How much do you spend on extracurriculars on your <10 year olds?

[VaCPA]

There is an element they get from organized sports that isn't there from just shoving them out the door and making them play outside, or going on hikes or bike rides or whatever. Not that that isn't great too. We have 3 kids and I initially said I was going to limit it to 1 sport per kid per season, for logistics and our own sanity. But I've mostly relented on that and will let them play 2 if they really want to. As I said in the screen time thread, it really helps with keeping them off devices and engaged with the world. Great for socializing too.

Who said anything about shoving kids out the door to play outside? My kids have been involved in organized sports for years, so I know the benefits.  Spend as much as you want, but try not to get defensive about it - this the MMM forum so it's not news to get push back on expensive travel sports.

You sound way more defensive than me, TBH

The point of my post was pretty clear though, although I don't care what other people do with their kids. If a kid doesn't want to play organized sports then it's no big deal but if they do it they'll learn some solid life skills.

My kids don't do expensive travel stuff BTW, they aren't that good. Just normal house league with the other average kids

[waltworks]

Generally zero, as we just coach their teams for whatever sport and they get to participate for free. For some activities where we're especially qualified/certified (ie ski racing, mountain biking) we get paid $20 an hour or so as well to do something we'd be doing anyway.

-W

[charis]

Generally zero, as we just coach their teams for whatever sport and they get to participate for free. For some activities where we're especially qualified/certified (ie ski racing, mountain biking) we get paid $20 an hour or so as well to do something we'd be doing anyway.

-W

We volunteer coach as well, mostly my spouse. The kids really enjoy it.

[Chrissy]

Our parenting theory is:  something physical, something musical, and a language.  These are guidelines not rules.  We're going for exposure, not mastery.  We have no desire nor need for the kids to compete for scholarships. 

Last year, when Warrior Princess was 5 years old, she did Dance and Gymnastics for some months.  Chunky Baby was only 3, so she didn't do anything.

Gymnastics, $87/class x 5mo = $1,740
Dance, $52/lesson x 6mo = $1,248 and then there was probably $300 in shoes, leotard, tights, recital costume, teacher Christmas gift, photography

TOTAL:  $3,288 last year

This year, Chunky Baby was offered soccer through daycare, twice, but said she was afraid of being kicked!  She did swim lessons for some months.  Both kids did a 1x outdoor winter adventure class.  Warrior Princess some swim, a dance/yoga combo class through school, a soccer class through school, and art lessons.

Swim:  $30/lesson x 2 kids x 3mo = $720
Dance/Yoga:  $10/class x 8 classes = $80
Soccer:  $16.50/class x 8 classes =  $132
Art:  $100/mo x 3mo = $300
French:  $39/lesson x 8 lessons = $315
Winter adventure:  $64

Total so far:  $1,611
And I expect 2 more months of swim, french, and art = $635
TOTAL:  $2,246

Next year, both kids will probably participate in dance and french.  Warrior Princess is really in love with art, so that will continue, and she will attempt piano, but soccer is not of interest to her.  Also, possibly some part of the year will include a revisit of swim, and brief forays into ice skating, and skiing (there's a local place 5 min from us).

[luchorpan]

We just paid $90 for summer rec t-ball for my 4 year old. First time - I can see how it could add up!
I’m not eager to add activities during the school year, and we plan to stick to one thing for summers. I do think there’s value in learning team sports, but hopefully the kids don’t express interest in the expensive ones like hockey.

[PharmaStache]

Did someone mention hockey?  I don't mind paying for it, because it is a lot of ice time for the money and we need an indoor sport for when it's -30C outside.  Plus something like dance is $400/year for 1 hr a week for 8 months, which works out to be more expensive than hockey on an hourly basis (and I consider this dance class to be on the inexpensive side of things).

This is only including "extracurriculars", not summer camps.

9 y/o
Hockey fee- $700
Hockey Equipment- combo of new, used, free stuff from others (skates are new)- $300-400 (more expensive now that he's older)
Spring hockey- $250
Skills- $150
Guitar lessons- $80/month
Baseball- $80 (cheap), for 2 months

5 y/o
Hockey fee- $300
Hockey equipment- not much due to older brother, maybe $100
Spring Hockey- $400 (bought in a fit of covid induced insanity)
Piano lessons- $80/month
Dance- $400 (for 8 months)
Baseball- $60 (for 2 months)
Soccer- $30 (what a deal) (for 1 month)
Art- $100 (for 10 weeks)

[getsorted]

When school and summer school aren't in session, I pay $100-$250 per week for day camps of varying levels of education. The $250 ones are through museums, aquariums, zoos, etc. and are honestly some of the best educational experiences my kid (who otherwise hates school) has had. I budget $1,000 for these for the summer and make a giant spreadsheet every year to plan them out. I also pay about $500/year in memberships for local museums/activity centers. I guess that's a lot, but I'm still reeling from not having to pay $12,000/year in day care, I guess.

