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Types Of After-School Club Activities

17. February 2021 Administrator Blog (0)
After-school club activities are important for the overall development of students. They offer opportunities for socializing, taking risks, making decisions, applying logic, exercising team work and more. There are various types of after-school activities that students can engage in depending on their liking and area of interest. Most of these activities even aid in improving their academic performance in addition to polishing up other aspects of their personalities.

Following is a list of various types of after-school activities that students can engage in:

  • Career Centric Activities: Students are encouraged to explore their skills and interests and develop them via interactive and voluntary activities. The programs consist of job shadowing, mentoring and training opportunities.
  • College Readiness Clubs: Youngsters are prepared for high school graduation, post secondary education and for careers. They are taught to make short and long-term goals and are also taken for college tours.
  • STEM Activities: Stress is laid upon understanding the theory and connections of scientific themes. The activities comprise of Engineering Design, Science of Sports, Food Chemistry, Energy and Electricity.
  • Photography: Various forms of photography are taught to students e.g. digital, alternative process, black and white and color photography. Local and regional photography contests are held for categories like fashion and style, filters, editing and more.
  • Financial Literacy: These activities aim to help students learn how to create budgets, financial management, saving, investing and more. The skills learnt in such clubs help youngsters make sound financial decisions as adults.
  • Fine Arts: The focus is on recognizing and developing skills such as painting, printmaking, drawing, mixed media, sculpturing, collage making and so on. Usually select works of participants are displayed at the National Fine Arts Exhibit and other national events.
  • Study Assistance: Students have access to homework assistance, learning activities, tutoring and more. They are encouraged to become self-directed learners over time and propelled to complete their assignments on time.
  • Brain Games Clubs: These clubs consist of modules whereby students are encouraged to brush up their Math and reading skills with the help of creative expression, projects, discovery, group work and more. A project-based learning approach with theme-based fun activities is used to develop higher-order thinking skills.
  • Social Service Clubs: These clubs help the youth discover their innate gifts and use the same for the welfare of the society and for personal development. Stress is laid upon interpersonal skills, community responsibility and work ethics through service and volunteer projects.
  • Other Clubs/Activities: Character development clubs, teen clubs, league sports and fitness programs, discussion clubs, personality development clubs, skills mastery and resilience training, self esteem enhancement programs, leadership programs and more.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas organize an array of after-school activities for kids in Killeen, TX.  To know more about types of after-school activities, visit 703 N. 8th Street, Killeen, TX - 76541. You can also call at (254) 699 – 5808.

How To Choose Right Activities For Mental Growth Of Kids?

28. December 2020 Administrator Blog (0)
Mental growth of kids involves dealing with emotional and social aspects of their personalities. To facilitate mental growth, it may be helpful to engage kids in activities aimed at the same. Such activities help kids regulate their emotions and improve social skills while having fun at the same time.

Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing activities for mental growth of kids:

  • Fun: The activity should be one that is full of fun in order to keep a child interested and engaged. For example, guessing games, fun rhymes, water activities, reading themed books, drawing, painting and more.
  • Realistic: When making a choice of mental activities for your child, keep your goals realistic. The activity chosen should be in tandem with your child’s abilities in order to get best results. The best way to gauge whether an activity is realistic for your child is to pick one that is age appropriate.
  • Instructive: Even though the aim of these activities is to encourage children to be independent, an activity should send a clear message of not crossing certain boundaries of behavior. A child should be able to understand that every action will have a consequence.
  • Effective Praise: To get the most out of an activity aimed at mental growth, it is important to praise every little progress a child makes. This encourages the child to expand his horizons even if it calls for taking some risks.
  • Safety: Even though it is completely okay and normal for your child to feel scared of engaging in some activities, it is important to ensure that the activities chosen are safe and undertaken in a secure environment. Look out for signs of fear like nervous mannerisms, change in sleeping and eating patterns, etc., as these may be indicative of a need to change the activity.
  • Memory And Concentration: For a mental health activity to be effective, choose one that aims at improving your child’s memory and concentration levels. Examples of such activities are games like picture bingo, brain boxes, number string, etc. Such games help a child strengthen his retrievable memory and enhance auditory memory.
  • Active learning: Look for activities that promote active learning as opposed to passive learning activities. Active leaning activities engage and challenge a child’s capacity to think and learn with the help of both imaginary and real life scenarios. Such activities should consist of investigative, purposeful, pre-planned and some spontaneous activities. The key is to choose an activity that engages both mind and body.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas offer a variety of after-school activities to improve the mental growth of kids in Killeen, TX.  To know more about how to choose right activities for mental growth of kids, visit 703 N. 8th Street, Killeen, TX - 76541. You can also call at (254) 699 – 5808.

