What extra-curricular activities do your children participate in? (teenage, autism, weight)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Growing up, I did dance (jazz, tap, ballet, and African), musical theatre, and marching band. I wish I continued dancing, but I stopped around age 10. My brother did karate, basketball, and football.
I have four girls. They all played soccer for many years and basketball and swimming. They sort of liked those. But, what they are really into is all star cheer. It's an obsession. My oldest, 14 a freshman is on HS varsity cheer. My next two are on competitive teams. If they aren't at cheer practice, they're stunting with friends on the front lawn. If not that, they're watching cheer on Youtube.
older kids both did scouting with boy earning Eagle at 14. They both took piano and were active in music and band. DD was Drum Major.
These kids we decided not to over schedule them. they walk 2 miles every day each way to school and I don't want to whisk them away to some physical activity after walking home from school. Also daddy is only home on the weekends and I wanted my girls home then too and not running around doing team things.
They have tried jump roping and swimming and ballet. Right now it is piano and violin and formal cooking lesson from me every weekend. We are waiting to hear about a girl scout troop they might join. One is in chorus after school. the other one is in 6th grade and quite frankly her homework taskes up most of her time away from school. it's a heavy load.
From about age 3 or 4 we introduced our kids to a variety of activities. DD tried basketball, gymnastics, and softball at various times. She was a girl scout for about 5 years or so. She played soccer for 4-5 years in grade school. She took dance lessons (ballet and later added jazz and tap). She danced for 10 years or so. She played a stringed instrument at school. She also started swim lessons at about age 3. In high school she did track for fun. Dance, swimming and her school orchestra became her main extracurriculars. In high school she had to choose between the varsity swim team and dance. She choose swimming. She still swims and runs. She's added biking to her exercise routine and recently completed her first triathlon. She will run a half-marathon in a few weeks. I'm thrilled that physical activity is a part of her life.
DS tried baseball, cub scouts, basketball and soccer. He also began swimming at about age 3. (Knowing how to swim was/is a life skill in my opinion.) Soccer and basketball were his main interests through middle school. At some point he began playing an instrument-it was kind of required he take band, choir or orchestra by his middle school. He dropped that in high school. He also began running. In high school he ran track and swam on the high school team. He also was the editor of his school paper for two years. Unfortunately he doesn't make exercise a part of his life as much as his sister. He's also a very trim young man though that has a difficult time gaining weight. (We have no idea where that gene came from!) He did some weight lifting this summer and some running, but he doesn't love it. In college he plays intramural basketball and flag football for fun.
Frankly, I exhausted reading this. How the heck did we do this stuff?
My 7 year old is currently doing karate and horseback riding. I hope she wants to stick with both. Before that she did 2 years of ballet and a season of soccer. My 2 year old doesn't do anything extra.
My oldest is 19. He tried basketball, soccer, swimming, and roller hockey (not all at the same time) when he was little but never continued with these. He started football and lacrosse when he was around 7 and played both until he graduated from high school. He started wrestling around 11 and wrestled until he graduated from high school. He currently plays football at a division 3 school. He started weightlifting in HS and still lifts weights.
My middle son (17) started lacrosse and roller hockey when he was around 6. He is a senior in HS and still plays lacrosse. He started piano lessons around age 7 and still plays piano. He started marching band in 7th grade and is still in marching band. He also does jazz band and plays in the pit orchestra for the school musical in the fall. He skips the spring musical because of lacrosse. He takes drum lessons.
My youngest started football and lacrosse around age and he still plays both (he's 14). He started wrestling around 11 and still wrestles. He likes to lift weights but he just started that this past summer with the JV football team.
My granddaughter, 11, does horseback riding and girl scouts. She is in band, but just started so it's not extracurricular at this point. Her brother is 9 and autistic and really does not have any activities out of school. He does play with his sister and with friends in the neighborhood which gives him more socialization than activities would. He was pretty nonverbal before this year so it would have been difficult to find regular activities. When he was younger, his mom did the Little Gym with him and he also has social skills parties once a month.
My 7yo is in Tae Kwon Do and she also has piano lessons. My 4yo is just in Tae Kwon Do. [My husband and I are also in the TKD class, so it is a family activity]
My granddaughter, 11, does horseback riding and girl scouts. She is in band, but just started so it's not extracurricular at this point. Her brother is 9 and autistic and really does not have any activities out of school. He does play with his sister and with friends in the neighborhood which gives him more socialization than activities would. He was pretty nonverbal before this year so it would have been difficult to find regular activities. When he was younger, his mom did the Little Gym with him and he also has social skills parties once a month.
I do hope at some point your grandson can participate in more activities. I've watched kids on the autism spectrum participate in special activities and activities with non-disabled children. Some of my best memories are watching these kids.
Since your GD does horseback riding, I'm wondering if there is any type of equine therapy in your area? My nephew had a multitude of disabilities and participated in equine therapy at about age 4-5. He LOVED it and could not wait to see "his" horse--Sugar. He was pretty non-verbal at that time. The horses were donated and then specially trained. He did not say a lot then, but he learned to tell his horse to "go." He was so proud of his trophy after the special show at the end of the season. He insisted on sleeping with it for months. I also watched a teenage boy, on the autistic spectrum, participate on the middle and high school swim teams. He was pretty verbal though. It was awesome to watch him. When he won his first race ever, the entire crowd and the whole team cheered soooooo loud for him. His mother was in tears. The team really embraced him.
I do hope at some point your grandson can participate in more activities. I've watched kids on the autism spectrum participate in special activities and activities with non-disabled children. Some of my best memories are watching these kids.
Since your GD does horseback riding, I'm wondering if there is any type of equine therapy in your area? My nephew had a multitude of disabilities and participated in equine therapy at about age 4-5. He LOVED it and could not wait to see "his" horse--Sugar. He was pretty non-verbal at that time. The horses were donated and then specially trained. He did not say a lot then, but he learned to tell his horse to "go." He was so proud of his trophy after the special show at the end of the season. He insisted on sleeping with it for months. I also watched a teenage boy, on the autistic spectrum, participate on the middle and high school swim teams. He was pretty verbal though. It was awesome to watch him. When he won his first race ever, the entire crowd and the whole team cheered soooooo loud for him. His mother was in tears. The team really embraced him.
He has been in horseback riding in the past, but refused to hold the reins and listen. It was not therapy based, but therapy based riding is expensive. He may go back to the riding lessons with his sister eventually now that he has become more verbal. He astounds me sometimes - this child was talking very little last year, but today we had an entire conversation about his *pretend cat.* I would like to see his mom get him into a martial art, but I don't know if she will attempt it. He is still very rigid about what he *will* do and what he *won't* do. He does things at his own pace and that is ok with us.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
