Extra curricular activities

[Thequeenhascovid]

If you have grown up children and you were one of those parents who took their child to lots of extra curricular activities... did it make a difference? Do they have any special interests or skills that you think might have been to do with that.

I know there's a lot of pressure on mums but I wonder whether doing more than 1/2 activity per week has any benefit (in addition to school)

I’ve not got a grown up kid, but as a kid I did everything (only child!).

Most things were entertainment rather than providing any real lifelong benefit until I was about 10/11 and I could actually choose what I was interested in. At that point I chose music lessons (the one thing I hadn’t done when I was younger!) and still enjoy music now.

My son doesn’t do half as much as I did as he’s not shown much interest, although I’m hoping he will join a sports team next year now that he’s old enough.

Mine just enjoy a variety of things, and they did as children too. I never felt pressured as a parent though, dcs always wanted to do loads and we allowed them to join clubs if we could afford it and had time to take them.

Apart from being happy to do hobbies, I’m not sure what other benefits they should feel

Not grown up kids but dp has im sure gained a lot of practical use from scouts.
My dds also now are learning water safety/hiking/wide games etc/cooking
Dc2 is doing a lot of sports and so is fitter.
Basically school pe is pretty rubbish and only up to 2 a week

I'm the opposite, there was 2 of us but we never did anything. Anything we wanted to join was met with "But why would you want to do that?" so I never developed any interests and still struggle as an adult to know what I'm really interested in as I never got the chance to try anything as a child.

Now I'm a parent myself I've always tried to give DD a choice, she does 3 things at the moment which I think is enough - she loves all her activities.

For me it's about giving them a chance to try lots of things. Discover their own talents and interests

Not quite grown up but my daughter is in Yr 9 and at infants/juniors tried lots of different extra curricular activities. She still plays two instruments she began to learn in infants and plays in several regional orchestras. She has maintained a love of sport and still plays rugby and climbs. I would agree with another poster Scouting was excellent and she only gave it up due to a rugby clash. We have always made the stance that it has to be enjoyable and they to show some committment and in turn if we can afford it financially and time wise we will support them.

I think it can give them a life long can-do attitude if they try lots of stuff when young. They learn that they can master new things.
Leave too late and they'll start saying they can't do drama / sport / music etc. They'll be less willing to try.
They'll decide they are no good at it as they have never done it.
Sad but true

Mine were definitely helpful until I got a mental health diagnosis... though they are being used in my treatment after a long break.

Does anyone's children do yoga or pilates out of interest ie classes for children?

DH joined Beavers at 6 and is yet to leave Scouts. Its helped him in his career and his job now gives him extra time off to do it too.

My brother still plays Viola at a high amateur level.

I'm not sure we did 'lots', but I am 100% certain that being involved in Scouts since they were six has contributed HUGELY to my adult dcs' all round development.
Their social skills, their practical skills, their organisational skills, their understanding of planning events, their ability to rub along with people different from themselves, their confidence, and so much more. Plus, they have had so much fun along the way and wonderful life experiences. It doesn't have to be 'worthy'. Though the "I'll give that a go" attitude is a great thing to have in life.

Also, learning to swim well has given them opportunities to try other things(mostly through Scouts) like sailing, kayaking, paddle boarding, rowing, then, once they got to 16, they did lifeguarding courses and have all earned well through 6th form and University.

Mostly I think what is important about doing something (not loads necessarily) is the mixing with different people outside of school. Expanding the number of people they mix with is great for dc.