Extra curricular activities are great for children as well as parents. They can help you develop your skills whilst spark an interest for your children. Who knows, you may both love getting active together or learning a new skill. There are many activities you can enjoy together from learning a language to sports. Let’s get into it.
Learn a new language
Learning a new language is a great skill for anyone at any age. Learning a language causes areas of the brain associated with memory, namely the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, to increase in size. Like any muscle in the body, regularly exercising your brain can make you stronger and more flexible. What’s better is that you can easily learn a language with your child from home. Preply online tutors can help with a variety of languages from English and Spanish to Arabic and Japanese. These online expert tutors can help you learn from the comfort of your own home at any time and from affordable prices.
Improve musical skills
It’s never too early or too late to improve your music skills. Whether you enjoy singing or playing an instrument, you can learn or teach your child, whilst sharpening your own skills. Children benefit from learning how to play musical instruments from a young age as it helps enhance their sound skills. Whilst playing an instrument, they will improve their neuropsychological distinction, which will aid them academically. The creation of music is what rewires the brain. Children who’d been highly involved in musical training were also the ones with good attendance and high participation in class.
Get involved with performing arts
A study published in USA Today found that children who were involved in some form of performing arts were better at reading, writing, and math compared to those that were only focused on academics. Participating in performing arts was specifically helpful for those children that struggled with academics and require remedial education. It can also improve motivation, confidence, reading, and cognitive ability. If you enjoy acting or want to start, it will be a great bonding activity with your children. If you act, dance, or sing with them, it may help boost their confidence.
Students are shaped to become goal-oriented when they actively participate in performing arts since they constantly prepare for recitals and performances. Because the performing arts engage students creatively, it also opens up students to different perspectives and encourages them to think out-of-the-box.
Any sports activity
Getting active with your children is great for bonding, physical health, and routine. Participating in sports can help build self-esteem, confidence, team-work, and leadership skills. Because most schools will require students to maintain their grades for them to hold positions in sports teams, students are motivated to excel academically.
You could play tennis, join a sports team, or practice yoga in the garden. Whatever you enjoy, you can teach your children and vice versa. Sports is a highly interactive activity, which will enhance your children’s social skills, as well as make them more active. The team working aspect will help children be more supportive and communicative in the future.
Get artsy
All children and adults can appreciate art. It is a great pastime. Again, it is a subject some schools do not focus on with academic subjects taking important. Understanding that other people are different from us is a big learning stage for children. Creative activities help show children that others can do things differently from us even with the same resources. It also enables a way of showing that it’s ok to be different from others. Sharing a creative activity is also a great way to help build friendships, and strengthen bonds between you and your child as well as with friends. Arts does not just involve crafts. Activities including singing, dancing, acting, drawing, creating models, nature trails together are all great ways to help friendship and bonding.
Traditional board games
Board games may seem like a normal or old pastime for adults. Yet, they offer many benefits to children. Not only is it a great opportunity to bond with your child, but they can easily sharpen your child’s social skills. Although many people might think that board games are just a form of entertainment, for children board games can be a rich opportunity for social skills development. Board games require many of the skills which are hailed as important for social interaction. Turn-taking, cooperation, honesty, and teamwork to name a few.
Enjoy camping
Camping is a great activity to fill your weekend. It can be done from the garden or you can go full out on a camping trip. Children who don’t get opportunities to practice social skills will often have a deficiency in this area. It is a good bonding opportunity and a way to have more fun at the weekends then spending hours focusing on a specific subject and learning.
If you want your children to enhance their social skills further, you could submit them to a retreat. It’s important for parents to get comfortable allowing their child to branch out and spend time away from home. Camps and retreats are a great way to do this. Camps or retreats give kids the opportunity to see themselves outside of the family unit which is an important part of normal social development. Many camps and retreats also purposefully organize social skill-building activities into their schedules which further helps in this area.
In an increasingly competitive world, your child will need to garner as many skills as possible for them to be able to stand out from the rest. The above activities will not only help your child excel academically but will also help them grow into more capable and resourceful citizens of the world. They are also great opportunities for you to enhance your skills with them and achieve great bonding time.
