Around 35% of children in the UK go to after-school clubs. Why? After-school clubs encourage healthy lifestyles and give children an opportunity to play and socialise in a safe environment. Whether you need childcare or you’re just looking for post-school activities for your children. After-school clubs are what you’re looking for!
Different from other activities clubs, after-school clubs are often connected to your school. Most parents first thought is the expense and assume it’s just for wealthy families. But, all children can benefit from active childcare and less time spent in front of screens!
Here are the three benefits of getting your children into a local after-school club…
1. Boost Performance & Skills
After-school clubs are a great option for providing kids with lots of activities. When school ends, they have a range of traditional sports, active travel, and arts and crafts to choose from. Anything that could take their fancy! Since it’s less rigid than school, there are a few more opportunities for them to have a little natter!
Building those links with other children can mean, meeting children from other classes or year groups. They socialise and learn the value of those relationships for team building and morale through taking part or practising team sports. Memorable experiences like these can be what drives them as adults. And what’s better than making new friends at a time when everything is new?
Physical activity has wide-ranging benefits for their academic skills too. Kids who are active on a regular basis are more likely to have better study habits. Exercising bodies means strengthening their minds!
2. Promote Healthy Hobbies
9 am – 3 pm may seem like a long time to a kid but it’s nothing when it comes to all the things they could be learning. Our after schools broaden what they could learn at school. We give them a chance to learn, practice, and excel in activities that their school time simply couldn’t accommodate.
Going regularly will grow their talent, help them explore their abilities, and develop confidence. These build competencies that will support them as children, as young adults, and eventually in work. Outside of a classroom setting, they can learn leadership, versatility, and purposeful interaction. All values that will make them successful adults and happier children.
Look we know as well as anyone, that the future is digital. So of course, it’s important that children can safely access digital devices, from the smartphone to the TV. It should not, however, be their whole lives! Having healthy active hobbies is key to reducing preventable conditions related to obesity.
3. Healthy Active Childcare
It’s not just about the present. It’s what we can do to help them in the future and how we can change the negative impacts of the past. Physical activity can shape the person and the future they may have. Not just in their bodies but in their mental health too.
Kids need their time being active as much as they need time to unwind. After school clubs can reduce a child’s time spent at home, when they could often be left to their own devices, developing unhealthy habits. From eating sugary snack foods to spending their time gaming or on social media, after school clubs give them a place to unwind alongside healthy habits.
Forge lifelong character traits such as discipline, time management, and teamwork in something as simple as football after school or even a cycle skills course. The younger we teach them, the more likely they are to keep those lessons close to heart. Best of all, they can enjoy themselves, which is really what after-school clubs are all about!