I would happily enroll my kid in a sport, but he wants nothing to do with organized activities of that nature. If it doesn't involve building something, space, dinosaurs, or sharks, he's out.

[Captain FIRE]

If it doesn't involve building something, space, dinosaurs, or sharks, he's out.

Hi spouse, didn't realize you were on this forum.  ;)

In fairness, he does also like water activities and playing soccer in the backyard with the neighbors.  Prepandemic we did about $1k/year for swim lessons.  Once littlest is vaccinated we'll start that up for both and add in another sport for biggest, likely soccer.  Littlest will likely get soccer or gymnastics when she's a bit older.  Swim lessons I consider a basic life requirement, plus we live on water.

[getsorted]

Hi spouse, didn't realize you were on this forum.  ;)

They are legion. You can find them in planetariums all over the country, getting into arguments with grown-ass adults about black holes.

My kid feels that someone telling him what to do or making rules about where to kick, throw, or carry a ball is the worst. He says he "just wants to run and think." I don't disagree with him.

Swim lessons were an absurdist comedy. Never has any kid been so indifferent to the instructions given him. We went for a year and he learned absolutely nothing, and I'm pretty sure he gave his 18-year-old instructor gray hairs. One day he told me his fantasy: that a shark got into the pool, ate his instructor, and he would be free to do whatever he wanted at the pool. I decided to wait a few years and then try again.

In the meantime, he learned to swim on his own at his dad's apartment complex pool.

I am well-versed in the physical and psychological value of team sports for kids, but I have questions about whether they apply to every kid, or if some of them are outliers and trying to bring them into the mean is only going to make things worse!

[mm1970]

Hi spouse, didn't realize you were on this forum.  ;)

They are legion. You can find them in planetariums all over the country, getting into arguments with grown-ass adults about black holes.

My kid feels that someone telling him what to do or making rules about where to kick, throw, or carry a ball is the worst. He says he "just wants to run and think." I don't disagree with him.

Swim lessons were an absurdist comedy. Never has any kid been so indifferent to the instructions given him. We went for a year and he learned absolutely nothing, and I'm pretty sure he gave his 18-year-old instructor gray hairs. One day he told me his fantasy: that a shark got into the pool, ate his instructor, and he would be free to do whatever he wanted at the pool. I decided to wait a few years and then try again.

In the meantime, he learned to swim on his own at his dad's apartment complex pool.

I am well-versed in the physical and psychological value of team sports for kids, but I have questions about whether they apply to every kid, or if some of them are outliers and trying to bring them into the mean is only going to make things worse!

I think you both might be my spouse too...

DS2 LOVES the water, but doesn't want swim lessons anymore.  Signed him up for water polo camp last summer.  He, um, spent almost all the time diving to the bottom of the pool because that's what he likes to do...which is kinda not the point of water polo.

I totally understand the value of team sports and joining and stuff.  I tried a bunch of things when I was a kid but my dad was anti-everything.  So, I eventually played volleyball from 9th-12th grades, but back then you could do that without starting early.  DH played tennis in HS.

DS1 played a few years of baseball, but waited too long to start (age 9), so he wasn't great at it.  He's not a joiner.  He's 16.  Then again, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

DS2 is super excited about summer camps in art (not signed up yet) and cooking and legos.  I forced DS1 into a lot of beach volleyball camp (because: we live at the beach and volleyball is my sport).  He doesn't want to do it anymore, but he needs to do SOMETHING this summer.

Anyway, I think people who do organized sports really like it, generally, but my kids don't and I'm not going to force it.

[Captain FIRE]

They are legion. You can find them in planetariums all over the country, getting into arguments with grown-ass adults about black holes.

Mmmm, yes.  Or lecturing you when you refer to a pterodactyl as a dinosaur that they are actually a flying reptile.  (Please note: This adult considers it a victory when able to pronounce the dinosaur/flying reptile name. Knowledge of specific dinosaur facts is beyond me.)

[getsorted]

Mmmm, yes.  Or lecturing you when you refer to a pterodactyl as a dinosaur that they are actually a flying reptile. 

I'm dying. I had this EXACT lecture recently.

