The Importance Of After-School Activities For Children Aged Between 6 To 13 Years

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Children between the ages of six and thirteen undergo most of their prime developmental changes mentally and physically during this stage of their growth. These days there are plenty of after-school study programs available to bring out the best in your children such as by enrolling them in abacus math training centers where brain-stimulating activities are incorporated in fun ways. These activities and exercises put a rest to many parents’ dilemmas on how to improve concentration in their kids as well as to improve memory power and retaining capacity.

Why do we need to focus on children of this age group?

Primary and middle school are the stages of your child’s education when he or she learns skills beyond basic academics. Many notable skills and interests are built at this age such as a passion for reading books, painting, coloring, sketching, collecting objects of interest, playing video games, participating in sports activities, athletic events, etc. While one child might be highly fascinated by the way two colors blend together to form an entirely new one, another is going to be looking up at the stars and wondering how to reach out to them.

During this prime age of curiosity and vivid fascination, it becomes the combined duty of parents and teachers to encourage this fascination and assist them in any way to build upon their hobbies and interests in the most productive manner. This article offers you some ideas that you can implement outside of school to keep your child busy instead of glued to the TV, making use of evening hours in fun and productive ways.

Why are after school activities important for the children?

These activities instill passion in them to try new things. This builds a positive attitude towards most things in general and removes the fear of failure which stops them from experimentation. Once kids are exposed to some activities beyond their comfort zone, they will be curious to work on whatever the activity is and try to get better at it.

It gets them to interact with other children their own age and build on their social health by involving themselves in group activities. It is very important for children to learn to mingle amongst themselves in a positive environment o that they learn important values of empathy, compassion, and sportsmanship.

Physical activities such as light sports or some jogging time in the park, learning to cycle, etc keeps them fit from an early age. Quality time is spent on maintaining and improving the quality of their health and they start realizing the value of staying fit at an early enough age.

Habits developed during this age are long-lasting. After school activities that have a positive impact on the children, instill habits in them- good and healthy habits that improve their overall health and social skills as well.

Some activities that you can try out after school hours with your children

If they have indicated a passion towards something that doubles as a positive learning experience then it becomes our duty to encourage this and help them develop this into a proper life skill. For example, sketching– get them some art books and stencils and allow them some sketching time about three times a week. Use the tactics of positive reinforcement such as giving them some extra TV time or take them out to the arcade if they have genuinely done a good job for the week. This improves the bonding between you and the child as well.

Try enrolling them in math learning clubs and other such brain stimulating centers focused on improving children’s logic and aptitude scores. You can also collect learning material from the Internet or buy books that have fun puzzles and logic exercises that you assign to your child a few at a time and make them work towards solving it themselves as much as possible.

Life skills such as learning to clean a house and basic cooking can never go amiss when your child grows up and lives independently. Assign them small chores once in a while and tempt them with small treats so they get the chores done. For example, give your kid a little extra pocket money when he or she does the dishes after school. Teach them different skills on different days.

For example, take one day after school to teach your child how to knead the dough. Another day, teach them how to handle basic laundry. For children who are a bit older, give them some more responsibilities such as fetching some groceries, boiling eggs and milk, helping with cooking dinner, etc.

Get them to try new things constantly especially if you sense they have some sort of an adverse feeling towards the activity. For example, if your child feels he or she is bad at sports, take some time to the local park or your backyard to play something with them like some softball or badminton. If they hate to read, start them on comic books that they can’t resist and slowly build towards something else.

Be supportive and patient towards your child even if he or she is reluctant to try out these things. Slowly encourage them and do not force them to try things that actually make them uncomfortable. Make sure that they are happy doing these things and these do not take their primary focus away from studying and spending time with their friends.

Each of these experiences will be impactful and aid their overall development and growth. Be careful, however, not to exhaust them.

These after-school activities shall definitely play a vital role in the overall improvement of your child and help them in various levels of self-growth. Keeping play and work together will set the basis for the much-needed balance in life that will prove very useful to them in the years to come, besides adding to their list of skills and good memories.

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