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Mum asks what activities do your children participate in each week and should her children be doing more?

Sharing on MoM answers the mum of two wrote, “What activities (outside of school/daycare) do your kids do and when did they start doing these?

“Mine do swimming and gymnastics (they’re 5 and 7) but so many of my friend’s kids do heaps more, but I have no idea how I can juggle more activities as well as the cost. How do you do it?”

Mums share

One mum shared “My 9 yr old does sport on the weekend that’s it….my 7 yr old does nothing at the moment…School is tiring enough I let my boys just enjoy being kids they will let me know if they would like to do something. No over scheduling here.”

Another said, “You do what is right for your family. My boys both play soccer (12 and 10) and my eldest also goes to boxing once a week. We don’t do anything else paid for. After school we play on bikes and scooters, go to the park etc. it all adds up and we as a family can’t afford it.”

“Kids should be allowed down time just to be kids. It doesn’t benefit your kids to have something on every day of the week”, wrote another.

– “Mine are 16,15,12,9. The boys do football, basketball, swimming and the girls do volleyball and cross country. I let them pick what they wanted to do. If they decide they no longer want to then they wont. I don’t force sports regardless of what other people’s children do.”

– “Too many activities I think is overwhelming. My 11 year old does dancing & has been going since she was 3.”

“My kids pick 1 activity and they stick with it for the year”

– “As a teacher one thing is enough! Let them play, cook, rest… their little lives are busy enough. More is not better!”

– “1 or 2 activities is plenty those days they are not doing activities do some at home crafts, baking etc save your money and do things at home as a family”

We have actually shared before how oversheduling a child is not recommended by experts.

‘A busy organised activity schedule can put considerable strain on parents’ resources and families’ relationships, as well as potentially harm children’s development and wellbeing,’ said study leader Dr Sharon Wheeler. Read more on that here.

I have one child who literally trains four nights a week and plays on a Sunday, and the other one who does no sport at all, but loves his guitar tuition.

I am forever beating myself up over it. But am slowly learning it is not the end of the world. I just continue to offer various choices and one day he may decide that something really does interest him. But if not, well that is OK too!

Are your kids sporty or arty? 

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  • Kids need down time as much as after school activities but never force kids to do something they don’t want to as it usually ends badly

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  • I just checked their website and for $35 you can book access to the entire venue for next wednesday. Even that sounds a lot but I guess I would want to see how amazing the place was first before judging

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  • NO …..I dont agre with forcing children to take up a sport or dance or anything else for that matter. Some of us are sporty and some of us are not. As a child i was a reader. I loved books and always had my head in a book. I hated sport. Perhaps this had something to do with me being asthmatic…I really dont know. I was not over weight and was actually under weight. As an adult I am still not into sport. I dont like taking part and I dont like watching it either. I would rather read a book.

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  • It’s a good idea to have children doing after school activities and sports but they should never be forced. The main point is for them to have fun and keep active.

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  • Nope, kids shouldn’t be forced to do anything. Encourage, yes, but don’t force

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  • If extra activities aren’t for you, for whatever reasons, don’t feel pressured into doing more. My kids did a varied list of after school activities, whatever they asked to do, they had a go at. Some were free activities, some didn’t last long. But I never forced them to do something cos everyone else was doing it

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  • Forcing is never ok

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  • It really depends. I think all kids should participate in sporting activities.

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  • I don’t think I will be forcing after school activities but if they want to do them I will support that.

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  • Yep but for fun like we had growing up

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  • Once my son started high school, we reduced his after school activities to just football – training 2 nights a week and a game on the weekend. We felt this worked well in allowing him to manage school work and still enjoying team sport.

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  • I was forced into as a child and hated it so I won’t do it yyo my children

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  • My kids were always on the go and wanted to do things – boys did cubs and scouts girls did brownies & guides and then they merged into rangers. They re still active in what they do

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  • My children did 2 activities, with the older 2 it was Guides and Little Athletics and when the younger 2 were old enough, they did Scouts and Little Athletics. They learnt to swim and had a go at gymnastics. I have seen children that have activities every day of the week and they are so exhausted all the fun has been taken away.

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  • My boys used to play football or hockey on the weekend. They had training one day during the week and that was all they wanted to do. When footy and hockey finished they could play cricket if they wanted to. I let them choose what they wanted to do and made sure they knew they could quit at any time.

    Reply

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