[maisymouser]

Ugh, this thread is making me pretty depressed- I was really hoping that I could throw the $10k/year I am paying for preschool right into VTSAX once my kiddo goes to public kindergarten. The idea that I will still be spending 20% of that is tough to swallow. But then again, I'm also really excited for my little dude to find hobbies, activities, and other stuff he is into.

Luckily he is an introvert and has not yet expressed any interest in stuff other kids his age are doing (no soccer shots, for instance). I am hoping that I can make suggestions for activities that don't break the bank and are educational/beneficial in nature as he grows up, while also having enough financial flexibility to provide him with some perhaps pricier but appealing options that he wants to explore.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

When school and summer school aren't in session, I pay $100-$250 per week for day camps of varying levels of education. The $250 ones are through museums, aquariums, zoos, etc. and are honestly some of the best educational experiences my kid (who otherwise hates school) has had. I budget $1,000 for these for the summer and make a giant spreadsheet every year to plan them out. I also pay about $500/year in memberships for local museums/activity centers. I guess that's a lot, but I'm still reeling from not having to pay $12,000/year in day care, I guess.

I would happily enroll my kid in a sport, but he wants nothing to do with organized activities of that nature. If it doesn't involve building something, space, dinosaurs, or sharks, he's out.

I'm amazed by the price of summer camps in other parts of the country. My kids are a few years beyond what you've described, but I've never paid less than $400/kid for a week for camps that typically run 9-3, or thereabouts. And, the $400 camps are typically not their preferred camps. They are often much more.

[charis]

When school and summer school aren't in session, I pay $100-$250 per week for day camps of varying levels of education. The $250 ones are through museums, aquariums, zoos, etc. and are honestly some of the best educational experiences my kid (who otherwise hates school) has had. I budget $1,000 for these for the summer and make a giant spreadsheet every year to plan them out. I also pay about $500/year in memberships for local museums/activity centers. I guess that's a lot, but I'm still reeling from not having to pay $12,000/year in day care, I guess.

I would happily enroll my kid in a sport, but he wants nothing to do with organized activities of that nature. If it doesn't involve building something, space, dinosaurs, or sharks, he's out.

I'm amazed by the price of summer camps in other parts of the country. My kids are a few years beyond what you've described, but I've never paid less than $400/kid for a week for camps that typically run 9-3, or thereabouts. And, the $400 camps are typically not their preferred camps. They are often much more.

The camps run by our public school and by the city rec department are very reasonable. The suburban or private/specialty camps are 2-4x more expensive. I'm annoyed that at least a portion of sleepover camps are not tax deductible as childcare. The daytime is still child care for me while I'm at work.

[startingsmall]

I'm amazed by the price of summer camps in other parts of the country. My kids are a few years beyond what you've described, but I've never paid less than $400/kid for a week for camps that typically run 9-3, or thereabouts. And, the $400 camps are typically not their preferred camps. They are often much more.

Wow! Most of the day camps here (dance studio, environmental center, and the county rec department) are in the $150-175/wk range. We do let my daughter spend one week at an amazing circus camp... it's $350 for the week, which is totally understandable given their staffing, equipment and insurance! (The bigger issue on that one is that it's an hour from home... but I just drive her and hang out in that area for the day, because it's such a cool experience.)

[StarBright]

When school and summer school aren't in session, I pay $100-$250 per week for day camps of varying levels of education. The $250 ones are through museums, aquariums, zoos, etc. and are honestly some of the best educational experiences my kid (who otherwise hates school) has had. I budget $1,000 for these for the summer and make a giant spreadsheet every year to plan them out. I also pay about $500/year in memberships for local museums/activity centers. I guess that's a lot, but I'm still reeling from not having to pay $12,000/year in day care, I guess.

I would happily enroll my kid in a sport, but he wants nothing to do with organized activities of that nature. If it doesn't involve building something, space, dinosaurs, or sharks, he's out.

I'm amazed by the price of summer camps in other parts of the country. My kids are a few years beyond what you've described, but I've never paid less than $400/kid for a week for camps that typically run 9-3, or thereabouts. And, the $400 camps are typically not their preferred camps. They are often much more.

I'm in the midwest and the really good camps are in the $3-400 range where I'm at and often cost an extra $100 week if you tack on before and after care.  So-so full days camps run $200 a week or so, and the rec center is cheap but they only offer camp for 1-2 hours a day for a couple of weeks at a time, so they aren't really an option for working parents.

