Importance of Co-Curricular Activities

Co-curricular activities at all levels of a child’s education help to enhance the growth of the child in more than one ways. Participating in such activities helps the child to grow individually, socially, and mentally. Therefore, all the schools today, include co-curricular activities in their educational programs as an integral part of the school life. It is not only the duty of the teachers but also the parents, to encourage their children to participate in such programs, wholeheartedly. Parents need to understand that though these voluntary activities are not scholastic, they help in the overall social development of the child by helping unlock their hidden extra-scholastic potentials. Co-curricular activities help to induce confidence in children from a very early stage of development. There are a number of benefits for kids to participate in such school activities:

• They help in the individual growth of the child.
• The child can identify and pick his area of interest from the wide range of opportunities available. Finding areas of interest and focusing on them from a very early stage of growth is in itself a great benefit.
• They help kids to understand the importance of being associated with a group, if they participate in a group activity. The importance of teamwork is a well understood phenomenon in today’s scenario.
• Participating in these activities can instil a sense of healthy competition in your child that can take him a long way in his journey through life.
• There is a sense of responsibility that the child learns to develop by being a part of such activities as his underlying psychology tells him that his teacher has faith in him and that is why she has assigned such a responsibility to him.
• The child is left with little time to waste, as he is either busy with his studies or doing something fruitful and not just whiling away his time on unnecessary activities.
• It builds team spirit in your child and he learns to perform in a group. It gives him an opportunity to learn something from others as well as to teach them something in return.
• There are chances of fewer dropouts as a child gets involved in a number of interesting activities. It improves the academic performance of the child due to proper channelization of energy.
• Above all, it boosts the morale of the child making him high on his energy and confidence.

If your child is too young and you feel that there is hardly an option for him to perform then you are surely mistaken. The teachers today have lots of options even for the toddlers. There are singing competitions, poetry recitations, storytelling, dance competitions, performing the plays with short dialogues and much more. Encourage your child to participate, whenever there is any such event in the school. If your child is less interested in participating, then it is your responsibility to push him with the required incentives. If he has a stage fright, don’t panic. Help him prepare his stuff properly and calmly give him the confidence and strength to perform. Show your child that you are a really proud parent, when you see him perform on stage. It will give you immense