What activities are your kids involved in?

[zaneyzoo]

And how old are they?

DD1 is 4 so we are just now starting activities.  TBH, I'm really not that excited about it.  I don't like having commitments, especially in the evenings and I know once we start this, it just goes and never stops.

With that being said, we are trying to decide what to put her in.  In our town, our options are gymnastics or dance (or both, but we are not doing both right now).

She wants to do gymnastics, but the only class time for her age group that is rec is at 4:00 pm, once a week.  I can try to block off that time from work, but there will be times that it just won't work with my work or DH's.  Plus, I'm not super thrilled about the owners, I like the a couple of the coaches and could take or leave the others.  The classes are chaotic as well and not well organized, however, it would be a good start for her into something that I think she would be good at.

Then there's dance.  It's once a week in the evenings, so more manageable time wise.  But it's dance.  And dance moms and some are just snatches.  I'm leaning towards dance. She loves to dance around the house and I know they do gymnastics in dance too.

So, WWYD?  What is your kid involved in?  How old are they?  

[cinco]

DD1 (9): cross country and lacrosse
DS (8): swim team and lacrosse
DD2 (4): cross country and swimming

ETA: I would do the one that is more convenient. I've found there are asshole parents in any sport, but also think they are the minority.

[CurlyQ284]

I would try the dance. It sounds more manageable for you, she sounds like she would enjoy that. You might get normal moms and if not you don't have to continue forever, you know? Just dip your toes in.

DS will be 4 in November. He's in soccer but it's not competitive, it's basic skills and to burn energy off. It's an 8 week program and when he's finished I might be doing swim lessons.

[illgetthere]

Are there any other sports, tball? We did tball at three and four and are doing fall soccer at 4. My older son did tball at 4 and 5, soccer at 4, and football at 6. Now he does Lego robotics and boxing. Lego robotics is in the fall after school and boxing is 3 days/week but you can come when you want.
We have only committed to ymca sports for our youngest so far since it is 1 practice and 1 game/week vs city ball running 2 to 3 practices/week.

[hocus2]

We're doing an evening activity this summer but only because a sitter can take my kids.

In fall the kids activities on Saturday AM. DD takes dance and art and DS will take swim because he's just not interested in doing more. My kids take some activities in their after school programs and we don't do anything else on top of that.

[cbwm1]

Will turns 8 on the 19th. He's in:

Swimming lessons 4 days a week
Piano lessons 1 day week

In the fall, he has a bowling league every other Friday.

Much more than that and I can't handle it. We always swore that he'd only be in one activity at a time (because we're lazy), but we obviously broke that rule.

[tripleshot]

DS just turned 11. He plays soccer in the fall (two one hour practices and 1 one hour game per week).  

In the spring/summer he plays baseball. The schedule is usually 2 practices and 1-2 games a week.  They all last at least 2-2.5 hours each. I HATE baseball so so much. 

In in the winter he plays basketball. It's usually two 2 hr practices and one 1 HR game per week.

All his practices are usually 5:30 pm or later and I only work until 3, so it's not horrible but i don't like the constant commitments either. Plus my dogs are home alone a lot during baseball season. 

[cleo29]

Two activities each. Soccer and dance for C and dance and gymnastics for K. K's gymnastics will on Friday during the day while C is in school.

[NinaSimone]

At 5 DD was doing dance, her class was 1x/week on Saturday mornings. She's 6 now, just finished soccer and will be starting violin in the fall. We stick with what is convenient for us and our schedules. Based on what you said, I'd choose dance.

[cabbagecabbage]

Turning 4 this month. Summer is pretty barren.

In fall she'll do: preschool, library story time, and beginning dance through the park district.

[luckyval]

In and out of stuff lately (he's 5).

He did small art and cooking camps over the summer and we're waffling on a fall/winter activity. He's not very athletically inclined but has tons of energy, so I'm pushing him to try tumbling or dance.

eta: I can't handle more than one activity at a time, lol. Though I'm sure DS would be fine with several at a time

[copperboom]

Last year DD was 6 and did dance, gymnastics, Girl Scouts, and one sport per season (soccer, basketball, and softball.) This year she's dropping dance and gymnastics and adding Lego league.