We send ours to a full day camp (8-3) run by husband's U. It is run by the education department and is mostly staffed by future gym and art teachers. It is hit or miss quality wise but we also get a discount and only pay $175 per kid and it has the best hours and is located on campus. It is a win-win for us.

[getsorted]

When school and summer school aren't in session, I pay $100-$250 per week for day camps of varying levels of education. The $250 ones are through museums, aquariums, zoos, etc. and are honestly some of the best educational experiences my kid (who otherwise hates school) has had. I budget $1,000 for these for the summer and make a giant spreadsheet every year to plan them out. I also pay about $500/year in memberships for local museums/activity centers. I guess that's a lot, but I'm still reeling from not having to pay $12,000/year in day care, I guess.

I would happily enroll my kid in a sport, but he wants nothing to do with organized activities of that nature. If it doesn't involve building something, space, dinosaurs, or sharks, he's out.

I'm amazed by the price of summer camps in other parts of the country. My kids are a few years beyond what you've described, but I've never paid less than $400/kid for a week for camps that typically run 9-3, or thereabouts. And, the $400 camps are typically not their preferred camps. They are often much more.

I'm in the midwest and the really good camps are in the $3-400 range where I'm at and often cost an extra $100 week if you tack on before and after care.  So-so full days camps run $200 a week or so, and the rec center is cheap but they only offer camp for 1-2 hours a day for a couple of weeks at a time, so they aren't really an option for working parents.

We send ours to a full day camp (8-3) run by husband's U. It is run by the education department and is mostly staffed by future gym and art teachers. It is hit or miss quality wise but we also get a discount and only pay $175 per kid and it has the best hours and is located on campus. It is a win-win for us.

The city I live in is about as good as it gets as far as low costs of living relative to wages, if you can stand the gun nuts and god-botherers! But one of the perks is definitely that I can send my kid to a good-quality science camp for $250/week (with membership).

I missed the sign-up window and Dinosaur Camp filled up too early this year... Fingers crossed my kid doesn't figure that out!

[Chris Pascale]

Youngest turned 11 this week, so nothing!

Most recently, she and a friend play racquetball, so I guess $20 for the gear.

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Our Parks Department has day camp at neighborhood parks throughout the city, from June to August, 9A-noon and 1P-4P M-Th, for the princely sum of $5.  (It had always been free until this year .)  Living just one block from the park my girl was looking forward to being old enough to join in - last summer was her first time, because 2020, and she is so eager to do it again.

If the thought of 10-40 kids running around, supervised by college students, sounds fun I can guarantee you it is even better - arts and crafts, water fights, bike rodeo, kickball, tag, playground equipment use, etc.  Almost the kind of unstructured summer time I remember having experienced (but with supervision and less wandering through acres of forest and abandoned quarries).

I absolutely love my city’s Parks department, and Library.

[getsorted]

Our Parks Department has day camp at neighborhood parks throughout the city, from June to August, 9A-noon and 1P-4P M-Th, for the princely sum of $5.

Wow! And I thought our Parks Department camps were a bargain at $150/week!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Our Parks Department has day camp at neighborhood parks throughout the city, from June to August, 9A-noon and 1P-4P M-Th, for the princely sum of $5.  (It had always been free until this year .)  Living just one block from the park my girl was looking forward to being old enough to join in - last summer was her first time, because 2020, and she is so eager to do it again.

If the thought of 10-40 kids running around, supervised by college students, sounds fun I can guarantee you it is even better - arts and crafts, water fights, bike rodeo, kickball, tag, playground equipment use, etc.  Almost the kind of unstructured summer time I remember having experienced (but with supervision and less wandering through acres of forest and abandoned quarries).

I absolutely love my city’s Parks department, and Library.

This is amazing! What an awesome program for your park department & library! Well done.

[StarBright]

Just updating for fun.

When I first posted on this thread we were spending nothing on activities.

StarGirl was in a free violin class and StarBoy wasn't in anything.

We are now spending a lot more and I think it is interesting how we got from A to B in three months.

Currently spending $140 a month at the ninja gym for classes for StarBoy (his behavior is SO MUCH better when he is in a structured physical activity) This is 2 hours a week.

Next month will start at $20 a lesson for StarGirl for violin plus $15 a month in violin rental. She blew through the free group class, now we have to pay if she wants to keep going. Free lesson through school don't start for another two years for her and she likes it so we're going to keep going for now.

Both kids have asked to take tennis lessons for the last two summers. There are cheap classes through the rec, but only 1 hour a day, three days a week in the middle of the day during the summer. No way to make that work with two working parents. So evening classes at the tennis club for two kids: $160 a month.

