With the return to school, extracurricular activities also return. Sports, languages, music, painting ... In recent years the offer has multiplied, either because of work needs or because our children demand it, it is time to prepare the pocket to meet a new expense.
How much money we spend per child in extracurricular activities, and which are the most demanded? We tell you what the results have been after the completion of a study carried out among 500 Spanish families with children between the ages of two and eight.
We spend between 50 and 100 euros per month per child and extracurricular
Material, books, clothes, dining room, school transport ... The expenses involved in going back to school represent an important financial outlay for many families, who must face a month full of expenses.
With the beginning of school, extra-school activities for many children also begin, and according to a study conducted by Lingokids, an average family spends between 50 and 100 euros per month per child and extracurricular activity throughout the academic year.
But this amount varies upwards by 30 percent of the respondents, and that is that everything depends on the number of children you have, as well as the number of extra-school children to do for the child, since for various reasons, sometimes only one Activity is not enough.
The most demanded activities
As we said at the beginning, The offer of extracurricular activities is increasingly wide and interesting for the children The proposals of the schools at the end of the school schedule, as well as of the cultural centers and gyms are very wide, and it is difficult for parents to decide which may be the best activity for them.
According to the survey, 97.4% of parents consider it essential the reinforcement or learning of a second language After school hours, and of them, 67.8% decide to enroll their children in foreign language extracurriculars.
As for the families that decide to opt for sports activities, the ranking is headed by football (46%) and swimming (45.4%), and at a greater distance are basketball (17.8%), martial arts ( 17.40%), dance (11.8%) and tennis (11.6%).
And with respect to cultural extracurricular preferred, music classes (24%) and painting classes (13.2%) are the most demanded.
But it is important that, within the possibilities that exist (age of the child, organization of family schedules, distances ...) we always ask our son for his preferences, listen to his reasons and try to please him. Because extracurricular activities, in addition to providing physical or intellectual benefits, should make you happy.
The importance of free time
Reconcile work and family life It is very complicated, so when the course begins, many parents end up using extracurricular activities to organize the afternoons and combine their schedules with those of their children.
On the other hand, there are also many children who demand activity after school, and who find in the extracurriculars that exclusive time to practice what they like best.
The truth is that extracurriculars can be very beneficial for children if they are adequately raised and in their proper measure, always taking into account their needs.We must not forget that after the long school day many children bring homework to do at home, so overload their agenda with extracurriculars it could have negative consequences such as stress or anxiety, leaving them also little time to play with other children or enjoy with family.
Therefore, experts recommend value very well the free time that children have left daily, and depending on that choose with him the best extracurricular activities to be carried out, trying to find the balance between intellectual and physical activity.
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