[Deleted]

DS is 7. He practices 4 days a week and plays one (two in the fall for a total of 6 days a week). Certain seasons are a bit less, so that is worst case scenario.


DD does soccer and dance during school hours (huge help!) and gymnastics in the Winter from 9-10am on Saturdays.

Soon she will start in the local soccer league and that will be one practice a week and Saturday games. 

H lives for going to practice with DS, so our new normal is for them to go to practice and for me to stay with DD at home. My anxiety of our schedule has decreased a TON since we started this, because I am getting everything done at night, cleaning and relaxing with DD, and ready to spend time with DS after he gets home. It has been a huge relief. I used to feel like I had to be at every practice, but I really don't need to. I never miss a game though.

[BaliHai]

L is 2.5 and right now she is in swimming once a week.

We are enrolling her in dance class as soon as I figure out when it starts, lol, and considering soccer in the fall if it doesn't conflict.

[cjcouple]

At four my boys did soccer and gymnastics.
Soccer was seasonal and 8 weeks in the fall and summer. During this time it was 2 hours/week. 1 hour for soccer on Saturdays (30 min practice and 30 min game)
and gymnastics was a 45 min class (year round).

Presently at 9 and 7:
9yo - Soccer, Basketball, Swim and he is starting an instrument this year. He also did an after school club for a few months last year where he trained for a 5K.

7yo - Soccer, Basketball and Swim

They are different seasons so not all running together. (Swim overlaps and is year round but only a 1/2 hr a week). The frequency increased as they get older. My oldest averages 8 hours a week. My youngest averages 5 hours a week.

and there are breaks in between sports and sessions. there is about a month and half off between soccer and basketball for instance.

Activities are what you make them. I find it to be very manageable but many do a lot more than us and drive themselves a bit nutty.

[fivechickens]

Competitive TV watching.

In the fall we will have them take swim lessons but now they are not in anything. I will never discourage anything they want to play or be in but when I have asked if they want to play soccer or do gymnastics they don't seem super interested. A had dance class when she was 3 but was not really into it. Maybe once school starts they will find some interest.

C has twice weekly therapy (for about 9 months it was 4x a week) which is priority right now so I am glad they are not asking to play anything right now.

They are 5.

[liverandonions]

I'm really glad you asked this, because I was going to make a similar post today! My daughter is 3.5 and starting a little after 2.5 we started baby ballet on Thursdays for 30 minutes. She moved up to the 45 minute class at 3. A few months ago I started her in gymnastics and we took a break from ballet. I was trying to decided if doing both classes would be too much at her age.

Gymnastics is on Tuesdays and dance is on Thursdays, each class is 45 minutes. We are having horrific meltdowns lately about TV so we've decided to cut her off of it for a while. Having outside activities would be some time killer.

Thoughts?

[sarahswim]

My son is 6, going into first grade.  He loves baseball and plays every day, whether there's a scheduled practice/game or not. We are trying to decide if he will play on a team this fall-he wants to play but the games are Sundays at 1:00, which is kind of a pain.  

This summer he swam on a summer swim team (which I also coached).  He will probably swim on the year-round team they are offering, which means Mon, Wed, Sat for one hour (again, I'm coaching so it's not a huge stretch since he will usually be there with me most days).  I grew up swimming 6 days a week and I really don't want that for him, so I'm hoping we will just stick with the more relaxed, developmental team for a while.  

[rageragerage]

Tackle football?

My 4 year old son is in ballet- 30 mins at 6 pm Wed once a week. We will start swim soon too, it is 45 mins a week on Saturdays.

[jinkies]

My 4 year old is not doing anything right now. We tried ballet right around her 3rd bday (disaster) and soccer right around her 4th bday (better, but she didn't like it that much). She has also done a few rounds of swim lessons.

I'd like to sign her up for something this fall. I was hoping for soccer, because I think she'd have good long term success with it, but she wants to do gymnastics.

If we can find something that works with our schedule, we'll let her try it.

My son is 8. He hasnt really settled into a sport. He did a ninja warrior class that he loved, but it's far and hard with our schedule. He does some other extracurriculars like chess club and clay class, but nothing too time consuming.

