By Jerry Maosa
Extracurricular activities present a multitude of benefits to kids of all ages.
They help burn off extra energy, offer an opportunity to socialize, enhance their emotional wellbeing, build character and confidence. These activities also provide a way of keeping the older children out of trouble and are an excellent means to help discover individual passions and pursue them.
Nowadays, more and more youngsters are involved in so many activities they don’t seem to have time to relax and play with their friends. On top of school and homework, many children also participate in team sports, ballet, theatre, music lessons, and church activities.
Many parents look back on their childhoods with regret at the opportunities they never had and often vow to give more to their children. These good intentions often turn into childhood nightmares for kids who are overstretched, many of them will struggle to keep up with their school and extracurricular activity load. This leads to anxiety which in turn affects their mental health.
Here are a few ways that parents can help their children create a balance between school work and extracurricular activities.
Kids tend to do well when they have structure, and afterschool activities are a great way to get that. The key is to avoid overscheduling and to ensure that activities don’t interfere with your child’s life and that they have time for homework, play, friends and family and are able to get enough sleep.
Remember the activities are primarily for the child’s enjoyment. Let them have fun as they participate in the activities even as they develop talents and passions and learn
how to push themselves. Putting too much pressure on them to achieve or being over competitive takes the fun from the activities and stresses the child.
How many activities are enough? There’s no magic number of activities. For some kids, even one intense activity like sports or theater might turn out to be too many. Other kids can handle several without getting stressed. Understanding your child well enables you to know their limits and advise them accordingly.
Another downside to signing children up for too many activities is that if kids spread themselves too thin, they might not be able to improve their skills in any specific activity, which can be hard on their confidence. Help them assess the ones that they are good at and drop the ones that are just taking up time.
Whereas extracurricular activities like music, arts, and sports can play an important role in your child’s development, too many activities might overwhelm the child. Talking
openly to your child will help you to know if they are struggling and you can agree on which activities to keep and which can be removed.
Consider allowing your child time for self- directed activities. Independent work time is important as it gives kids a place to think for themselves, be creative and access their own internal resources. This is flexible as it is not scheduled and the child can use any extra time they may have.
