Before and after school care activity ideas: 101 after-school activities for kids

101 after-school activities for kids

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Whether the kids are looking to chill out or burn energy, there’s an after-school activity here for everyone.

After-school activities do wonders for a child’s development. They’re linked to improving social skills, grades, overall coordination, sense of self and relationships with adults other than their parents. Activities of all kinds can also give kids a chance to be themselves, free of the structure they face at school.

Need a little inspiration when it comes to after-school activities? Here are 101 things to do after school. The kids will thank you! 

Get crafty

1. Make school-themed crafts, like a pipe cleaner notebook or a pencil vase.
2. Design and make friendship bracelets.

43. Whip up some homemade ice cream.
44. Pick a “food of the week.” Incorporate that food into at least one meal every day. Make it a healthy option. Use this as an opportunity to expand a child’s palette and find new recipes for the family.
45. Bake cookie bowls, and then serve ice cream in them while they’re warm.

46. Make dinner together. Teach kids about measuring ingredients and choosing foods that go together to make a meal. It’s like a science lesson!

Explore and exercise

47. Hike and explore nearby trails.
48. Practice amateur photography. Kick it old-school and equip a budding photographer with a disposable camera and an “assignment” for the afternoon. The excitement continues when you get the roll developed and see what they came up with. (Bonus: This can parlay into another afternoon activity: making a photo collage.)
49. Explore the nearest public or botanical gardens.

50. Take a trip to a free museum.
51. Have a scavenger hunt that incorporates subjects the child is learning about in school. 
52. Take walks every Monday to make plans for the week ahead.
53. Do kid-friendly yoga.

54. Head to the batting cages.
55. Become an expert at mini golf.
56. Go rock climbing together, which helps develop endurance, balance and flexibility.
57. Take photos of things in the park and create a collage. Do a new one every month so you can keep track of how the seasons change.

58. Take a tour of the neighborhood and research local historic spots.
59. Go on a hayride during the fall.
60. Find a song you love and choreograph a dance to go with it.
61. Walk the dog. Don’t have one? Take the neighbor’s dog for a stroll.

62. Go on a bike ride. Follow a new path every time.
63. Stroll through nature. In the fall, collect leaves. In the spring, forage for flowers to make a spring bouquet.
64. Walk along a beach that’s open.
65. Go geocaching, which promotes teamwork and time in nature.

66. Visit the zoo.
67. Go for a walk in the park, and count how many dogs you see. Keep a tally, and try to guess the breed of each dog. If you’re feeling friendly, ask the owner the breed to see if you’re right.
68. Go roller skating or ice skating.
69. Draw a map and create a treasure hunt, either in the house or outside.
70. Go outside and count how many different types of trees and plants you can see in the neighborhood. Try to name them all, and look up the ones you don’t know.

71. Do kid-friendly Zumba at home. Play fun music and do exercise-dance moves. Let the kids make up some of their own moves to teach you.

Have a get-together or find a group

72. Search sites like Meetup.com for kids’ after-school playgroups in the area or groups that focus on activities for kids.
73. Join an after-school reading group at the library.

74. Schedule a weekly get-together with kids in the neighborhood. Have them over for crafts or backyard games. Rotate houses each week to split up hosting responsibilities.
75. Take an online coding course with other same-age kids.  
76. Help organize a block party with classmates.

77. Volunteer in your community.

78. Visit an animal shelter.
79. Host a school supplies fundraiser, which will help teach kids about the importance of time management, planning and giving back.
80. Tutor someone younger.
81. Find out what your local food bank needs most and organize a food drive in your neighborhood. Drop donations off at your local food bank.

82. Start an online or in-person group with kids in your neighborhood that’s dedicated to anti-racism. Read books together and discuss, design lawn signs or organize a fundraiser for a cause that supports justice and anti-racism. 
83. Perform random acts of kindness. Leave it up to the kids to decide what this means to them. Maybe it’s dropping off a home-baked treat at an elderly neighbor’s house or leaving an uplifting note or picture on a stranger’s car or doorstep. The options are endless.
84. Offer local services to neighbors and friends, including car washing and lawn mowing. Encourage kids to provide these services for free as a way to give back to the community.

