Extracurricular Activities for Kids: Choosing the Best Options for Your Child’s Growth

Introduction

Childhood is the right time to explore different types of activities and gain new experiences. Kids have the time and the energy to indulge in such experiences after completing their school hours. These activities play a very important role in the holistic development of a child and in calculating many soft skills in them. While exploring these activities, the child may also be able to find their true calling and passion that can be pursued as a full-time profession.

These activities also massively contribute to the personal growth and character development of a child. However, due to the presence of a plethora of extracurricular activities, it might be difficult to select the best and the most appropriate one for your kid. In this scenario, parents have to analyze the interest of their child, the inherent talent that the child might have, and what activities have potential career opportunities.

How To Choose the Right Extra-Curricular Activity for Your Child

Choosing the right extracurricular activity for your child has to be a systematic process. Any arbitrary selection might not fetch promising results, and the child might end up feeling lost while trying to do that activity. Here are some parameters that parents can take into consideration.

Age and Developmental Stage of the Child

Choosing an activity that is too complex for a child to understand and perform might create obstacles and may not create a very positive experience for the child. Hence, it is very important to take the age of the child and their ability to perform a particular activity into consideration before taking the final call.

The interest of a Child

Children may have some inherent interest and inclination towards a certain type of activity. For example, a child who likes painting, when pushed into the field of sports might not perform as well as they would in the field of arts. Hence, parents need to have transparent conversations with their children and understand their true likings.

Educational Value

An activity that teaches kids soft skills and enhances their cognitive development performs a dual function of keeping the child fit and also enhancing their academic performance. Such an activity is also very sustainable to do in the long run.

Time Cost

If you want to choose an activity that your child can do throughout their schooling, then considering the time and the cost factors is also a must. Any activity that is extremely expensive to pursue may not be continued for a longer time. Similarly, the amount of time it takes for the child to commute to take coaching for a particular activity is high, then it might also create some future impediments.

Top Extracurricular Activities for Parents to Choose

Here is a list of some highly interesting and appropriate extracurricular activities that parents may choose for their kids.

Music Dance

Dance and music are vocational disciplines that enhance a child's ability of self-expression, while also working on their memory retention and brain function. Being surrounded by music and rhythms also makes a child more observant of their environment and differentiates emotions very precisely. This may also be a great way to enhance cultural awareness among kids.

Theatre

If you think your child loves performing in front of people and also has an inherent understanding of emotions and how to regulate them, then making them do theatre may have many positive implications. Theatre allows a child to play different roles and become confident in front of a huge crowd from an early age. Other than equipping children with self-confidence, theatre may also help in developing clarity of language and tapping on many important opportunities.

Sports

Practicing sports every day keeps a child fit while also making them learn the importance of empathy and how to work in a group. The child also learns how to prioritize their physical and mental health by being a sports person. Their dietary practices are more likely to improve, and they might learn how to develop a proper schedule from an early age. Different types of sports that can be practiced by kids include basketball, archery, cricket, football, kabaddi, and much more.

Debating

Knowing the art of arguing and putting forward one’s point by properly postulating it formally is very important in today's world. Teaching kids how to debate makes them interact with kids coming from different backgrounds. This makes the child gain a lot of knowledge and get global exposure from an early age. The debate also allows the child to learn a lot of new words and how to structure their sentences more appealingly. Public speaking makes a child feel confident and gives them the ability to put forward their point in front of a huge crowd without feeling hesitant.

Art Craft

Art and craft are a vast discipline that encompasses sketching, shading, painting of various kinds, and so much more. It helps in fostering creativity and promotes original thinking among kids. It is also a very detail-oriented discipline that requires continuous detention of a child. Nowadays art and craft are not just limited to canvas-based art pieces. Children can also learn how to use digital tools to make virtual art pieces by learning various software.

Conclusion

Extracurricular activities help children utilize their leisure time more constructively. While chasing academics, a child may sometimes forget to learn many other practical skills that come into use in real life. Encouraging your child to participate in extracurricular activities gives them the right kind of exposure and experience wonderful things in life.