What your kid does after school is as important as what they do during their school program.
With an unprecedented rise in the use of video games and social media, most kids don’t really have an after-school program to look forward to.
Parents need to understand that physical growth and mental development continue to happen even after school. This means that it is unhealthy for kids to have their heads stuck in their mobile phones after school. Sticking to the internet and computers can significantly stagnate development in children. Therefore, they need to engage in some form of physical activity after school.
So here is a bunch of after-school options that your kids will absolutely love!
1. Martial Arts Classes
By providing children with martial arts training, you can equip them with a set of skill sets that will keep them ahead of their peers. The benefits of enrolling your child in martial arts program are mentioned here:
● Martial arts have many positive effects on your child’s health. It can boost metabolism, tone muscles, get rid of unwanted fat, boost immunity, build stamina, etc.
● Martial arts can also help kids pick up life skills. For instance, it can boost your child’s self-confidence, develop a positive mental attitude, and also enhance their communication skills.
Additionally, physical training like martial arts also instills values and qualities like patience, concentration, perseverance, and discipline. These values can go a long way in helping your child’s academic learning.
2. Hobby Hour
There are plenty of community-service-oriented and educational programs out there you can pick for your child’s development. But let’s face it, preschool children need to do what they are meant to do – have fun.
Schools subjects or outdoor training aren’t the only ways that help children develop. But we are also not trying to say that entertaining topics won’t help kids pick up valuable information or keep them engaged. For example, enrolling your kid for a Lego League after school hours will give them an opportunity to improve their spatial and building skills, all while doing something they like. Several schools offer such types of after-hours courses that can surely spark children’s creativity while making it a fun experience.
3. Arts and Crafts
Although many pre-schools have regular sessions on arts and crafts for kids, there’s really no harm in opting for a full-time course that your kid can attend after school. Playing with colors, conceptualizing drawings and paintings, and creating objects out of a simple piece of paper can
do wonders to enhance your child’s creative imagination.
Or if you have the slightest notion that your kid has an interest in basic art activities like finger painting, you know you have to nurture the little Picasso. Enrolling your child for an arts and crafts course after school can nurture this talent and also enhance their physical and mental development.
Again, there aren’t really any hard and fast rules you got to follow when it comes to after-school programs. Such options mostly are boundless just like a young child’s imagination.
4. Book Clubs
Don’t worry, we are not asking you to bore your toddler with a never-ending book club reading after their school hours. But let’s face it, what child doesn’t enjoy listening to captivating and animated stories?
Book clubs for children involve well-animated narrations of some of the most famous books for toddlers. Kids don’t need to be able to read to participate in such courses. But a keen and curious mind surely helps them grasp the suspense, the expression, the moral, and the setting of the fable that is narrated.
Eventually, if your child does develop an interest in stories and books, there’s nothing like it then! After all, books are the best friend they could ever ask for.
5. Exploring the Great Outdoors
Post the pandemic, if the closest your little one has been to nature is your backyard or the nearby park, you might want to find a program that encourages them to get closer to nature and connect with it.
Outdoor programs from preschoolers obviously don’t involve hiking or adventurous camping. But exposing your child to something as nurturing as gardening can also be rewarding.
After all, any activity is better as long as your couch potato is able to get off the mobile phone, isn’t it?
Apart from gardening, exposing your preschooler to scouting or even the local H 4 club can also be a great outdoor opportunity to connect them with nature.
6. Playing a Musical Instrument
Learning music is probably better than any of the above after-school activities you want to enroll your child in.
Music can benefit your little one in more than one way.
It can improve their:
● Math
By listening to the beats of music your child can learn pattern recognition, basic fractions, and develop problem-solving skills. They can also enjoy improved spatial intelligence and gain the ability to form mental pictures of objects.
● Concentration
Musically trained people have better working memory skills, which helps them remember things even when their minds are busy with other matters. Since learning any instrument requires significant concentration, you are automatically training your child to focus on one thing for sustained periods.
● Self-discipline
Learning an instrument trains children to work on short-term goals, develop strict routines, and practice self-discipline. Mastering a new instrument is no easy job. So once your child learns something, it leads to a sense of pride and achievement, making them learn how important self-discipline is.
So even exposing your child to music as much as possible can be extremely beneficial even if they are not inclined to learning a musical instrument.
Takeaway
If you want your child to step away from the mobile phone and enjoy some of these results, then it’s time you enroll them in a good after-school program, which enhances their physical and mental development.