swimming and hasn’t started school yet.

thank you!

Nudge.

also good to have this info out there to help
other mums in my position. These are all the hidden costs that don’t get highlighted when you become a parent.

obviously it’s not a must but nice to have

For us, swimming was essential.

Overall, the BEST value for money, over many, many years, was Scouts.
Generally now, Scouts seems to be around £12 - £15 pm now, where I live, and then the (minimal) cost of nights away / camps.

Swimming £10 a session all ages
rainbows/any scout type group - about £40 a term
music lessons £15 a lesson, plus instrument hire/buy
multi sport type club £6 a session
all stars cricket £40 for 8 sessions for under 8’s
45 min group tennis £5
dance lesson - cheap compared to the outfits needed for shows!!!!
horse riding £60 a lesson

Toddler groups were £1 a session, if in a church hall type place
baby sensory was £6 a session - loved that group!
playball was £6 from age 2.5 to end of yr 1

I’m not sure I agree extracurricular stuff is a hidden cost, because as you say it’s a nice-to-have not a must. Loads of kids don’t do any activities out of school.

If you can afford activities then it’s really just how much you want to prioritise them in your budget. Like a PP swimming was non-negotiable for us, then uniformed activities like Scouts or Girl Guides or Cadets is really great value. You might want to add a musical instrument, another sport (or two) - it depends on time, money, your kid’s interests. The time they take up and scheduling is a big consideration, especially if you have more than one kid.

Anything that needs special kit gets expensive, obviously - shoes/uniforms/other stuff. And as they get good at things you might spend more in time and money to take them to competitions etc.

It's not just the session cost you need to think about its the addition kit (dance was by far the worst) and overall time commitments required if they take it on as their proper sport.

Dance, drama singing
£120 per month for as many group classes as you want + extra if in competition teams, class uniforms, dance shoes everytime feet grow, outfits for shows. Lots of internal politics and cliques.

Swimming
£7 per group swim session
£30 per month for Competitive swimming (5x hour a week training sessions in the pool + gym sessions) + extra for race fees, competition costumes, travel and hotel stays, whole weekends spent at galas. Similar internal politics as dance.

Recreational tennis
£6 per hour long session + tennis racket

Bushcraft
£5 a week for 2.5 hour session, + optional t shirt.

Rugby
£70 a year 2 hour mid week training session & training on Sundays or matches + extra mouth shields, t-shirt, shorts and boots, traveling around County for cluster training and matches, season is September - March. Great all inclusive atmosphere.

Rugby works out the best value for us as far as enjoyment/ cost goes.

4 yo - £60/month for swim, £30/month for dance, £30/month for gymnastics

1 yo - £7-8 per class, some are PAYG so don't have to commit to a term. £2-3 for church hall play

£7ish per child for things like soft play which seems a lot more now I have to pay for 2! Plus the cafe spends.

Dance £40/ term (term times only)
Swimming £40/ month (all year round)

With mine pretty much £0 when they were 0-5 years and now £££ 😭😭😭

Piano £60 per month + books + exam fees
Swimming £33 a month
Clarinet: £25 a term hire, £36 a term ensemble fees and I actually don't remember how much the actual lessons are

There's more but...

Swimming £70 a month (2 kids)
Hockey £15 a month
Tennis £300 a month
Guitar £40 a term
Tutor £160 a month

Tennis and hockey also cost me in terms of kit etc

Currently we have...

Rugby... free... its a fundraising commitment instead of fees.
Scouts... £10 a month
Climbing... £10 a lesson

Swimming was £25 a month.

This is what we’ve paid. I know lots of people who love riding and go once a fortnight to make it more affordable.

