# Clubs and activities



## Eleanor ace

What clubs or activities does your child belong to/do? 
DS is 5.5, he currently does football club (which he is quitting soon as he doesn't enjoy it), ukulele lessons (which he enjoys so far) and swimming lessons (which he is pretty lukewarm about).
He has done gymnastics (which he was very good at but decided he didn't like) and tennis (he messed around and didn't enjoy it after the 2nd lesson :doh:) and would like to do hockey but we're reluctant to sign him up as we'd need to shell out club fees, stick and kit and he has a habit of deciding he doesn't like something after we've bought everything :dohh:.

So what does your LO do, and do they enjoy it?


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## k4th

Dd does...

Ballet - she loves this. Although I think she may enjoy the costume more than the dancing! But she does really enjoy it! 

Swimming - she's not so fussed about this. It's the only activity she does that is non-negotiable though. She had to learn to swim. 

Gymnastics - she does this with a couple of friends from school and really likes it. But sometimes chats more than she participates!

I was thinking about rainbows/beavers. Dd is high energy & pretty bright so can be difficult to entertain sometimes. But, it's getting expensive & with going back to work I have limited time. Plus, I think there's some real value in learning to entertain yourself so I'm holding off for now. If she wanted to swap ballet/gymnastics for beavers then I'd let her, but I can't see that happening anytime soon.


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## lau86

Ds does football and swimming lesson at the moment. He enjoys both, But I agree with pp- the swimming he has to do.
I would like him to play an instrument when he's around 6-7 but I don't plan to force him to do anything. I did activities almost every night growing up and often twice at weekends and it was too much. I wasn't even talented at them really


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## CaptainMummy

my eldest (almost 6) only does dancing. She does a stretching/competition class on a Tuesday and a regular stage class on a Wednesday. She only just started the competition class a few weeks ago and I plan on letting her start competing after Christmas if she is still enjoying it and is up for it (we went to watch a competition last weekend and she was inspired, so I'm pretty sure she will be eager to compete!) 
She really loves to dance and is very good at it. I hope she continues to love it as much as she does now


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## Eleanor ace

Ooh DS has asked to join Beavers (or bunny scouts as he calls it; Max and Ruby fan over here :winkwink:), I'm going to look into how old he needs to be. 

Lau what a busy schedule you had! I try to make sure they don't have too much on because with school it already feels like DS doesn't get that much time to just play.


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## Natasha2605

Summer does - 

Play Rangers which is outdoor play and activities ( den building, fire making etc) on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school. They're drop in sessions but she likes to go to them all. On a Tuesday she does multi sports after school and on a Sunday she goes to a youth club. She's not forced to do any though. 

As for Maci she's much more of a homebody and is happier colouring in/writing etc. She goes to the same youth club as Summer on a Sunday and she does go to the play ranger sessions but not in the winter as she hates the cold. 

Both kids have tried gymnastics but didn't like so stopped.


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## george83

Ds1 is also 5.5 land currently only does football. He too however doesn't enjoy it so he's about to give up. The plan is that he will starting doing swimming lessons instead but I don't think he'll enjoy that either.

I grew up not doing any clubs so I'm quite keen for him to do at least one but I wonder if he too would enjoy beavers more so than a football club


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## lindseymw

Joshua does Beavers (will soon be going to Cubs). He loves it. You have to be 5 & 3/4 - 6years old to join Beavers.

They both go swimming. Joshua enjoys it, Jacob not so much but it's non-negotiable.

Jacob currently goes to gymnastics. It's ran by the School so not a 'proper' club but he really enjoys it so I am going to look into it properly when the school club finishes.


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## sabby52

Declan age 9 does 

swimming lessons which he loves, he has moved up 4 stages in just 16 lessons
Judo, again which he loves, he has been doing it since he was 5 and he now competes in competitions, he has 3 gold medals one of which he won in the Northern Ireland all schools competition 
Running club, again he loves this. 
He also sings in the school choir and does this as an afterschool activity. 

He used to go to football but wasnt really into it so left, drama classes which again he got a little bit bored with and boxing fit which he did love but the club go cancelled.

He does have a very busy schedule but he loves being kept busy

Monday - choir
Tuesday- rest day
Wednesday - judo and running club
Thursday - Running club
Friday - choir
Saturday- swimming and Judo
Sunday - swimming (every other)


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## Vickie

Hannah is 8.

From 4-7 she only did ballet (with the occasional swim class thrown in)

Last year at aged 7 she did ballet and acro and decided she absolutely loves dance.

This year has been our craziest year yet and she's in Jazz, Ballet, Arco and dance Pak (which does some performances throughout the year). She also auditioned for and got a small role in the Nutcracker performance so from early October to yesterday she was dancing 8 hours a week! Nutcracker is over now thank goodness, I'm tired haha so we'll go back to our normal schedule (dance Weds., Thurs., Saturday and some Sunday's). 

My son is 4 and just started JK. We've only got him in swimming right now as I find he's still pretty tired from school.


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## Fredapain

My DS just turned 6. He has Beavers on a Thursday and swimming on a Saturday. Hasn't asked to do anything else and to be honest for him it's plenty.


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## Boomerslady

Ben does football after school one day, and beavers another. I do need to get him to swimming lessons but I don't drive and the ones local to me are on FOBs days. I will figure it out next year though!


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## OmarsMum

DS goes to basketball on Saturdays & Mondays, music on Sundays & fitness on tuesdays in addition to Quran reciting private lesson on Sunday evening. 

But this will change next semester. He will go back to swimming classes during the break


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## Babybump87

Do most of these clubs start at 5 years old? !. 

