In how many activities should children be involved?
This Autumn, Bug will be in school, play soccer and take Karate. Bear will be in preschool three mornings per week, play soccer and take dance. Bug really wants to take a hip-hop dance class, but still wants to take karate, too. Giving up soccer for Bug would like giving up air. lol My husband and I knew we had to draw the line somewhere. How many activities should a 6 year old have before he has too many? We both think two activities at a time is enough.
My feeling is that children need time to be unstructured and free to play whatever they want. While Bug doesn’t really enjoy unstructured time as much as Bear, he still benefits from the downtime. I do agree to fight boredom and obesity children should be active, but I would never say that they must be active in several activities at once.
Two activities per child works well for our family. More activities or less may be better for other families.
What is your family’s policy on extracurriculars?




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