Flex your literary and learning skills

85. Creating a reading challenge, see if the child can read a certain amount of books within a specific time frame and award prizes for milestones.
86. Act out a book your child is reading in school.
87. Write a letter to a relative.
88. Research your family tree and relate it to what your child is learning in history class.
89. Learn sign language.

90. Write a poem.
91. Order a rocks and mineral set, which is great for kids who like hands-on learning. You may discover you have a budding geologist at home.
92. Pick a song your child knows well and re-write all the lyrics together to make it funny.
93. Pick a movie or story and write an alternate ending.
94. Write a short story.

95. Make up quizzes for each other to take. You could ask questions to see how well you know each other or fun trivia about geography, history, science, etc.
96. Print out a blank map of the U.S., and see if you can name all of the states correctly. For older children, add state capitals, too!
97. Pick different cultures from around the world to learn about. Focus on one each week, and try foods from that culture, learn about their holidays, etc.

Tell stories or just talk

98. On the way home from school, ask your child to tell you the two best parts and two least favorite parts of their day. When you get to the negatives, try to help your child find a silver lining or a bright side to the bad parts. Here are tips for getting kids to open up about their day.
99. Make a vision board of your child’s accomplishments in the past year, and brainstorm new goals for the upcoming one.

Image via Raising Creative Girls/Instagram

100. Take out the baby photos, share with your kids and tell them stories about when they were born.
101. Take out your baby photos and show your kids what you were like when you were young.

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20 After School Activities That Require Minimal Set-up

Published: Aug 19, 2019 · Modified: Jul 20, 2022 by Judita Pauzuolyte · This post may contain affiliate links ·

I will be a bit controversial here and state that after school activities for kids would be as educational and beneficial (if not more) to them as their school curriculum. Last time I wrote about some before school surprises to make the mornings more joyful. Now it’s time to speak about the time after school. Asking me why? It’s because kids will be:

• in their relaxed environment.
• free to choose what they want to do.
• more creative with their activities.
• more likely to continue on the activity even when it’s over.

The best part – most of these after school activities require minimal set up. You’ll be surprised how well it works. Here is my 20 after school activities my kids just love!

Jump to:

• 20 After School Activities For Kids to Enhance their Creativity 
• 1. 3D Hand Craft
• 2. Cabbage Juice Science Experiment
• 3. Dress up Games
• 4. Exploring Colors with only 2 ingredients!
• 5. Help your child find a pen pal friend
• 6. Water Drop Race
• 7. Thaumatrope
• 8. Toilet Paper Rolls
• 9. Coin Jump
• 10. Rainbow Soap Foam
• 11. Calm Down Jars
• 12. Fog in a bottle
• 13. Royal Crayon Gems
• 14. Science Experiments on Food
• 15. Wildflower Goop
• 16. Suminagasha Art
• 17. Spelling Game
• 18. Squish Painting
• 19. I-Spy Discovery Bottle
• 20. Apple Stamping

20 After School Activities For Kids to Enhance their Creativity 

This creative activity is going to be fun for the whole family! Now, 3D Art can be done at home.

Source: What Do We Do All Day

Not all experiments involve chemicals. This experiment is so fun because you can watch liquid ingredients change colors.

Any child loves to play dress up. After a busy day at school, this is the perfect way to remove your child’s stress.

Source: Buggy And Buddy

Using only baking soda and vinegar, your kids will be excited to go home after school!

Keeping your child interested in writing letters to a friend far away will help him or her learn how to write and interact through writing.

As a child, I’ve done this during the boring times at a party or a restaurant. I know how exciting this is, the more water drops, the better!

Source: What Do We Do All Day

Optical illusion is one of the easiest magic trick of all time. Try to do a thaumatrope with the whole family and let your creativity shine!

