Extracurricular activities aim to kindle their energy constructively outside their academic curriculum and more importantly, allow them to discover their strengths and inclinations.

1. 8 Kind Of Extracurricular Activities For Kids-
Must Try Them Once
To engage the children in extracurricular activities has become a task, given the
distractions available in the form of "Screens" being an easy option.
Extracurricular activities aim to kindle their energy constructively outside their
academic curriculum and more importantly, allow them to discover their strengths
and inclinations.
It is equally crucial for the parents to help their child deduce his/her interests from
the many options available. It begins by offering them all the options and carefully
shortlisting the activities your child loves more. It is only so long that your children
will choose for themselves.
As dotting parents, you are capable of recognizing the interests of your child. The
pre-biased assumption that a flamboyant child will like physical activities and a shy
or low-key child might prefer calmer activities is faulty.
Each of the eight activities mentioned below is said to support the development of
different physiological and physical characteristics in children.

2. Music and Dance
Parents cannot stop cheering and smiling while watching their children dance or
sing. Tapping their interest in dance/music/instrument is a very notable way to keep
them engaged while learning a skill. The children who sing/play instrument/dance,
are attested to have promptly gained qualities of emotional intelligence and
perseverance. The children from all age groups enjoy the tranquillity effect that
music on everyone!

3. Sports
The spectrum of "Sports" is not limited to stereotypical cricket and badminton only.
Any sporting activity that interests your child is a perfect extracurricular activity to
keep them physically active. As we all are aware of health benefits derived out of
sports in terms of physical health, the catch is to decipher which sport your child
interested in. Exhibit options by way of live sports on television, let them explore
game accessories suiting their age. Experts suggest every child should atleast
participate in one physical sport for developing natural physical strength. Therefore,
the onus of recognizing the prefered sport and motivating the children lies with
their parents.

4. Brainstorming Activities
The schooling module is about learning, however, it has the limitations of
core-curriculum. Many children may have a curiosity for various quizzes, maths
tests, olympiads. It improves their problem-solving skills and academic performance
while imbibing leadership qualities. These activities need not be related to study
subjects only, such as Sudoko, Number games, Rubik's cube, Coding classes (to
know more about coding classes click - Learning), online contests, general
knowledge quizzes etc.

5. Art and Craft
Although arts and craft are considered soft activities, they have a deep-rooted
impression on children. An ocean of activities such as drawing, clay craft, pottery,
painting & sketching and many such other activities play a very powerful role in
shaping one's personality. The recently trending activity of abstract colour pouring
painting has broken records of popularity. The concept of arts activities is
therapeutic and aids in developing sensory intelligence. Let your children choose
their form of arts and give wings to their creativity. The inclination for arts and craft
went soaring high during the pandemic lockdown when people enjoyed these
activities at home to keep away from stress.

6. Language and Improvisation
Apart from school subjects, language improvisation is also a great activity for
developing communication and social skills. As the children's brain is still
developing, it is easier for them to grasp a new dialect. Introducing them to a
foreign language at an early age is an excellent opportunity for adding a
skill-enhancing activity to their post-school horizon. Being multi-lingual augments
the personality to be more adaptable and open to innovation and prepares for
extensive prospects for wider future opportunities in life! Letter writing, debate
competitions, language quizzes are some of the language-based activities.

7. Hobbies
Hobbies are the interest-generated activities that a person is naturally inclined to.
We are discussing Hobbies as a separate extracurricular activity because it is easier
to get them started with, especially in the case of teenagers. Parents don't need to
specially motivate or urge them to take it up! Atypical activities such as Cooking,
lego structures, Philately, Notaphily, Nature studies, Reading books, have more
impacting because the child is self-motivated with the fascination for the hobby.
Promoting to take up hobbies develops a sense of discipline and confidence in the
children as they feel they are doing something they want to, not something
suggested or offered by adults. It is usually observed that children and teenagers
choose Chess, Reading, sewing and other non-stereotypical hobbies that calms and
relaxes them.

8. Science clubs
The children who prefer to ask how and why behind every process are usually
interested in science and experimenting. Involvement in various science clubs that
take along the journey of how and why logic helps to quench the inquisitiveness of
children with sound reasons. The structured pathway to learning the universe of
science keeps the children interested while rendering benefits like developing
logical thinking along, intellectual reasoning skills, awareness of surroundings and
alertness. Various clubs are available in live and online versions where the children
can learn by relating the experiments with outcomes.

9. NCC/ Scouting
National Cadet Corps must be the primary choice for extracurricular activities. All
children above 13 years of age can enrol for NCC. Life skills, from all spheres of life,
are taught to the cadets by participating in real-like life situations. Team
management, compassion, physical strength, survival techniques all of such
practical approach concerns are addressed and taught here. It means an all-round
development of your child and making them ready for the real world in future.
As both urban or rural students are exposed to a relatively inactive and sedentary
lifestyle, including extracurricular activities is more important than ever. For the
positively progressive and constructive development of the children, it is parallelly
crucial that the children and teenagers are prompted for extracurricular activities
with reasoning and their choice. They should be able to select what interests them.
Forcing activities as compulsion will impact negatively rather than benefitting their
psychological growth. Keeping their brains active, augmenting overall development
without burdening them is the essence of these activities.
We encourage the parents to support their children in having preferences for
activities.

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