**This post is sponsored by Goldfish Swim School, though all opinions are my own.
Choosing the right activities for your kids is tough. On one hand, they may want to try every new sport and activity they see. On the other hand, they may not be interested in any activities. Both ways are tough. It’s also tough to determine how many activities to choose.
And, as parents, we like to keep our kids busy and active by learning new things. Hopefully they’ll find a hobby or passion they love. Sports and activities help our children with communication, sharing, team work, expressing themselves, confidence and so much more. But how much is too much?
How Many Activities is Right?
Overscheduling your child can lead to stress, anxiety and burnout, not to mention it can drain your family budget and precious down-time together. That being said, each child and family dynamic is different. I recently saw a quote that said ‘children do not say that they’re anxious, they say their stomach hurts.’
Our daughter was saying her stomach hurt in the mornings every day before Daddy went to work. For weeks we tried omitting foods like milk, yogurt and eggs, trying to figure out if she had sensitivity to these foods. Her tummy troubles had nothing to do with her diet but that she hated when our family wasn’t all together.
Listen to the ques. If your child is more cranky than normal. If they’re super quiet or super needy. Maybe they flat out tell you they don’t like a certain activity. Listen to the ques. We want to instill tenacity in them but at the same time we don’t want to burn them out.
What We Do
For our family, because our daughter is 5, we say she can do one activity at a time. If she’s in dance class she can’t also be in ninja class. We have one exception to this rule and that is swimming lessons. Without this rule, our daughter (and I) would feel resentment toward the activities because of all the time required.
We don’t see swimming lessons as a sport or activity but rather a ‘life saving lesson’. Her Goldfish Swim School lessons are only 30 minutes and they’re focused lessons on her specific skill. There is a 1:3 ratio in her class so she gets a lot of attention and feedback on what she needs to improve. Because of how their ribbon rewards system and their small coach to swimmer ratio she’s motivated and confident for each swim lesson.
What Activities Are Right?
Again, this question has many factors. How old is the child, what are you trying to instill in them through this activity and what are they hoping to gain from the experience? If they want to do X activity because Jimmy is doing it, that may or may not be the right activity for your child. Growing up, my sister loved gymnastics. All of her friends were in gymnastics and she loved going. Unfortunately, her body just didn’t bend like a gymnast. It was painful on her body and my parents decided to have her try a new sport. At the time, it was really hard for my sister but the sport she chose to replace gymnastics ended up being her passion through high school. She now coaches her daughter’s soccer team because she loves the sport.
Keep in mind that just because you or your child’s siblings played a sport does not mean it’s the best for your other children. Explore your options. A good way to explore options is through summer camps or Sports Legends Experience at the Children’s Museum. They’re able to try lots of different activities to figure out what interests them.
Summer camp is the only time of year that we do a few different activities at once. This summer Sophia and Lilly will continue with their swim lessons but Sophia will also be doing several different camps from cooking to art to nature. This will give us time for her to explore what she likes most without having the time commitment of school.
Let me know how you decide what activities and how many activities your children are in. What kind of signs have you seen in them that they’re either doing too much or not enough?
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