How to avoid ‘all work and no play’: Extracurricular activity ideas for students, sorted by grade level

Kids can easily get overwhelmed by returning to the school year, especially if they spent their summer with a more relaxed schedule and opportunities to explore their interests. The return to school can mean a return to rigidity and boredom. This can wear some kids out and can overwhelm others.

To avoid student burnout, parents and guardians can offer their children opportunities to explore other activities and interests after school and on the weekends. This can actually help learning outcomes by stimulating other parts of a student’s brain while giving them the opportunity to relax and not think about school.

Paint for toddlers — Activities like art work different brain “muscles” than what children often use at school, which can provide a sense of fun, excitement, and learning while also giving them a break.

Below are some of our favorite extracurricular activity ideas, sorted by age or ability level, to engage children of all sorts.

Elementary school (ages 4-8)

Arts and Crafts

Playing with paint, coloring with crayons, or stringing buttons onto a string to make beautiful jewelry – these are just a few different types of art activities that can provide relaxation and creative outlet for young children. Arts and crafts aid childhood development by teaching about shapes and colors, encouraging creative problem solving, and promoting fine motor skills. At the same time, craft activities are low stress because they have open-ended outcomes. Young children can lose themselves in the peaceful activity without worrying about what they’re making, a process that promotes feelings of focus and calm.

Toddler Jewel Colored Paint — Kwik Stix Tempera Paint Sticks provide a mess-free, fun-optimized way for young children to create with paint! Tempera paint works on a variety of surfaces and can be used for a wide variety of projects, while Kwik Stix’s fast drying formula ensures the paint stays on the project and does not smear on hands or clothes.

Listening to music, audiobooks, or fun facts

Some children relax best when they’re listening to a story about faraway places and exciting characters. Others prefer to get caught up in entrancing music. Both are options with the Yoto Audio Player, which lets children safely choose what they want to listen to through pre-programmed cards. With Yoto’s library, children can listen to beloved children’s books or discover a love for classical music, and everything in between.

For kids who prefer concrete ideas, the Yoto BrainBots Collection offers audio-based fun facts about dozens of different topics. From dinosaurs to famous inventions to sports and beyond, your child can learn something new while unwinding from their day at school.

3rd Generation Player by Yoto — The Yoto player allows children to choose what they want to listen to from a curated collection of cards containing stories, music, and trivia. With Yoto, children can feel in control of their down time while parents can rest assured that their kids are listening to safe, appropriate content.

Playing Make Believe

Sometimes, you just have to get away – or pretend that you have, at least. Playing make believe is a great outlet for young children who need to take a breather after a day at school. Parents and guardians can participate in make believe sessions with their kid by letting the child set the scene and then playing along. Or, help your child create their own world with the use of figurines.

Make believe can be helped out with Pretend Play sets, which provide all the accessories a child needs to let their imagination run wild.

Middle School (ages 9-13)

Arts and Crafts II

Older kids can also benefit from the therapeutic results of art time, though the types of art activities they may find interesting differs from younger kids. Middle school aged students may find stimulation and relaxation from more complex art projects like making clay sculptures, experimenting with technical tools like an airbrush, or focusing on precise tasks like a paint-by-numbers kit or a mosaic sticker book. These sorts of projects still offer open ended problem solving and creative stimulation while challenging children with higher motor control and longer-term planning skills.

Airbrush Air Color Kit — Older students can challenge themselves with new art tools like an airbrush paint set while still benefitting from the relaxation that arts and crafts can provide.

Stretching and Exercise

The benefits of physical activity for relaxing are well documented. Moving around helps to release endorphins and other neurochemicals that help boost mood and reduce anxiety. Movement and exercise can also help get rid of pent-up energy after a day of sitting at a desk.

These benefits are true for people of all ages, but for older children who may be spending more time at their desks at school, finding physical outlets outside of school may become more important. If you notice that your child can’t seem to sit still or struggles with anxious thoughts and focus difficulty, offer them opportunities to release their anxious energy and regain a sense of calm through stretching and physical play. Tools like yoga cards can help direct their movements so that they can explore a full range of physical expression in their free time.

Jigsaw Puzzles

No longer restricted to rainy days, jigsaw puzzles are a great soothing extracurricular activity for middle school aged children. Puzzles can help children practice their long-term focus and fine motor control while also appealing to their creative side as they piece together a beautiful picture. Letting your child pick out the design they would like to complete can help motivate them to finish a challenging puzzle project even if it takes several sessions to do.

Harry Potter Puzzle — Finding puzzles that feature your child’s interests, like a 1000-piece puzzle featuring the Great Hall from Harry Potter, can encourage them to work through a challenging task and find enjoyment in the process.

High School (ages 14-18)

Modeling kits

For older children with advanced cognitive skills and fine motor control, 3D modeling kits can provide a challenging yet satisfying extracurricular activity. Modeling kits provide a clear goal for these students to work towards while offering flexibility and creativity in how the pieces come together.

Modeling kits can also provide a variety of tactile stimulation for the user based on what materials they are made out of. For instance, wooden modeling kits provide a softer, earthier feel to the fingertips while metal modeling kits are cool and rigid to the touch.

Metal Earth Sheets — Metal Earth steel modeling kits lets advanced students recreate characters and settings from their favorite fantasy series through attentive craftsmanship and focus.

Lego sets

LEGOs offer a curious challenge for their users: how can such small, repetitive blocks be used to create diverse structures? Building one’s way to the final masterpiece requires patience, focus, and critical thinking. But, because the final product may reference a favorite TV show or movie or be a beautiful work of art in its own right, LEGOs feel indulgent and fun. That’s just one reason why LEGO sets are wonderful options for high school students who need to step away from their schoolwork to relax or refocus.

LEGO block sets allow users to create complex creations with small, repetitive pieces, like a 3D mosaic. This encourages focus, dedication, and creativity while providing an outlet for stress.

Reading

While reading might seem like just an extension of what kids have to do in school, the right book can provide a welcome outlet to help older students. Novels can offer high school students characters to identify with and learn from, as well as help them envision how to deal with situations they have not yet had to face in real life. Some students may prefer non-fiction books that teach them about topics they aren’t learning about in school. Letting your high school student pick out their own books, whether from a store or a library, can help encourage a lifelong love of reading as well as provide a step aside from the obligation of their school tasks.

Posted in Uncategorized