What age to start putting kids in activities such as soccer or ballet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only start young if it's convenient and a fun activity for YOU. Keep the focus and fun and socialization rather than skill.

I had friends stressed about taking their toddlers and preschoolers to a zillion activities. Their calendars were so busy and they were always running around. We did nothing other than lots of free play until starting one organized activity for each kid in first grade. Parents taught swimming and bicycle. By late elementary school, kids asked to add or switch to another sport or dance.

Now that the kids are in middle school, there is zero difference in skill level for most things for the early starters compared to the late starters. It's important to stay active, but kids build more social skills if they get to self direct activities and learn how to problem solve in kid-led environments. I'd recommend a free and convenient neighborhood playgroup over an expensive series of classes for those reasons.

I coached for quite a while. There is definitely a difference with early vs late starters in a lot of sports. Starting late matters so parents should keep in mind if they are ok/just looking for a more recreational experience vs competition-oriented. I firmly believe that all children have potential and private lessons can train up everyone to a reasonable level but prior experience does play a part technically as well as prior conditioning. I would not start as late as middle school for something like most dance and gymnastics without accounting for private lessons to catch up. Martial arts, fencing, volleyball are all fine later as is rowing. I would do soccer earlier, too.

There needs to be a balance in time spent in organized activities and free play. Don't overschedule and turn your child into a neurotic mess who can't self-direct, either. Keep it fun. Cross-training is important, too, so don't get locked into just one sport early.

What does “late” starter mean to you? I read this post as saying by middle school it didn’t matter if you started soccer at 2 or 6 once you were in middle school, not suggesting that starting soccer in middle school was the same as starting at 6 (or 2).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only start young if it's convenient and a fun activity for YOU. Keep the focus and fun and socialization rather than skill.

I had friends stressed about taking their toddlers and preschoolers to a zillion activities. Their calendars were so busy and they were always running around. We did nothing other than lots of free play until starting one organized activity for each kid in first grade. Parents taught swimming and bicycle. By late elementary school, kids asked to add or switch to another sport or dance.

Now that the kids are in middle school, there is zero difference in skill level for most things for the early starters compared to the late starters. It's important to stay active, but kids build more social skills if they get to self direct activities and learn how to problem solve in kid-led environments. I'd recommend a free and convenient neighborhood playgroup over an expensive series of classes for those reasons.

This is great advice. Can you explain what you mean by neighborhood playgroup? Where would one find such a group? I am interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t stress about the availability of all the baby classes. They are mostly ways for moms or nannies to have something to break up the day, get their kids out of the house, meet fellow moms/nannies with similar age kids. You can do some (and I personally enjoy having a few such things on the calendar) but you don’t have to take which ones or when too seriously.

My kid started developing some actual semblance of an interest in certain activities around 4.

Hey I have a question. I dont know a lot of people in the area. Can you advise on how I could go about meeting other moms/ nannnies for play groups before they are in school as you suggested above?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just signed up our 17 mo for swimming and he will do soccer next ; mostly just to get him out of the house and socialize with other kids since he’s home all day.

is this the first activity for the 17 mo old?

[Anonymous]

Age 3-4. They won’t get a lot of skills per se, but they will learn the process of going to a practice, listening to a teacher or coach, separating from their parent (unless it’s a mommy and me class).

Kindergarten is when kids start with jerseys and games. You didn’t ask about baseball, but some organizations require a season of t-ball and most kids age out of t-ball before or during Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t stress about the availability of all the baby classes. They are mostly ways for moms or nannies to have something to break up the day, get their kids out of the house, meet fellow moms/nannies with similar age kids. You can do some (and I personally enjoy having a few such things on the calendar) but you don’t have to take which ones or when too seriously.

My kid started developing some actual semblance of an interest in certain activities around 4.

Hey I have a question. I dont know a lot of people in the area. Can you advise on how I could go about meeting other moms/ nannnies for play groups before they are in school as you suggested above?

This will depend on your neighborhood, but I would start with library storytime, looking for local Facebook mom groups, and hanging out at the playground. You have to put yourself out there a little and be the one to start conversations.

[Anonymous]

We did swimming classes for my daughter (except 2020) from birth but it didn't click until she was 6. Not bothering with lessons for my son until he's 4 or 5

[Anonymous]

We started our daughter in ballet and tap at 5. We waited until she asked to join an activity because she tended to be shy in other classes we did. We tried ice skating at 4 at her request and it was a huge failure and she didn't enjoy it. She is in a ballet class with other kids who have been doing it since three and she caught up with skills very quickly and you can't really tell the difference between her and those that started earlier.

We have a three year old as well and I plan to wait to get her into activities until 4 or 5 or until she asks to do something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried a mommy and me creative movement class at Dance Place when DD was 2 since she seemed to enjoy yoga at daycare. She was wayyyyyy more interested in being the class clown, but other kids, including some younger than her, were fully participating and having a lot of fun. She's 4 now, still the class clown, and has been asking about ballet. We're going to try daddy and me ice skating instead.

Why aren't you doing ballet?

It’s harder to cause trouble on ice skates.

[Anonymous]

It isn’t the 30 to 45 minute activity you do once a week that is important if you want your kid to do well in sports, it is what you do most other days. My husband loves soccer so he bought a little net and played soccer out on the backyard with my son as soon as he could walk. My son could drop kick a ball at 18 months. It was an activity they both enjoyed so they played a lot of backyard soccer and then later little neighborhood kids joined in. When my son started real organized soccer at 5 he was so much better than kids who went to a once a week class starting at age 2.

I played softball as a kid so my other son was more interested in baseball. I played hours of catch with him in the backyard. Obviously when he went to pay t-ball at 5 he was really good. By 6 he was known in our little league as being a good player and was picked to be on all star teams. I don’t think he was naturally a gifted player he just got an early start.