Are you a fan of after school clubs or any other extra-curricular type activity? Based on my experience so far with my five year old daughter, I’d say I was a fan.

I’ve always striven to bring new experiences to my daughter. To give her the opportunity to hopefully find something she could call a hobby. I’m by no means what some people would describe as a “pushy parent”. But I do want to give my daughter every opportunity to grow and develop in different ways. If she tried something and didn’t like it then that’s absolutely fine. Likewise, if she finds a passion for something I’ll be backing her 100% all the way.

These are the things we have tried so far:

Indoor Rock Climbing

iBear has being doing this activity off and on for the best part of two years. I came across an advert for a local climbing centre one day and upon checking their website noticed they did a “Baby Rock Stars” session on weekends aimed at 3-6 years. I took iBear along to one and she loved it. There was a good mix across the age groups and the instructors were great with the kids. Seeing them all doing stretching exercises before starting was very cute. iBear quickly grew in confidence and it was amazing to see her actually climbing up the wall.

We continued with the sessions every week for a couple of months before taking a little break from it. We’ve since gone back fairly regularly over the last year or so but haven’t been regimented with it. We offer it as an activity to do on the weekends we have free alongside the other usual stuff.

Swimming lessons

The first time I took my daughter to the swimming pool was on my very first Fathers day when she was only a few months old. I was a water baby as a child and this was one activity I’ve always felt was important to learn. We didn’t go as regular as I maybe had intended over the first couple of years. Life does still get in the way of things. But I did keep any eye on the swimming lessons and when a slot became available I signed her up. Her first few “duckling” courses were during the week which unfortunately meant I couldn’t go along to. When she moved onto the next stages I managed to get a weekend slot meaning I could attend.

She still goes now and is making fantastic progress. Her water confidence has grown immensely over this past year. Quite often I’ll come in the pool with her after her lesson and thoroughly enjoy having a good old play in the water. One of her favourite things to do is for us both to dive under the water and wave to each other. We also swim towards each other for under water kisses!

Team Games – the first after schools club

When iBear started Reception last year we received a letter informing the parents of the various after school clubs on offer. The only one reception was entitled to go to was something called “Team Games”. We decided against it for the first half term as we thought we’d rather give her some time to settle in. When the next one came around we asked her if she’d like to give it a try. She did, well done her! She seemed to enjoy it, although couldn’t remember what she had done. This is a standard response when asking how her school day had been…. The fact she was still happy to continue going we took as a good sign.

By the time the summer term came around iBear had decided she no longer wanted to go to Team Games. I sat her down, told her that was completely fine, gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was for her giving it a go.

Rainbows

We’ve had two separate friends who’ve introduced their Daughters to Rainbows and Cubs respectively. Both have told us how much they’ve enjoyed it. Having done a little research it turned out we had a local Rainbows unit that operated out of iBears school. I got in touch and they invited us along to a session. iBear was very shy at first and I sat with her around the little tables while we made veils for the Royal Wedding. She soon grew in confidence and was away chatting to the guide helpers and asking lots of questions – a sign we’ve come to learn as a positive. So many questions……

The best thing about the group was there was no pressure at all to sign up. iBear was welcome to attend a number of sessions before deciding whether to join officially. I made sure I took a back seat with this and let her make her own mind up. When the new term started this year I asked how she felt about staying at Rainbows and she gave a resounding thumbs up. That weekend we went shopping for the uniform! She came running out last week demanding to go on the remembrance parade they were organising next month. It was great to see how enthusiastic she was.

Fabtots – The next after school club

Having now started year one, there were a couple of different after school clubs on offer. Team Games was there but also Fabtots, which was gymnastic based. Following her experience with Team Games last year I asked how she felt about doing another club this year. She had a think and decided she liked the sound of doing gymnastics. We’re a few weeks in and she seems to enjoy it although I’m not sure if it will continue. Again, I‘m so proud of her for giving it a go. If she does decide it’s not for her anymore then that’s fine with me.

Arts and crafts – the third after school club

This week we received the sheet with next terms activities. In addition to Team Games and Fabtots there was a third option for year one pupils – Arts and Crafts. Once I explained this to iBear she leapt up and down pleading to go to the Art one. iBear has a real creative streak in her so I wasn’t that surprised. What came next did….. “So”, she proclaimed, “I’ll be doing Art on a Tuesday, Rainbows on a Wednesday and Gymnastics on a Thursday……….Can I do Team Games on a Monday too?!” “Woah there” I said. “You want to also keep going with Gymnastics AND start team Games again?!” “YES!”.

We decided in the end to continue with Gymnastics but for now maybe give Team Games a miss.

OneDadsView

I couldn’t believe things had gone full circle and she now actively wanted to participate in things without any prompting from me. I’ve said previously all I want my Daughter to do is try her best and enjoy herself in everything she does. Having now got a routine of Swimming, Rainbows, Gymnastics and Arts to tackle I feel she’s got a fantastic opportunity to develop a whole range of skills. I’m so very proud of her for giving each of these things a go. Regardless of whether she wants to keep going or not I’ll be in her corner all of the way.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I’d love to hear the kind of things your kids like doing.