Cross posted on another frugal board-

How do you decide whether to pay for kids activities or not?? what sorts of priorities do you set for how much you will spend? What sort of sacrifices will you make?? do you ever choose a "second best" activity based on money?? do you ever choose the second best or lesser activity because of child's skill level?

An example- your child has been playing recreational baseball with parks and rec for several years. But now he really likes it and wants to play longer than the 8 week session. You want a coach that actually teaches skills and your child wants them to keep score. Your child wants to play all year.

You look into Little League and it costs 100.00 a month vs. 40.00 per 8 weeks session. How do you decide if it's "worth it" to pay for it. ??

another example, - Ice Skating ---Private coaching fees can be 400.00 a month, plus skates, outfits, rink time, and travel. What sort of sacrifices do you make for this sort of commitment, what sort will you not take?? What if your child really isn't all that good- not good enough to warrant private coaching and travel teams, but loves the activity and the parks and rec version is like a cattle call( no individual attention or instruction)

I know alot of you have small children, and haven't really encountered this yet, but those of you with middle school age kids might relate. The kids have moved on past the " play for fun and don't keep score" sort of parks activity, but 5th and 6th grade around here does not offer a school sport. alot have played recreational teams for several years and are ready to move on to something more competative.

thoughts? experiences, opinions?

Luckily, my kids activites have not been that expensive yet, but I did pay $400 for my dd to play Junior Olympics Volleyball and $300 for my boys to play soccer. To me, it is a priority that my kids get to do these things. I think it is all a personal decision. I don't know that we could afford for my boys to play hockey so I kinda discouraged that idea from the beginning. We are concentrating on Wrestling, Tennis and soccer right now with them. We did TaeKwanDo for quite awhile, but they got tired of that. My dd is older and has decided to basically concentrate on volleyball. My oldest dd concentrated for many years on basketball. Like I said, it is a personal decision and a matter of priorities for your family. I would rather work more hours so my kids can participate because it is important for me and them.

__________________
~Happiness is a large family~

Well, my oldest was in dance for awhile- it was pretty costly- but she was really good at it (she was invited to join the competitive dancing team- which really would of escalated the cost by about $1,000 minimum !) but she got really burnt out on it. The teacher she had was a grumpy senior in high school- how I thought really had no talent! Anyways- I would of had to work a part time job in order to try to pay for the extra classes, costumes, traveling and so on. She was really good at it and she would of been great at the competitive dance (which is a great chance for scholarships and so on!) so I think that it would of sorta justify the cost. Although, my DD is not competitive at all and I think she would of hated it and actually with her time off she told me that she would not of had joined the competitve team (yippee!).

I honestly feel 1 activity is enough- the cost really starts to add up! My youngest would love to be in dance class but I won't let her take a class until she is done with preschool- sounds harsh but I have to pay for preschool and would not have the money for her to also do a dance class!

my kids are in Gymnastics and we do spend a good amount on it! they do try other things in bewtween like soccer wich is only for 8 weeks this summer and maybe even fall!! other than that maybe Dance during the school year but Im not sure this next year if thats gonna happen!!

__________________
Kelly mom to 2 gymmonkeys!!!

My oldest son is in 10th grade, he plays soccer on three teams - our high school team, an elite team and a team thats just for fun, we spend quite a bit of money on soccer for him but he loves the sport and is very good player.

My oldest DD will be starting 6th grade soon, in the fall she plays soccer and basketball, in the spring she plays soccer and kickball. Our biggest expense for her is the travel involved.

My youngest DD just turned 4 and she plays soccer, kickball and gymnastics.

My kids enjoy playing sports and we enjoy watching them.

__________________
DS-16
DD-12
DD-5
DS-2

You need to ask yourself how much your child enjoys a certain activity. If they could care less than I wouldn't drop hundreds. On the other hand if they are really good at a certain sport, and you can afford it, go for it.

Right now we are involved in gymnastics (for 2 it's around $130 every 8 weeks. class meets weekly). We are looking at a new dance studio and it is cheap as far as dance goes around here. (I think it will be around $45/month for both girls). Girl Scouts is cheap and we also do swimming lessons for the oldest.

We have done basketball camps as well. DD wanted to take a break from that.

My goal is for them to have fun, meet new people, learn new skills, get exercise, and help build positive self esteem.

I would have to take a 2nd job on a street corner to pay for that . My opinion on this one if your child isn't really good I would definitely skip the private lessons. If she enjoys skating take her to a rink during open skate.

Our kids are only allowed one activity for the year, or 2 if its a 1/2 year type activity. Girls take dance - costs a small fortune but they love it so I dont care. No competitions though - we definetly couldnt afford that and it is too time consuming, I think. DS plays baseball. Tried soccer a couple seasons but didnt cling to it so I didnt sign him up again.

I think you need to decide how much you can afford, how much time youre willing to put into each activity (its not just their time, it can effect the whole family), and how much they enjoy the activity. Just a passing, they like it but dont love it, I wouldnt pay for, personally. Thats something they can do in free time.

I dont believe kids should have too many activities, especially at a young age. It can become overwhelming. And as they get older, academics should be top priority - not a sport.

As for little league being $100 per month ??? Thats crazy. Here the most we pay for little league for the older kids I think is $175 per SEASON. Right now its $75 per season for the rookie league.

My youngest would love to be in dance class but I won't let her take a class until she is done with preschool- sounds harsh but I have to pay for preschool and would not have the money for her to also do a dance class!

This is exactly how I am too. My dd would love to be in dance class, but I honestly couldn't afford it with what we paid for preschool. Plus, I wanted to make sure that it was something that she was truly interested in, kwim? At her age, she'll say that she wants to do this and that and then he mind changes the next day, lol. Anyway, I think that it is something that we'll look into now that she'll be in kindergarten in a few weeks

Both of my kids are on a competative swim team, and they swim year round...it does get expensive, but I love that they found a sport that they enjoy! So I'm all for it!

When they were smaller, they did all different kinds of activities, from sports to art classes. I really wanted them to try a lot of different things and they enjoyed it. Now that they're older, they're more focused on one thing (swimming). My older son enjoys baseball and he usually does that thru school. We did get him some private coaching last year, which really helped him and was totally worth the money. My older son also play classical guitar. Again, something he really enjoys. My younger son wants to start taking piano, so I'm happy to get him into that. I think the kids prioritize themselves, they know that if it affected their schoolwork, we'd have to drop something but so far, so good.

I think extra curriculars are important but they're certainly not a necessity. If we couldn't afford it, we wouldn't do them...