Top 7 after School Activities to Take Part in ...

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Not all towns have a swim team, but you’d be surprised at how many at least offer swim lessons at the public pool. There are many kids that never learn to swim and it can be such fun! Swim team helps kids learn to be better swimmers and to be involved in team sports at the same time. This is great exercise as well, which kids can never have too much of.

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Even if kids don’t like organized sports at school, many will at least get involved with basketball when friends are doing the same thing. This is true with many sportsactivities. There’s just something different about being told they have to attend practice and gamesat schooland playing a game for fun with the neighbor kids.

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Whether it’s with water colors, acrylics, tempera, or finger paints, enrolling in a painting class can bring out the artist in your child. I think that painting allows kids to be creative without having specific lines that need to be followed. Drawing often requires a set design to be made, whereas painting is very free-flowing. Their imagination can simply go crazy with paints and you never know, you might just be helping your little one discover anew hobby he loves!

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You’d be surprised at how excited kids can get about gardening. There’s something fun aboutplanting a seedand monitoring how much it grows each week. I’ve made charts in the past and placed pictures each week on them so the kids could see what type of progress their plants were making. After a while, most kids will automatically head out to their garden spot and tend to their plants without anyone asking at all.

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Playing video games isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The hand-eye coordination required for some of the games played today is astounding. As an adult, I have a hard time keeping up with everything I’m supposed to be watching for as I move my character along the path. There are quite a few online games that are educational and exciting. If you are worried about your child being sucked into the game for too long, make required breaks a part of play time as well.

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There are numerous websites online that are dedicated specifically to crafts for kids. These have some great ideas for parents to use as afterschool activities. Planning on craft timeafter school can be a great way to prepare for the holiday as well. Making presents for the family is a tradition that seems to be less present all the time.

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The YMCA and Girls and Boys Club of America both have fantastic afterschool programs available. They are completely structured and supervised. These usually cost a little bit of money, but aren’t overly expensive. Kids are allowed to be kids andhave friends their own age to interact with during this time. These are usually very educational, but set up in a way that kids don’t feel like they are in school again.

These are just 7 examples I could come up with for after school activities. Do you have others that your child or children are involved in? What do they like the best of all?

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