Rainbows/brownies/scouts - £30 per term
Group tennis - £5 for an hour
Netball club - £3 for an hour
Riding - £35 for 45 mins (single or pair lesson). Bigger group lesson used to cost £23 for 30 mins.
Art club - £10 for 1.5hours
Musical instrument - £35 for half an hour

Dance - £5 per hour class (tap, ballet, modern - £15 a week)
Musical instrument - £20 per half hour class
Climbing - £16 per one and a half hour class

I spend about £35 a week per child

Swimming - £10/ half an hour for 5yo - Can’t get local lessons for my 9 & 11yo
Drama - was £84/M recently cancelled for 2 DCs
Gymnastics - £54/M for 11 yo - £36/M for 5yo and £34/M for 9yo - Annual fees £95/y for each child.
Brownies - £35/ term
Guitar lessons via school - £6/lesson for 2 once a week during term time
Other after school clubs and activities varies on club and times, same with holiday clubs.

The there are additional costs of uniforms and other stuff, camps, certificates, exams, competitions. We stopped drama because the outgoings were ridiculous, it was just money making extras everywhere. We try and avoid official gymnastics comps and only do the friendly ones. If we were to do official ones it’s £120 for the club competition leotard, then there is the tracksuits and entry costs not to mention the £100s & £100s on travelling and hotel costs as the comps are all over the country and overseas.

You also need to consider time spent doing these activities especially if you have a child who progresses in their clubs and activities.

Swimmjng £40 ish per child per month I think (but then we can swim for free)

Football - a about £300/year

Cubs/scouts etc not much, I guess maybe £5 a week, maybe less?

Dance £1,000,0000 /month (maybe slight exaggeration but DD signs herself up for every class going! One class wouldnt be too bad)

Swimming was the only one I felt was essential.

Oh and climbing which they all do which is £200/term I think and beyond special shoes they don't need any other kit.

And watersports in the summer but that is summer childcare sorted so doesn't really count other than the cost of wetsuits etc

My 8 year old does
Swimming lessons £35 per month
Climbing £50 per month (includes membership to the centre) also about £50 for a private session every few months
Kick-boxing £5 pay as you go (usually once a week)

6 year old
Kick-boxing £3 pay as you go
Climbing £140 for the year (not lessons, just climbing as and when)

We have gym membership with kids classes and family swimming included.

Swimming £120 for 10 lessons
piano £22 a lesson
choir £6 a session
dance £37.50 a term
rock band £35 a month
french £12 a lesson
brownies £10 a month

plus all associated kit, books etc

Oldest; swimming £12 a lesson, horse riding £25 every other week, karate £5.50 a session, football £4.50 a session, rugby £5 a session. Music lessons kick off next month £10 a session.

Youngest: bookbugs- free! Swimming £9 a session, baby music class £6 a session, baby sensory £8.50 a session, playgroup £1 per session.

I actually have not really looked at that before typing this out. My monthly expenditure on classes is fucking ridiculous!

DD16 and DS11 do 2 extra curricular activites each.

Total cost per month is just over 120 quid. That's before equipment is bought and any extras. That's just the "subs" amount.

For that amount, DD does 2hrs 15 mins of her activity.

Both kids can do up to 7 hours of another activity (if they chose to)

DS does 3 hours of his activity.

London parent here! Never added it all up before, most things are paid by direct debit and tbh I don't think about the cost.

DC1 5yo:
Swimming £40 per lesson (2:1)
Instrumental tuition + musicianship £41 per lesson
Dance (weekend) £16 per class
Dance (after school) £11 per class
Gymnastics £8 per class
Drama £11 per class

DC2 1yo:
Gymboree £16 per class
Swimming £16 per class
Music £9 per class
Toddler group £13 per class

Two kids, both mid- primary age.
Costs per child, one weekly lesson of each unless otherwise specified

Swimming £34 pm 30 min
Gymnastics £34 pm 1 hour
Piano £40 pm 30 min
Violin £80 per term fortnightly lesson 20 min
Ballet £20 pm 30 min
Beavers £12 pm 1 hour
Cubs £12 pm 1.5 hours
Climbing £12.50 per lesson 1 hour