Focus on the benefits of after-school activities
Is an activity necessary? We list the many benefits of extracurricular activities, proven and approved, so don’t hesitate!
An essential role
Anxiety related to fear of academic failure has been linked to participation in extracurricular activities; children and adolescents who are deprived of such activities are nearly four times more likely to experience this anxiety.
These activities contribute to improving the relationship with oneself, with others, and therefore with school.
It’s been proven. Extracurricular activities play an essential role in personal development, self-confidence and the development of psychomotor skills and imagination.
Want to know all about the benefits and talk about it with your kids?
We made an eBOOK to download for free!
In a nutshell
- Building skills other than purely academic ones
- Sense of recognition and appreciation of effort
- Learning to respect rules and peers
- The development of team spirit and the pleasure of learning
The 10 benefits of extracurricular activities
- PLEASURE Spend a playful and relaxing moment, have fun, enjoy yourself while releasing the pressure, far from the constraints of school
- ENERGY Exercise, develop your physical capacities, get to know your body better, limit the risks of being overweight, channel your energy and express yourself
- SOCIAL Promote sociability by meeting new people, discovering one’s personal and social identity in relation to others
- CONFIDENCE To blossom in an activity in which one feels good, to be part of a place where one can listen and share, to gain confidence in one’s abilities, to develop a sense of belonging
- DISCIPLINE Learning new skills, respecting rules outside the home and school environment, being fair to allies and opponents alike
- PHYSICAL Develop psychomotor skills and dexterity, coordinate movements, build body and brain power
- CREATIVITY Increase your creativity and imagination, free your creative sense, develop your mind by adapting to new situations
- AUTONOMY Growing up by developing one’s autonomy, feeling good and confident without parents
- RELAXATION Clear your head, improve your sleep, get away from screens
- FAMILY Spend time with your family, discover and encourage each other, make memories
Pitfalls to avoid
Extracurricular activities have many benefits if they are carried out with pleasure, desire, benevolence and without excess!
- Don’t push a child into an activity that doesn’t appeal to them, for example, because you haven’t had the chance to do it yourself.
- Do not demand results as in school, competition is only beneficial if it is desired by the child himself.
OK, but which activity(ies)?
Sporting, artistic or cultural activity? There is no one better than the other, each child’s profile will find the one that suits him best according to his desires and character. Each major family of activities has significant benefits. Besides, why not combine ?!
The benefits of sport
Psychologists agree. At the psychological level, whatever the sport, children feel better about themselves by exercising regularly and for some it is a way to value themselves.
‘In life you have to know how to read, write, count…and swim!’ Fabien Gilot, Olympic swimming champion in 2012
Some of the benefits of swimming
- Learning to swim is a lifelong skill and allows access to many other sports: synchronized swimming, water polo…
- Starting to swim at a young age helps to avoid the fear of water and to limit the risk of drowning, which can be fatal. Being safe in and around water is essential!
Swimming lessons as an extracurricular activity? I say yes!
How about a nice free eBook to review the benefits of after-school activities?
Yes also!
How about taking advantage of the many benefits of swimming?
Sources : Unicef, Nouvel Obs, Actu.fr, Epopia