Don’t let those empty toilet paper rolls go into waste! Collect them and paint them different colors so your kids can play by building or stacking them.

Cold water, a coin and a bottle will literally make you jump in surprise of how cold water and your warm hands can do magic!

Source: Fun At Home With Kids

This is a wonderful way to make your kids wash their toys in a fun way!

Activities for kids

This simple activity is for long term use. Calm down jars can be used anytime either you or your kids need it.

This activity may not seem very fun for us – adults, but I promise you, my kids couldn’t stop staring at the bottle until the fog completely fade away.

Leftover, broken and small pieces of crayons can still be used by recycling them into cute royal shapes.

Source: Paging Fun Mums

Another colorful science experiment on how fast and how can plants and leafy vegetables absorb liquid!

A 3 ingredient cute flower goop to help your kids improve their sensory skills.

A modern art activity, not just for kids but for adults too! Let’s try to make this! And don’t forget to keep all the artwork!

Source: Mom To 2 Posh Lil Divas

There are lots of ways on how to play spelling games. You can use a salt tray, or chalk, or even with Q-tips only!

With just a few colors of paint and a piece of paper, you can make your own piece of art in only 2 minutes!

You can put different icons or small toys for the discovery bottle so your kids would ask and investigate what is in the bottle!

Source: Happy Hooligans

Apple stamping is one of the best activities and very timely for the Fall season, too!

Found your favorite after school activity for kids? Share in the comments below!

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More fun:

Things to do after school | Mothers today

Many parents want their children to have extracurricular activities after school so that they can reach their potential and at the same time learn what they like most and what they least like. But in fact, the offer of activities is usually always the same: extra-curricular activities in alternative pedagogy, English, sports, art, music . .. and sometimes children can develop a little further.

If you have the time, you can teach your children different activities after school, but if time gets in the way and you have to work, you can hire an educational professional or whoever you think is the best fit to teach your children other skills , which will most likely also be useful to them in adulthood.

Index

• 1 Cartoon art
• 2 carpentry
• 3 fencing
• 4 How to do business

Cartoon art

Drawing or drawing lessons are great, but even better if your kids learn to draw cartoons. It’s more fun and they will also develop their creativity and creativity. Kids who think they can’t draw can draw cartoons well because you don’t need artistic talent to enjoy the lessons. Teachers in cartoon classes learn step by step techniques such as drawing, shading, motion demonstration, and even three-dimensional drawing.

In the cartoon class, children learn how to turn simple figures into famous characters, for example, into different emotions. They can invent a new superhero design, come up with a completely original story. Kids and teens are inspired to use different techniques and learn new things, so learning how to draw cartoons is the perfect option.

On top of that, and if that wasn’t enough, kids and teens love to draw their favorite characters, create a graphic novel to express themselves. In cartoons, they find a form of self-expression that helps them be themselves.

carpentry

We live in a world where screens are everywhere, from schools to homes, so kids need to understand that they can also make things with their own hands. Your kids need to learn carpentry, especially if they are active kids who enjoy hands-on learning. Most children like to imitate the world of adults, so they work with wood materials. depending on age, it is ideal to show patience, perseverance and attention.

You can use a toolbox with suitable materials and build interesting things such as garden birdhouses, small wooden boats, toy storage boxes, etc. You can also enroll your children in carpentry classes as they can focus on hand tools that are simple and safe. From the age of 12, children begin to want to use power tools, But before you train them, you need to make sure that they are mature and intelligent enough to be able to do this – and always under supervision. You can go to your local hardware store or carpentry shop to see if they know where they can run these classes for kids and teens.

fencing

Fencing is an Olympic sport that is ideal for children as it is a game of skill and strategy that is very important for the body and mind. This sport is ideal for gifted kids who enjoy logic games, math, or kids who need a lot of structuring in their daily lives. When someone walks with a sword, you will learn to focus and concentrate no matter what is around, is therefore also ideal for children who need to improve their concentration skills.

