Hellobee

Great post! Really depends on the child. While my 3 year old has loved daycare and started preschool before 3 (she has late birthday) and loves it, she hasn’t seem to keen on doing any other classes on her own. I am tempted to sign her up for soccer this spring since I can be on the field close by, but she hasn’t seen too enthusiastic. She also does not want to take swim lessons without me in the water. So I think besides the cheap community soccer program, we are probably tabling anything else till next year.

I agree 3 is a good general guideline. We did music together when my oldest was a baby-toddler and I liked it but now it’s too expensive for us, and looking back it was probably more for me than her. She started ballet at 3.5 and liked it and we still do that. We’ve held off on pretty much everything else because she needs down time but are likely starting piano at 6.5. She first did group swim last summer at 5.5 and I don’t regret waiting – she was finally ready and it clicked. I think my second will start gymnastics at 3.5 in the fall, we tried earlier and stopped after the trial class! I do think some kids do better with more activities than others, so I’m trying to go with my individual kids vs what everyone else is doing but it’s hard to feel you’re not keeping up sometimes.

Good idea for a post! We did Music Together (like Kindermusik) when he was 1 and it was a disaster; we quit halfway through. Haha. I just think he was too young and curious to sit and listen and follow instructions. Then we did gymnastics at 1.5 and he LOVED it. It was a very casual class on Saturday mornings last summer. Now he is a little over 2 and we are in Toddler Dance and he squeals with delight when it’s time to leave for class! Next up: swim lessons this summer. So not helpful, but I really think it depends on the kid’s personality and what the activity expects of him or her!

My kids are in full day day care so I’m sensitive to not wanting them to be too scheduled other than that. I like that the weekends are family time. That being said, we have DS1 in weekly swim lessons that he adores. I would like to keep it to one activity at a time for now while they’re little (my oldest is 5) but know that will change as they get older.

Thank you! DS is 17 months, and I’m trying to plan for the fall when he’ll start preschool 2 days/week. He does nothing right now as the scheduling in our area has been very difficult with his naps and our work schedules (I work full time, grandma watches him, DH coaches every weekend spring and summer). I hope to identify some weekend drop-in classes this summer that might work. Really good to hear general ages for the different types of activity!

Very interesting! I definitely think it’s child-dependent, though your starting ages sounded about right to me. The only things my kids (3 and 1) have done are Music Together (MT) and parent-child swim classes. I don’t think it’s worth the cost for MT before one year of age, but my 3-year-old is OBSESSED with music after being in MT for two years. His interest in music and in the sheet music, even, is remarkable. It’s expensive, but I’ve cajoled the grandparents into helping fund them. I’ve also noticed that my babies had gross motor skill explosions when I started them in swim class. It could have been a coincidence, but I noticed it both times!

Thank you for this list! I always forget about martial arts because it is so foreign to me, but I think my 4 y/o would really enjoy it.

Very helpful post! I agree it depends on the kid but these are great general guidelines. DS is 2.5 and we just finished a weekly music class. He took a few weeks before he started participating but he loves to sing the songs and do the activities at home. We are taking a break but may sign up again next fall since it is a good indoor activity.

Only other thing we have done is parent tot swim when he was about 6 months old which was fun and a good introduction to the water. He is in aquatic therapy now but will wait until he is older for group/individual swim lessons.

I started my kid at 3 in gymnastics and while she had fun, there was more running around and less paying attention. Can’t believe I spent money for that. Tried again at 4 and also did ballet and she did great. We’ll be trying soccer this spring.

As a former piano teacher, I’d start later, like grade 1. When kids start at 4, it’s HARD for them to get through a 30 min lesson. Also, while they can learn songs, it’s all memorization. I don’t feel they are learning that much. I think that the group music lessons are great for a younger age though. It lays a great foundation.

Thank you for this post! My 3.5 year old has been in daycare/preschool and I am now looking at adding an activity outside of that for him. If swim lessons do not work out, I have been thinking about martial arts – happy to see your little guy likes it. I loved playing soccer as a kid but I don’t see it being a good fit for my 3.5 year old yet – maybe when he is older.

Great post! My oldest turned 3 in January and I enrolled him in spring T-ball. Then when we tried to play at home before the season started I realized he wasn’t ready it and switched him to soccer. But I’ve been googling when the best time to start ——- so this post couldn’t have come at a better time!

Wow, you’ve tried a bunch! Same here for individual swim lessons – tried at 3, was slow going, but they quickly caught on at 4. In hindsight I would’ve saved my money and started them at 4.

