[Heather]

My son’s friends are all in a ton of sports and activities. What are some ideas for after school activities that don’t cost a ton of money. He is in kindergarten. Thanks!

[Carol]

I am a retired Kindergarten teacher. I know you don’t want to hear this. Take that baby home and let him play with books, art supplies, blocks and balls. That’s all he needs. Play dates at the park. His day is long and very structured.

Let him just play.

[Kyla]

Swim lessons are always a good idea at that age. It’s a life saving skill and the investment is worth it. We do soccer through our town and it’s not too pricey. But like others said a lot of towns have play group pages.

[Nola]

Personally, I don’t think organized activity after school is necessary at kindergarten level. Just let them be kids until they have an idea of what they want. I have never understood parents that put their children in every sport or every activity available. When do the kids get to be just kids?

[Rissa]

Soccer here is the “cheapest” sport. My sons in kindergarten and plays all the sports but that’s the kind of kid he is. He needs somewhere to burn off energy.

Libraries, parks, cooking and baking at home are all good too. I try to involve my kids in lots of things at home.

[Michele]

If there’s a Recc center or YMCA near you, the after school sports are often at a reduced price. Also, most of those leagues are for fun rather than competition. If that’s something you and your child are interested in.

Otherwise, libraries often have youth programs a couple of times a month.

The local zoo or local museums may also have programs.

[Brina]

Try t-ball.

Also, if you or your husband could volunteer as a couch maybe he would me more interested. Just a thought. My dad volunteered couched for over 20 years of summer baseball/softball from t-ball on up my mom and aunts volunteered as well. Get them in a sport and just be there for them like my parents and aunts did. They will more likely do it.

[Karen]

Honestly I would start by asking him what he’d like to do and go from there.

[Meg]

The library or park? Don’t over schedule him, he needs time to chill out after the sensory nightmare that is kindergarten. Kids just need to play, don’t consider what the other kids are doing as automatically right for your child.

[Beverly]

What does he seem interested in? Remember to let him just be a kid, too, and being bored has it’s purposes by fostering creativity of his own making. Too many parents sign their kids up for too many things and it burns out the kid. I know, because I did that, too, but then realized it was exhausting to my son and to me. Definitely check out a local YMCA, the library, museums, etc. for free or less expensive extracurricular options.

Best wishes for him finding a hobby or sport that he will enjoy!

[Lezlie]

Play, exploring, stir interest in animal, eco scavenger hunts. Go to library. Get a magnifine glass. Ant farm. Growing seeds to plant. Gardening. You can take him to an urban garden with teens where he can watch their interaction. Read and talk about Forestry and animals.

Build a tent or fort in his bedroom, play, and plan for a future camping trip.

[Helen]

Libraries often have plenty of events. We go to libraries just for the sake of reading and finding good books too: one has a coloring wall where kids’ colored pictures are put up, another does a new scavenger hunt of pictures throughout the library every week: my kids love that. Churches do events and get-togethers too, like one of our local churches has a pokemon club.

Otherwise, choose a hobby together. Some moms do Pokemon Go with their kids to get out and about.

We sample playgrounds like wine tasting lol.

[Deborah]

Little kids’ soccer is usually fun and cheap… I think you just need to have the right color t-shirt and pay a very small registration fee. It’s a little bit of running, learning to get along with other children, finding dandelions in the grass, watching butterflies, etc.

[Kris]

Cub scouts was a good experience for my son…socialization, life skills and good experiences of something I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own. Bonus…I was a single mom, so got to chaperone campi g, with the boys setting up my tent…son was with them all the way up to high school

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