Children will learn how to lunge, thrust, parry and be able to counter their fencing opponent. Children love this sport because it’s sword fighting like in the movies. However, it is great for brain development. It’s like playing chess in real life, as if the child is one of the pieces, it’s so incredible!

How to run a business

In today’s economy, parents know it’s important to teach their children essential skills for our age, such as leadership, teamwork, and communication. Kids certainly aren’t going to run a company… but they can have a business initiative so they have different ideas and learn how to solve problems, which in the future will make them become leaders and creators.

Children can create a real product, such as a cute pencil case or friendship bracelets. At first the children will have get basic business skills: marketing, pricing, budgeting and product design. Children can practice creativity and imagination to be able to sell their product and attract the attention of others to buy.

The kids love it because they will go out into the real world with entrepreneurial skills, and if they want to set up a lemonade stand like in American movies, why not? They may want to raise money to help those most in need or to get what they like. Moreover, learning these techniques will also enable them to better handle frustration, Because, as all entrepreneurs know, there are many bumps and obstacles along the way to your job, as well as many negatives … and all of these are opportunities for improvement and growth, they will never be defeated!

You can also explore your children’s interests to find out what they would do best or what activities they would enjoy the most. For example, your children can create their own orchestra, ride a bike together, or learn to ride a skateboard. Do you already know what your kids like the most?

the first School of Directors of Social Institutions was held in Moscow

The School was organized by the Old Age in Joy Foundation. Its listeners were directors of institutions participating in the Long-Term Care System project. In practice, they change the approach to working with people with limited mobility, bedridden patients, people with disabilities, palliative patients, elderly people with dementia.

Health, People with disabilities, Older generation 10.02.2020

Photo: starikam.org

The First School of Directors is part of a large series of training seminars of the Long Term Care System project. It is based on the idea of ​​care as a system of knowledge that helps people to maintain independence and at the same time provides safety, comfort, and feasible activity. The ward of a social institution is not an “object of care”, but a person. Leaving is not a manipulation, but a pair work. “We need to work with the ward, making the most of his own resources, while maintaining his independence,” is the important principle of the long-term care system at the Joy of Old Age foundation.

At the lectures, the directors of social institutions were explained how the methodology of such care is built, what foreign and Russian practices it relies on, how it is implemented in pilot regions, what difficulties arise there and how they can be overcome. During the workshops, participants learned how to manage an institution according to the standards of the long-term care system: how to distribute responsibilities between staff, how to protect the rights of people who live in the institution, how to draw up individual care plans, how to implement electronic document management and control the quality of work at all stages.

After school, principals will return to social institutions to teach modern nursing techniques to their colleagues.

“Directors will return to their regions – the same institution, the same old people, the same people with disabilities, the same staff. But they themselves believe that the school and the whole system of long-term care will provide an opportunity to look at the usual work and the training of colleagues from a different angle. And change it for the better. Each of the students of the school feels personally responsible for later training the staff of his institution, working with the wards and their relatives. And as a result, to make the institution a methodological center for the entire region, and even for neighboring ones,” says Elizaveta Oleskina , director of the Joy of Old Age fund.

The Long Term Care System project began with a public initiative in 2017 in six regions of Russia. At the beginning of 2020, the project involved 18 pilot regions and about 20 subjects of the Federation, which are creating a long-term care system on their own initiative.

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Tags: #NKOMOSKOMILUMS, LUNDARE CARE SCALLY, SCIENTERS SCHOOLS

NPOs: Charity Fund for Assistance to Elderly and Disabilities “Old Age”

Charitable Foundation for the Elderly and Disabled “Old Age in Joy”

The Joy of Old Age Foundation strives to improve the quality of life of older people living in social institutions and at home: it helps to establish life and care, organizes leisure activities for the elderly through volunteers, pays for diagnostics, operations, treatment, rehabilitation, prosthetics, buys consumables and medicines.

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