Team sports (like soccer) – earliest age we started (5) – we chose T-Ball!
Individual sports (like tennis) – N/A, but my tennis coach friend recommends 6+.
Martial arts (like taekwondo) – N/A
Music class (like Kindermusik) – N/A
Music lessons (like violin or piano) – earliest age we started (6.5);
Parent-child swim lessons – N/A
Individual or group swim lessons – earliest age we started (3);
Preschool – earliest age we started (2);
Other organized classes (like religious education, art, drama, yoga, tumbling, dance) – earliest age we started (4);

@Mrs. High Heels: YES haha we’ve probably tried too many. Part of that is simply my personality & where we live – I loved activities growing up and am always thinking about the next thing, plus we live in a place where activities are relatively affordable. Our kids also don’t go to daycare but we work full-time, so we’ve used “activities” to get that socialization they would otherwise have at school or with us during the week at playdates, trips to the park, etc. I really like your advice – it’s been probably what I should have done and will do with my 2nd and 3rd sons!

@Mrs. Ice Cream: Strangely my oldest son liked soccer as a 2 year old but it was a parent-child class, and basically it meant we ran around outside together for an hour. After that he was not a fan, and we actually just walked out of class one day when he was 3 & didn’t come back. I’ll probably try again in kindergarten as both my husband & I played soccer competitively all the way through high school. I am hopeful he will maybe enjoy t-ball as an almost 5 year old but who knows!

@autumnleaves: My son is 4 1/2 and he LOVES tae kwon do. It has been the best activity for him. He gets to learn some tough life lessons (respect, hierarchy, speaking in Korean ha, even obedience) in a fun environment, and he’s very very proud of his uniform and stripes.

@Grace: You hit on one of the other big issues with kid activities – are they worth the money and the time???? My boys loved Kindermusik, but it was like $15/class per child, and that adds up quick. On the other hand, we enrolled them in a silly little tumbling class at the Y that was pretty cheap, but honestly felt like a waste of time. And thanks so much for the tips about piano lessons. My son actually liked violin a lot and did surprisingly well with it, but I think it exhausted him so he was always kind of dreading the next lesson (even though once he was there he had fun). I think 6 is a much better age to start in retrospect.

@Bluemasonjar: My boys also loved their weekly music class. They made friends, learned a lot, and had an overall very positive experience – if only ours wasn’t so expensive sigh. I love parent-child swim classes when they’re that age – I am about to sign up my 8 month old for a class! It’s a fun way to bond with them and I learned a lot about water safety actually.

@Becky: You should definitely try it! We’re lucky because our Y offers a class that’s run by an actual martial arts academy yet is still very affordable. I think it’s like $30 for 11 classes, so it was pretty risk free (financially) for us to try. But we’ve enjoyed them so much I would have paid a lot more.

@Mommy Finger: That makes so much sense. My kids are not in daycare but my older son now goes to Pre K 5 mornings/week and I have felt that same strain. I also have to be really conscientious not to overschedule “unorganized” activities like play dates, birthday parties, zoo trips, etc. – my kids love getting out and about but 1 activity per weekend is usually the right balance for us. And once my kids start school, I want to avoid jamming their downtime with activities so we’ll probably stick to that 1 activity per child ratio as much as we can.

@snowjewelz: My oldest son was VERY similar. He has a late birthday as well and also started preschool before he turned 3 (he had actually just turned 2!) He actually seemed more independent at 2 than at 3 in many ways! But once he turned 4, he did seem to turn a corner and be interested and able to participate in activities on his own. Now if I could only convince him he could also fall asleep on his own ;).

@bhbee: I think your approach sounds very thoughtful (much more so than mine ha!) My kids have enjoyed some activities but they definitely need downtime (and meltdown time unfortunately).

@Mrs. Peas: Interesting! Thanks for sharing that! I was debating to just sign her up for soccer anyway, but now I think I’ll wait for her to tell me she’s ready/interested! I mean, she isn’t even potty trained

@Mrs. Peas: That’s great you have affordable activities, and I would’ve done the same and redirected that money to activities if I didn’t send my kids to daycare/preschool! We have flexible enough schedules that they don’t have to go to afterschool care for elementary, so we use that time/money for activities instead!

We made a decision to limit ourselves to one activity at a time, and kiddo has been in something through our rec center system since about 6 months. We did swim lessons, music, gymnastics, soccer, swim again, ballet, ice skating, and now she’s doing swim again. As she’s gotten older, I’ve asked her what she wants to do and she got to pick an activity from a list of choices. Some things definitely felt on the mark, and others she was obviously too young for (see soccer class where she was more interested in going up and down the stairs of the field than in actual soccer).

These are great guidelines. DS is just 5 and we’ve only done a couple activities Since he is in daycare and we both work we have stuck to one activity at a time so that we can have family time on the weekends too. Daycare does lots of fun stuff and in the summers they go on lots of field trips.