[cookie510]

DD is 4 and also in camp/daycare full time. I don't foresee us doing any additional activities this year. It's just not in the budget and I don't think she really wants to. When she's home on the weekends & at night she just wants to be home - she's a homebody like her dad.

We did gymnastics when she was almost 3 and she kind of hated it. It was such a pain to get her there and once she was there she just wanted to do her own thing, it was awful.

[eb777888]

He's 7. He's in Tae Kwon Do and he plays cello. These are his choices. We had him in baseball and soccer and he just didn't enjoy it.

[sangria]

DD1 - age 5 - starting K this year: Saturday morning soccer for 8 or 10 weeks Sept-Dec. and I'm planning to enroll her in dance starting this month once a week. That's all I'm up for right now.

DD2- age 2.5 (3 in October) nada. Not worth it. If I start working again I will enroll her in dance or amazing athletes, which both conduct classes right at the preschool during the week.

[Deleted]

Girls, recently turned six.  They did swim lessons in the spring.  They have done some camp this summer.  

I have tried ballet, gymnastics, soccer, and girl scouts--all those activities didn't work.  My girls would prefer to do no activities.  They love to create drawings and other artwork at home.  I won't do anything formal with their art interest yet, I am really afraid to kill their interest--which happened when my son received formal art instruction.  I'm keeping it fun!


Boy, eight, boy scouts--done it for two years, after school chess--did it for two sessions during his second grade/previous school year, swim lessons two sessions during the school year, some camp this summer.  He will continue boy scouts and hopefully chess.  

I have tried--art class, acting class--both ultimately not beneficial. 


As a family, occasionally, we take the kids to this rock climbing place that is like ten minutes from our house.  The kids love it!

Also, the art museum at the university that is near our house offers free craft/tour programs during the year and we've done those a couple of times and will continue to take them when they are available.  

We are also planning on getting a YMCA family membership and taking the kids to family swim.  

I feel like I have tried the weekly activity route as a parent and it hasn't really panned out.  

[textbookcase]

B (4) starts soccer later this month and we do random sessions of art, music, etc. through the year. She also goes to a program at church on Weds nights.
K (9) does soccer in the fall and spring, church program, piano lessons, gem and mineral society, homeschool workshops, and the biggest time suck is 4H. She raises rabbits and goats for 4H and is also involved in the cooking, arts and crafts, and gardening projects.
C (12) is in soccer, youth group, guitar lessons, gem and mineral society, homeschool workshops, and in 4H she also raises rabbits and goats, is very involved in leadership activities, and arts and crafts, cooking, photography, gardening, community service, rocketry, basically every program 4H offers.

[sandytoes]

DS is 7 (almost 8). He plays fall soccer and spring baseball.

DD is 6. She plays fall soccer and gymnastics (spring and fall).

[muffin0]

Both DD's (4 and almost 8) are in ice skating. They take group lessons once a week and have private lessons once a week. 

[snipsnsnails]

DS (Age 5): Swimming lessons, ice skating, t-ball, Art summer camp

DD1 (Age 3): Swimming lessons, she'll do after school enrichment programs this fall (sports clinic and Spanish), art summer camp

DD2 (Age 1): Bible Study which has a separate kids' curriculum/classroom once a week

[cajunmom]

DD1 (13.5 y.o.) is in band and is in her 9th year of girl scouts.

DD2 (10 y.o.) is in competitive acrobatic gymnastics. She doesn't have time for anything else.

[zaneyzoo]

Aug 2, 2016 12:20:32 GMT -5 illgetthere said:

Are there any other sports, tball? We did tball at three and four and are doing fall soccer at 4. My older son did tball at 4 and 5, soccer at 4, and football at 6. Now he does Lego robotics and boxing. Lego robotics is in the fall after school and boxing is 3 days/week but you can come when you want.
We have only committed to ymca sports for our youngest so far since it is 1 practice and 1 game/week vs city ball running 2 to 3 practices/week.

She can do tball next summer. she may be able to do soccer this fall, but I think it is kindergarten, not sure.  She may  be able to do the little kid's basketball league this fall too