Extracurricular activities are a key part of childhood, helping kids of all ages discover their interests, build new skills, make friends, and explore their passions. However, the cost of extracurriculars—ranging from sports to music lessons and art classes—can add up quickly.
Depending on the sport, lesson, or activity, extracurricular hobbies can end end up not only costing families hundreds or thousands or of dollars a year, but they can also have an impact on academics.
The Hidden Cost of Extracurricular Activities
According to the latest LendingTree survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers, 71% of parents say their children are involved in extracurricular activities. The survey also indicated that parents spend an annual average of $731 per child. However, actual fees vary depending on the type of activity and location.
What’s the most popular extracurricular activity for students?
- 70% Sports: Sports was the most popluar activity for students under 18, according for 70% of chosen extracurricular activities.
- 41% Musical Instruments: Whether guitar, piano, or other instrument, music was the second most popular acitivity, accounting for 41% of the responses.
- 28% Art & Dance: Art and Dance tied for third place at 28% of the responses.
Balancing School with Extracurricular Commitments
Extracurricular activities are valuable for students’ personal growth and help to foster discipline, teamwork, and leadership. However, they also demand time, often competing with schoolwork and academic success. With packed schedules, students may find completing homework, preparing for tests, or maintaining strong grades challenging. And extracurricular commitments may lead to school stress, especially for teens, as they look to the future.
Check out these 10 warning signs your child may be stressed about school.
A Sobering Statistic About Sports
Parents may be concerned about whether extracurricular involvement is a genuine an investment in their child’s future. Results from the survey showed that 68% of parents with kids in activities believe these extracurriculars could one day lead to income or a career. While some students will earn scholarships for sports or the arts, the reality is that less than 2% of high school students secure athletic scholarships.
Academic excellence remains the best path to post-secondary success. While colleges view extracurricular activites as a positive on applications, providing colleges with a better understanding of teens’ personalities, interests, and objectives, grades and entrance exam scores remain the primary metric form admission.
Review these 7 best extracurriculars for college applications.
Tutoring: A Smart Extracurricular Investment
Between the financial and time commitments, tutoring can be overlooked as an essential investment. Here’s why you should consider tutoring to be just as valuable as sports or music lessons.
- Regular tutoring helps students strengthen core subjects, leading to better grades and confidence in school.
- Balancing extracurriculars and school can be overwhelming; tutoring provides structured academic support to prevent falling behind.
- Strong academic performance opens more doors for scholarships and university admissions than extracurriculars alone.
- Unlike school, tutoring is personalized to address a child’s specific needs, reinforcing learning gaps and improving comprehension.
A child’s academic journey will be filled with ups and downs, but it will always have benefits. Children with high levels of academic achievement are more likely to have more employment opportunities, secure higher salaries, and become more active as citizens. While elementary school math might seem disconnected from having a successful career as an adult, the skills children build now play a key role in their future success.
Invest in Your Child’s Future with GradePower Learning
It can be easy to prioritize extracurricular activities over classroom learning. Many children find their activities much more enjoyable than school. School and sports/activities are fun, while school can be challenging. Children will choose to have fun over being challenged every time.
But the fact that school is challenging is exactly the point. Students need to be challenged to learn, grow and develop the skills they will need in the future. A child’s academic development is directly tied to achieving goals and dreams for the future. School is singularly about helping children develop both knowledge and learning skills to equip them for the future.
At GradePower Learning, we help students manage their academics and extracurricular activities. Our personalized tutoring programs help students excel in school while developing the time management skills they need for future success.
Investing in your child’s education today will yield long-term benefits, setting them up for academic and career success. Want to learn how tutoring can fit into your family’s schedule?