At 2.5 we did gymnastics, it was parent and tot and he loved it. The next fall at 3.5 we did gymnastics again, this time it was the preschool class and he didn’t like it so much having to go on his own. This fall at 4.5 he started in a 5 pin bowling league. He loves this and can’t wait to go each week. I’m sure we will do bowling again next fall.

we haven’t done a lot of activities. my daughter does part time preschool (8:30-3:30 2 days a week at age 3, 3 days a week at age 4). For us, and for her, thats enough. I prefer unstructured play/time at home. I also am (probably excessively so) very cautious about projecting any ideas about who or what she should be onto her.
We did one round of swimming lessons last year when she was just 4. It went well, but we haven’t done it again because she isn’t ready to progress so we are just working on increasing her comfort in the water.
We did a round of ski lessons (4 lessons) this year and it went very well. She is not a risk taker, but she enjoyed having special time with her dad and was able to go independently by the end of her lessons.

We are keeping her home for kindergarten in the fall, and she will probably go to the public school for art. She has talked a lot about wanting to try a dance or gymnastics class, and I think we will do that for her in the fall.

when our kids are older (6+) we will probably only allow one activity at a time (plus a music lesson, I suppose). I really don’t want to overbook them, and want to ensure that throughout their elementary years they have a lot of unstructured time.

we did do parent/child waldorf classes when she was young, and hope to resume them with my son in the fall when he is 2. They are very gentle mornings of free play, a walk outside, snack time together, and chores together. definitely more for me than my kids but I love them.

Thanks for posting this! My son will be three in June so I’ve been thinking more about activities. I think this summer I’m going to try a music class where I can also bring DS2 (he’ll be 5 months) and also a gymnastics class. DS1 is timid when it comes to physical activities so I’m hoping gymnastics will boost his confidence a bit.

We’ve done lots of activities with DD1 (3yo), and have found a good balance in exploring 2 activities at a time. We tried music classes like Kindermusic, but they were way too much money for what we were getting back. Swim lessons have been a favorite (we’ve done mommy and me so far, and she’s excited to do group lessons this summer). Mommy and me soccer was a big hit too, and she’s been asking to do it again this summer.

So right now we have preschool 2x a week, and we are going to be adding dance (first time, so excited!!!). Then, after preschool ends in June, we will do dance and a preschool age art class. Dance takes a break in the summer, so we will do soccer and swim. When school starts again in the fall we will go back to dance if she wants, or try gymnastics.

I’m also excited for things like martial arts and music lessons, but she’s a little too young for those yet.

As for how we choose what to do, we have had really good luck with class offerings from our local parks and rec department. We get the rec guide I’m the mail and I look through it with DD1, she chooses what she wants to try.

We did parent and me swim lessons last summer which were great. Although in some ways at 2.5 years she was a little old for it. We did tball a couple months before turning 3. She had fun and still talks about it, but she spent most of the time running circles in the outfield. Today, a couple of months after turning 3, we had a first day of soccer, which went way better than i expected it too! I’m kind of excited now to watch her the rest of the season.

We started my daughter in parent-child gymnastics right at age 2, and she has loved it. She’s currently on her second semester of classes. I started her classes because my husband works 12 hour shifts every other weekend, and it gives us something to do on our long days alone. I like having something that makes us get out of the house in the morning, and she loves having an outlet for all her running and jumping energy. She’s learning real gymnastics skills too. At just over 2.5, she can walk a balance beam by herself, somersault, hang from the bar, support herself up on the bar and flip over the bar with support from an adult, and she’s just about able to do a full split. We’re already thinking of enrolling her in the independent (no parents) class this summer.

I do wonder about getting her in an activity this early. She’s in daycare full time during the week, so I don’t want to have too many activities going on at the same time. But if we stay committed to gymnastics, that doesn’t giver her much of an opportunity to try out dance or other sports, since gymnastics can be year round. I think we’ll just try to follow her lead as she gets older. Most other activities didn’t offer any programs until at least 3 years old.

We also go to church on Sundays for religious education, but also it’s nice to have somewhere to go each weekend day since we have long stretches at home just the 2 of us. It took a while for us to find the right church that had classes she enjoys, but now she asks to go to church (and gymnastics too) and counts down the days until she can go. It makes weekends a lot more fun.

Great topic! Our daughter did a soccer camp (2 hours, 4 days) at 4.

At 5 we started her in gymnastics which is on a weeknight.

On weekends, we just started lacrosse, which takes a lot of eye-hand coordination and her group is called “lil scoops”. They don’t actually have games but they’re learning the game and how to do things like…hold a stick properly.

When lacrosse ends, swim team starts up. 5, turning 6 will be her age for starting swim team. I think it will work well. Otherwise, I’m happy with the various times we have started her in things! It was really just incredibly difficult to do sports after work when we had 2 working parents and daycare to pay for. Now it is a lot easier with one parent having more flexibility aaaaaand…no more daycare!