StarBoy referred for a specialty social skills group - $50 dollars one evening a week.

So from nothing to almost $600 dollars a month (not including summer day camp costs).

To be fair, our son is very behaviorally challenging and definitely needs the structure and small class sizes that we are paying for but this is financially painful. By the time I quit my job my kids will have aged out of the rec program as well (goes up to age 10). Ahh well - you do what you do.

[c-kat]

Just updating for fun.

When I first posted on this thread we were spending nothing on activities.

StarGirl was in a free violin class and StarBoy wasn't in anything.

We are now spending a lot more and I think it is interesting how we got from A to B in three months.

Currently spending $140 a month at the ninja gym for classes for StarBoy (his behavior is SO MUCH better when he is in a structured physical activity) This is 2 hours a week.

Next month will start at $20 a lesson for StarGirl for violin plus $15 a month in violin rental. She blew through the free group class, now we have to pay if she wants to keep going. Free lesson through school don't start for another two years for her and she likes it so we're going to keep going for now.

Both kids have asked to take tennis lessons for the last two summers. There are cheap classes through the rec, but only 1 hour a day, three days a week in the middle of the day during the summer. No way to make that work with two working parents. So evening classes at the tennis club for two kids: $160 a month.

StarBoy referred for a specialty social skills group - $50 dollars one evening a week.

So from nothing to almost $600 dollars a month (not including summer day camp costs).

To be fair, our son is very behaviorally challenging and definitely needs the structure and small class sizes that we are paying for but this is financially painful. By the time I quit my job my kids will have aged out of the rec program as well (goes up to age 10). Ahh well - you do what you do.

Updating as well, as our kids have now started activities up again.

We are paying $115 a month per kid A for two 30 minutes karate classes per week. Kids B is starting dance classes in September for about $300 a term.  We are also spending 95$ a week total for private swimming lessons in our backyard pool that covers 1hour which the kids split 30 minutes each - I know, it is expensive, but we stopped lessons during covid and learning to swim is a big priority for safety reasons because we have a pool.

[charis]

I have fewer regrets than ever about spending money on kid activities since COVID hit. Dance class is pricey but it stopped only briefly and has been a social lifeline for my tween. I suspect it will continue as such when we make the rocky transition to middle school. We still don't a ton because we have access to a lot of free or cheap programs, but it still averages about $500 month for activities and gear during the school year, not including camps.

[getsorted]

Just registered the kid for five weeks of science camps. Grand total, $1064 (not counting two museum memberships that gave us a 20% discount on classes). It hurts, but the kid has got to go somewhere when summer school is out, and it might as well further his learning and interests.

It's a good thing I save for my own retirement, because there is a strong chance my kid is going to be busy terraforming Mars in my old age.

[srrb]

How much to spend? When they were little (<10) I was really just looking for childcare that was convenient for drop off, worked for my part-time work hours, and at least mildly interested them. As their after-school care stopped for the summer, it was just a transfer of funds to different programs. As middle-schoolers and teenagers, I amped up the $$$$ spent on their summer camps. It wasn't about childcare anymore, but developing their skills and exploring interests -- and at an age where I think the money spent was worthwhile. As young adults, both have excelled and are developing careers in the areas they concentrated on as teenage summer campers. FYI, we were urban and had many community and post-secondary-sponsored activities to choose from.

I guess what I'm saying is I don't agree with specialization and outrageous fees for younger children. Can you afford it and is it good enough for what you need and what they want? Actual dollar amounts are useless, as I had to pay what the going rate was for my area at the time and you are doing the same now.

[meandmyfamily]

This has varied by kid.  Currently my 11 year olds competitively swim year round and they started doing this at 9 years old.  It is $100 a month per kid for practices and we only pay for 1 kid (other is paid for through state program).  Practices are 2 hrs 4-5 days a week.  Then there are meet fees which vary between $60-$100 per meet per kid.  Summer local meets are included in the monthly fee but USA swim ones are not so probably around 1 extra meet a month.  Most meets are within 50 mins of our home.  We do travel for regionals and state which can be 2.5 hrs away twice a year and often need a hotel.  Swimsuits and googles add some expense but not too bad. 

We find swim such a family friendly sport.  All the families hang out at meets.  This is very different than my oldest who danced ballet for 14 years.  She loved it but was quite a bit more and just she did it with the exception of performances.  Ballet was great for her but I am loving being a swim mom these days due to cost and family time.

Under 10 definitely was cheaper but varied by kid.