Good Activities?

K.:
When my daughter was 2 1/2 yr old, we had her in dance/tumbling. The teacher was great and really kept the kids busy. After 2 years the teacher became ill so had to stop teaching. We then put my daughter in gymnastics. At first she enjoyed it but then the teacher changed and my daughter lost interest. I think at the younger ages the kids will like a varity of things but most of all you need to have a great instructor. One that enjoys and has experience working with young children. Good luck and remember to keep it fun for her.

YMCA has tumbling,teeball,soccer,swim lessons etc. I started my daughter in them at age4. Also an only child to have her use to being away from me and listening-following directions etc. so it would help sending her off to kindergarten. At the Y usually the sessions are 6 weeks long so your not pressured or stressed out and burnt out. It's also very reasonably priced and more of a teaching thing than competative.

Our entire family (except the 9 month old)started Karate a little over a year ago and we absolutely love it! My boys are now 7 and 5. I was originally only going to get one of the boys involved but it has been so nice to have the whole family in class together. Just make sure you ask questions about the facility you are looking at. Ours is very family oriented and we can be in class together with the boys. Some places don't allow this. We just wanted a family oriented environment. What does your daughter think. She probably has a little bit of an idea of what she might like to try.
~M.

K., I was wondeing if you have a Gymboree play gym in your area, they have a wonderful semi structured play time, music classes and art classes. These classes are great way for a shy child to intereact with others and aswell as introducing her to music and art. My two oldest were involved with their play gym program and really enjoyd it. They offer week night and saturday classes usually.

If you enroll her in TKD make sure it is a shorter class or has a free trial period. We tried this with my son, who is 4 and a half and he did not have the attention span for it. The class was an hour long and after about 20 minutes he was ready to do something else. Mine is also an only child, but luckily has never been too shy. Some of the activities he enjoys is going to Kids Club...this is what the call the free child care service at the gym I go to. He has a blast there playing with the other kids and I get some free time to get some exercise myself.

Other activities we do are swimming, our gym has a great indoor pool with a fun area for the kids. He will swim with us but sometimes I just sit and watch him play with other children. Note that we have discussed how to make new frieds. Things like going up and saying hi and asking them what their name is and if they want to play. He understands that not everyone will want to play with him but you will never know unless you ask them.

Good luck!

My sister put her 4 y/o in swimming lessons and he LOVES them.

My son played teeball and now that he is a bit older, he's been talking about soccer. So we are going to look into that for him.

For our almost 4 year old daughter, we are considering dance class. She dances and sings all the time at home anyways, might as well let her try a dance class out. :)

Hi K.,

I know how you feel because I went through the same thing when my kids were that age. It seems that all the activities are geared for kids that are at least in elementary school. I found that both of my kids really enjoyed gymnastics at that age and now my daughter has joined dance and she loves it. My son is even considering it now too. We go through Just For Kix dance studio. I have found that it is reasonable for price and for time committment. It is also split into age groups so she will be with kids her own age and skill level. I hope this is helpful to you. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

K.

Great question and one we think of often. We have our daughter (4 in March) in dance right now. In the past I did gymnastics, music, swim - they are all fine but what I found was my daughter got more from just playing with her peers then attending a "class". We too thought of TKD I took it when I was a kid and loved it.

I just posted something about a playgroup - sometimes impromptu play and crafts are just as rewarding socially etc as a structure class. I also have created an art appreciation curriculum that I do with Sophia (my daughter) once a month and was thinking of inviting other kids too. We pick an artist and look at the paintings, talk in basic terms of what we like and do not like etc. then do a craft that is themed around the artist or painting. Sometimes I can find a book to order about the artist or I make up a story about the painting. It takes between 30-45 minutes but we have a ton of fun! Once a month I do a tea party with her and we have fun setting the table, using our manners (making a mess) etc.
Let me know if you ever want to join us. Best of luck!

hi K.!
we have our kids in archery, rollerblading, mountain biking and they ride their dirtbikes. evrything we do(we lead an active lifestyle) we include them we have a 5 and 3 year old. hope this helps!
A.