Ive been looking for DD1 to join some she loves dancing, singing but cannot seem to find anything in my area for her age!! She will be 4 in February


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## mummy_ellie09

Josh does multi sports after school every Thursday. He does creative club each time they do one - its not a constant thing, they generally do it over special times of the year (Mother's Day, Easter, etc)

Swimming starts when he goes to year 3, so I really need to start taking him before hand or its not going to go down well at all


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## Eleanor ace

Babybump87 said:


> Do most of these clubs start at 5 years old? !.
> 
> Ive been looking for DD1 to join some she loves dancing, singing but cannot seem to find anything in my area for her age!! She will be 4 in February

Where I am dance classes start at age 3 (the 3 different academies that I know of anyway), swimming starts at age 3. My DD (3.5) does gymnastics (she's been going since she was about 18 months but her current class is for children aged 3.5 - 5yr olds) and swimming.


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## k4th

Babybump87 said:


> Do most of these clubs start at 5 years old? !.
> 
> Ive been looking for DD1 to join some she loves dancing, singing but cannot seem to find anything in my area for her age!! She will be 4 in February

Try searching for "baby ballet" or ring local dance schools. Lots have dance classes for little ones. My dd has done ballet since she was 3 & she's been swimming since she was born- we've just moved up the stages and now she goes without me. Gymnastics is 4+ at our local leisure centre.


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## DreamCatcher_

DS age 6 does taekwondo and gymnastics. Taekwondo I enrolled him in without asking as it is good for fitness and discipline. He does really enjoy it and, when he is a bit older, we'll look at sparring and competing. Gymnastics he asked off his own back and begged for months; he's never looked back and will proudly tell you that he *will *be the next Max Whitlock.

He used to swim but I felt group lessons weren't doing much for him. I swam competitively and now take him myself.


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## lau86

Does anyone's little boy dance? I really think my son would enjoy some kind of street dancing but don't know where to start


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## k4th

lau86 said:


> Does anyone's little boy dance? I really think my son would enjoy some kind of street dancing but don't know where to start

My dd's best friend does street dance & there are loads of boys in her class & two male teachers who are brilliant role models. Her mum phoned round local dance schools & went along to one she liked. I'd do the same if I were you. 

The reason I didn't choose street dance, even though dd really wanted to go with her friend, is because the school she goes to attends lots of competitions - both group & individual. It's a big part of the lessons and comps are an all day thing once every few months. I didn't want my dd doing comps at this age so chose a different dance route. Just something to consider if you're ringing around. (No judgement of people who do choose to do comps, it's just my dd's personality doesn't suit it just now).


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## bubblychick

DD goes to Rainbows on a Friday which she loves. Going to out DS into Beavers when he's old enough (he's just turned 4). He goes to a toddlers trampolining club one morning a week which he enjoys.


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## sequeena

Thomas goes to soft play once a week from 4-6 for a special needs group. They can do whatever they want. Sometimes they do crafts or simple baking. They sometimes bring mascots out too.

On a Sunday Thomas goes to a special needs dance class for an hour.

He was going to special needs football but it's an awkward time and place. I had to rely on family to get us to and from there.

It's actually really hard to find anything for Thomas :(


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## jessmke

lau86 said:


> Does anyone's little boy dance? I really think my son would enjoy some kind of street dancing but don't know where to start

My nephew did ballet from ages 2-5, now he does hip hop.


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## topsy

DS is starting cross country running on fri xxxx


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## DCS

Ds does tae kwon do. He did it a couple years ago but didnt enjoy it. The intructor wasnt great tbh and the time of day was all wrong for ds. He now goes straight after school, at his school with a couple of his friends. He is realy enjoying it. He used to do swimming lessons but with all the issues with his tonsills we decided to stop untill he has had them out. We went swimming yesterday and he used to be able to swim 10m at 4 years old but because he hasnt been going regularly for almost 2 years he seems to have forgoten.


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## CaptainMummy

Dd1 had her first dance competition yesterday. For her to even get up and dance in front of the 300+ people was an achievement, she would have never done that a few months ago! Not only that, but she absolutely snashed it, made all 3 finals and came home with 3 trophies! (4th, 4th, 2nd) Her confidence since starting has blown me away and I can only hope she continues to love it and grow as a dancer and as a person


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## SarahBear

Violet goes to preschool three days a week. She's 4. When she's old enough for kindergarten (she'll be a couple months from 6), we plan to homeschool, so I feel like she should be part of some activity. I'm looking into 4-H for her. It seems like a good option. Club sports around here start in first grade. So if she's into it, she'll be able to choose from soccer and basketball. I know there's also t-ball and gymnastics in the area. This summer we may take her to a few gymnastics classes. Maybe another summer we'll do swim lessons. So far she really enjoys preschool and had gone back and forth on her opinion of gymnastics (she's taken a few classes previously). When she was younger, my husband also took her to story time at the library. She enjoyed it. Leo isn't even 2. Pretty soon I'm going to start strongly encouraging my husband to take him to story time (husband is a stay at home parent).


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## MAMA MOON

My son did karate & gymnastics & swimming last summer.
He goes to preK M-Th for 3 hours/day & 
does swimming 1 day/week during school sessions. 
This summer he will probably do karate & soccer & swimming. 
During school sessions next year, he will do piano or guitar.
He loves it all & wants to try everything, but I really don't want him 
over-scheduled & struggle sometimes in determining what is too much.


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## dani_tinks

My son does cross country running at school on a Tues and swimming out of school on a Thurs. I've asked if he'd like to do anything else but he says that's enough for now.


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