After-school activities, like athletics, arts programs, and STEM programs play an important role in the development of children. They can improve the happiness, health, and productivity of a child, and can even be a good way for families to connect with each other. Along with keeping the child’s mind busy, after-school activities can help with the development of life skills, like communication and teamwork. While athletic activities, arts programs, and STEM programs have lots of common benefits, here are some of the differences we’ve found.

Benefits of Athletics for Children

Choosing the right sports program for your child not only will teach them teamwork and communication, but can also influence them towards a healthy lifestyle. Almost any sports program will ensure that your child stays active, giving them the opportunity to build stronger bones and muscles, along with increasing their coordination and balance. Learning healthy habits like exercise and movement at a young age can transfer into adulthood, leading to lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues. The exercise that sports provide can even reduce stress, giving children and adults alike a life-long tool that can create the feeling of overall well-being.

Along with a healthier lifestyle, participating in sports can improve a child’s self-esteem and teach them discipline, respect, and goal-setting. Even children in individual sports will learn respect while working with their coach, competition, and peers. Fair play is a major skill learned while participating in sports and some children will bring that skill to other activities, becoming models for their peers. Lastly, sports give children something to bond over and a community to be a part of, which creates the perfect environment to make lifelong friends.

Benefits of Arts for Children

Arts programs, like theater, dance (also a sport), and music have a lot of the same benefits as athletics, but have a larger influence on creative thinking. Many programs in the art category encourage children to think outside of the box and find new ways of doing things. The creative foundation leads children to express themselves in their art and can give them the confidence to become their true self and make their own decisions as an adult. Like exercise can reduce stress, art can help children and adults express complicated feelings and emotions, improving overall well-being.

Things like learning, memorizing, and practicing scripts, choreography, or the notes of a song can improve children’s language and reasoning skills. It can also lend a hand when it comes to the child’s learning skills and in turn, can improve school performance. Participating in art programs allows children to express who they are around peers, instructors, or even family and can be a great tool for developing strong social skills.

Benefits of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) for Children

Like arts programs, STEM programs are a great space for children to foster creativity, communication, and teamwork skills. What sets STEM apart is how it creates a fun learning environment for those school subjects that are typically harder for children to grasp. It uses hands-on activities and real-world application to get children interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The fun twist on those difficult subjects is a great way to increase involvement and motivation in the subject, while also giving children the tools to increase overall school performance.

The hands-on environment will expose your child to failure and how to overcome it, influencing them to become determined adults. As your child participates in STEM activities, they will also develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, confidence, and curiosity. STEM programs can even become a substitute to tutoring! See below for information about our STEM Builders event!

Looking to Enroll Your Child in an Athletic Program?

Look no further! Jam Hops offers free trials for our Gymnastics, Dance, and JH XSports classes. Give us a call today to schedule your free trial and see if your child will enjoy one of our athletic programs. You can reach us at 763-413-0647.

Looking to Enroll Your Child in an Arts Program?

Like stated above, Jam Hops offers free trials for our Dance classes. We are also home to Upstage Productions Children’s Theater, which does seasonal productions with roles for children of every experience level. Minnesota is full of arts programs and opportunities for children. For example, the Rum River Art Center has programs, classes, and camps for children throughout the year. Click HERE to visit their website.

Looking to Enroll Your Child in a STEM Program?

Join us at Jam Hops with STEM Builders on February 27th for our STEM Builders Open Gym event! We will be combining our popular Open Gym with an interactive and engaging STEM Builders activity. Children will get a taste of what STEM is all about, while also getting to play in Jam Hops’ state-of-the-art facility! Click HERE to learn more about the Feb. 27th event. Click HERE to visit STEM Builders’ website.  

Finding the right after-school program for your child can seem like a daunting task with so many options. We hope that our February Jam Packed Blog has helped you get nearer to your decision and that Jam Hops will become a part of your journey to discover the perfect program for your child!