Simply put, your little ones need creative activities for kids. Even after the end of the school day, your children are still full of energy. So, they need something to spend it on. However, if this energy is not used positively, your kids will throw tantrums, which is not a good thing. So, what we need is something engaging to put them in. That’s where after-school care programs play an important role in your child’s life. In this blog, we will look at why every child needs to engage in fun activities after school.
Benefits of After-School Creative Activities for Children
After-school care activities are not only engaging and enjoyable but they also help nurture and develop your child. There are many reasons you should enroll your little ones in enrichment activities. Here are 6 of them.
1. A Healthy Way to Relax
It’s much better than sitting on watching Television. Creative activities for kids encourage children to have free play time, which fosters a healthier lifestyle. This goes a long way as your children grow and learn to live healthy, wealthy, and wise.
2. Develops Social Skills
Another benefit of enrolling your children in fun after-school programs is they learn to engage in more social conversations. It’s a lifelong skill that helps them in academics as well as in life. Plus, children learn these in enjoyable ways, meaning that they will have fun while they learn.
3. Builds Confidence
A good thing about creative activities for kids in after-school is that they build confidence in children. Kids feel more confident about achieving things in a fun learning manner. Plus, they become more independent as they start doing more activities away from their parents.
4. Fosters Creativity
What we love about kids’ enrichment activities is regardless of their category, they will always foster creativity in your children. It is yet another skill, which is necessary for children to think out of the box and easily handle all situations in life.
5. Teaches Moral Values
When it comes to teaching moral values, there’s nothing better than creative activities for kids. It is totally up to the teachers to act as role models while children’s minds are occupied in the activity. This way, children will naturally learn to be morally good without any force.
6. Teaches New Skills
Educational games for children are the best way for your child to learn while having fun. These games and activities make sure that your little one learns new skills such as languages, music, and art enjoyably.
How to Encourage Children to Enjoy Creative Activities?
For your children to learn the most from creative activities for kids, they must first have the wish to participate in them. Remember, you can’t force your kids into anything. If you do, it will have a bad effect on their morals and health.
So, the idea is to have a hands-on learning for kids approach. All you have to do is let your little one be. Leave her or him alone while keeping watch from afar. That way it will ensure:
- Your children start engaging in fun activities.
- Your kids’ creativity and learning spirit will grow more when they are doing things on their own.
- Your little one is enjoying the process of creating and playing.
You can encourage them later to improvise or interact with them after they are done with the creative activities for kids. For example:
- Ask how you attach the wheels to the toy.
- Show me how many sounds you can make on the piano.
- You can help them too by holding the shape while your little one paints around it.
Read Also – Top 10 Best Daycare and Preschool in San Mateo
The Importance of Creative Activities for Kids
Now you know how you can encourage your child to engage in fun after-school programs. However, why do you have to do so in the first place? Here’s why children need to engage in fun activities and games as much as possible.
1. Mental Growth
Children engaged in creative activities for kids experience growth in imagination and new ideas. Your child will start loving to see the results of their experimentation, which in turn develops the mindset to always find a way to solve a problem.
2. Personal Growth
Kids enrichment activities also help children personally grow. Such activities help children express their feelings and emotions while communicating better. This creates self-confidence and a sense of identity among children.
3. Celebrates Every Child’s Uniqueness
Creative activities for kids also help celebrate and encourage the uniqueness of every child. Opportunities such as these help develop a strong sense of self in your child, which is an important part of growing up.
4. Inspires Problem-Solving
Educational games for children help the little ones to experiment with their thought processes, actions, and materials. This provides an opportunity for problem-solving from an early age, which is an essential part of life.
5. Keeps Them Busy
Creative activities for kids keep them busy all the time. Here, we don’t mean that they are always doing something or the other. However, the child’s mind will always think in creative ways and will put the idea on canvas, whenever they feel like it.
Read Also – Top 5 Benefits of After School Care for Child Development
Say Goodbye to Boredom: 5 Fun and Creative Activities for Children
Whether the activity involves dance, music, languages, or arts and crafts for children, there is always something enjoyable. With that being said, there are many creative activities out there, out of which we picked the top 5 for you.
1. 3 Markers Game
It is one of those creative activities for kids, which pushes them to think outside the box. How it goes is that:
- Your children have to close their eyes and pick out 3 markers.
- Regardless of the colors that are out, now they have to paint in their coloring book.
- To make it so that your children have to imagine more, you can also have them draw on blank sheets.
Category: Art
Who it is Good For: Elementary to high school-aged children
2. Tell Me a Story
If you want good after-school program ideas, here’s an interesting one. This activity is for the little writers in every child. Here’s how it works:
- Fill a jar with storytelling prompts.
- After your child picks out one at random they will have to write and recite a story around it.
- You can also have your kid draw on the top page for a cover.
Category: Writing
Who it is Good For: School-aged children or younger
3. Cabbage Coloring
If you see a little scientist in your child, then this is one of the most fun interactive activities for kids. What it does is let your little ones discover how plants absorb water. Here’s what you have to do.
- Gather 3 jars, food coloring, water, and cabbages.
- Mix water and food coloring in the jars.
- Have your children dip the cabbages in the jars and observe how they absorb the color.
Category: STEM
Who it is Good For: Elementary school-aged kids
4. Snack Art
This is one of the child development activities that we had to include in our list. This has both fun and learning elements with objects that your children love. That is snacks. Here’s how you do it.
- Gather your child’s favorite snacks such as cookies and wafers.
- Have your child arrange snacks on a plate till they form a shape. For example, funny clown face.
Category: Food
Who it is Good For: Toddlers through elementary school
5. Word Chain
If your child is learning a new language. For example, Spanish, this word game will surely enrich their vocabulary. Here are the rules:
- Have the younger child go first.
- He or she will have to form a word.
- This word can be anything as long as it’s not a proper noun.
- The next child will form a word from the last letter of the first word and so on.
- The game ends when one child doesn’t form a word matching the rules.
Category: Languages
Who it is Good For: Children of all ages
Conclusion
We hope you will now have a complete idea about the importance of creative activities for kids. Engaging your children in creative activities will surely give them a fun time while they also learn new skills as they grow. Remember that children learn and develop more when they are occupied in enjoyable activities and that’s where after-school care games and academies play an important role. At KidSmart Academy, your little ones get the best care while they learn in enrichment classes and camps under the guidance of the best teachers, making it the best academy for after-school programs.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is a Fun Routine After School?
Ans. You can do many things to keep your children’s minds occupied after school.
- Play with them.
- Ask them about their day.
- Enroll them in fun after-school enrichment classes.
- Engage in fun activities at home such as drawing.
- Ask them to teach you what they learned at school. (You can always pretend that you didn’t know that)
Q. Why are Creative Activities Important for Kids?
Ans. Here are 5 reasons why creative activities are essential for children.
- Mental Growth
- Personal Growth
- Celebrates Every Child’s Uniqueness
- Inspires Problem-Solving
- Keeps Them Busy
Q. What are the Best After-School Activities?
Ans. We handpicked the top 5 after-school activities that your children will enjoy.
- 3 Markers Game
- Tell Me a Story
- Cabbage Coloring
- Snack Art
- Word Chain
