The Benefits of Extra-Curricular Activities for Children

Schools host extracurricular activities after, during and before school to enrich the learning of pupils and help them to develop holistically. While it means that they will spend longer at school, there are a multitude of benefits that come with participating in extracurricular activities. They can be fun and help children in learning more about themselves and who they are. Subjects don’t really facilitate this as children have set learning objectives and outcomes to meet. If you’d like to learn a little more about the benefits of extra-curricular activities for children, we have a full list below that was put together by a private school in Buckinghamshire.

An Opportunity to Make Friends

The thing about school is that it provides a constant for children. A regular routine and stability which is what they get from seeing the same faces every day. However, there comes a point where children want to explore and make new friends. Even if they don’t yet, being exposed to social situations where they have the opportunity to meet new people can help them in building social skills. Extracurricular activities cater to this perfectly as they involve children of all ages and abilities. They can meet children other than the ones in their class and make friends.

Exploring Hobbies and Interests

We all have a calling. Extracurricular activities give children the opportunity to find theirs as they have the chance to work their way through different hobbies and interests and find what excites them. Schools have a diverse range of them to explore, from drama to football so they will be bound to find something. Even if they don’t, they will have learned more about themselves through the process. They can identify their strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Later down the line when they explore careers, this can help them to find what’s right for them.

Developing New Skills and Transferable Skills

There are a range of skills that children can develop from taking part in extracurricular activities. They can also work on those that are transferable like problem solving, creativity and time management which they will need to juggle their busier schedules. This can help to make school a more enriching experience and provide them with essential life skills for the future.

A Competitive Edge

Another benefit is that they can stand out from the crowd when applying for jobs, colleges, and university if that’s what they choose to do. For those that don’t have a lot of work experience, having hobbies and being involved in extracurricular activities on a CV can be a saving grace. It can give them the person reviewing their application something to work with as it demonstrates their skills, motivations, interests, and determination. For some applications they are a given, like those for competitive colleges. It wouldn’t be uncommon for applicants to have a depth of extracurricular work so it is vital for children to get involved where they can.

Greater Achievement

As a result of all of those mentioned above, children can achieve greater success at school. Skills like time management are an obvious plus as they will help them in managing their priorities. Having an activity that they also enjoy at school, like football gives children something to look forward to and reason to want to go to school. As a result, they will take less time off and perform better.

These are just some of the apparent benefits. There are of course many more and while it is the case that children can greatly benefit from taking them up, it’s important to be sure that your child enjoys them. Forcing them into anything will only go one way.