The Crucial Role Of Recess In School

28. February 2020 Administrator Blog (0)
It is believed that including recess in school schedule has myriad benefits on the overall development of a child’s personality. It provides a much-needed break from a time-constrained academic schedule giving a child an opportunity to socialize. Also, students get time to explore and build cognitive, emotional, physical and academic skills. As per the American Academy of Pediatrics, recess is crucial to the overall development of a child and should be encouraged in schools. It provides a child with interactive and explorative experiences in an unstructured environment

Listed below are some benefits of recess for the development of a school-going child:

  • Academic Benefits: Children who are granted time for recess amidst their academic sessions at school have higher chances of performing better academically. This is because of the invaluable physical, cognitive and emotional benefits that recess has to offer. Such kids have higher energy levels, better retention and are more alert in class. A small break recharges them for academic sessions and boosts their overall academic performance.
  • Cognitive Benefits: Recess encourages children to run around and move freely. This has profound benefits on a child’s mental abilities related to focusing and overall brain function. Irrespective of whether recess is outdoors or indoors, it optimizes cognitive processing and makes a child more attentive and productive in class.
  • Social Benefits: During recess, children get to practice valuable social skills with peers. They learn how to negotiate, solve problems, improve coping skills, work as a team, cooperate, exercise self-control and develop other positive social habits. Having both positive and challenging social interactions helps kids in developing important life skills like leadership and negotiation.
  • Emotional Benefits: A child develops a high emotional quotient if exposed to activities that grant freedom of thought and movement. It can lead to huge emotional benefits for a child. Recess provides great lessons for managing emotions. It provides a healthy and safe environment to vent-out excessive energy and stress that build-up due to academics and fixed routines. Kids who enjoy recess time at school are more likely to grow into happier, responsible, empathetic and less stressed adults.
  • Physical Benefits:  Recess provides an opportunity for children to be physically active. Physical activity helps with fighting obesity, improving mental clarity, boosting one’s mood and generally improving overall health. As per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), physical activity of at least 60 minutes every day is required for kids to be healthy and active.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas provide various opportunities for students to learn and grow. The aim of the clubs is to engage children in life-enhancing programs. For further information on the crucial role of recess in school, visit 304 W Ave B, Killeen, TX – 76541. You can also call at (254) 699 – 5808.

Importance Of Indoor Games For Kids

15. July 2019 Administrator Blog (0)
Playing games is vital to ensure overall development of kids. However, in today’s world, children are surrounded by smart gadgets and computers, which spares them few time for outdoor games. Thus, indoor games such as ball pools, jigsaw puzzles, trampolines, ping pong, balancing beams, treasure hunt, etc. offer a great alternative for encouraging children to play actively within a safe environment and motivate them to build strong bond with their peers and family members.

Listed below are some benefits of engaging children in indoor games:

  • Physical Fitness: The most beneficial aspect of indoor games for kids is that indoor games improve body movements and fitness. The games help in keeping kids healthy, sharpen a child’s reflexes and develop fast-twitch muscles.
  • Safety: Indoor games provide a safe and comfortable environment for children to play. The controlled environment of home or a club reduces the risk of injuries as there is no traffic, stones, etc. Also, indoor games allow children to play irrespective of weather conditions i.e. extremely hot, cold or rain.
  • Better Coordination: Playing indoor games like table-tennis, badminton, ping-pong, etc. helps children in developing hand-eye coordination. These games also boost agility, responsiveness, power of judgement and body reflexes. Additionally, children develop cognitive skills that help them in maintaining good physical and mental health.
  • Creativity: When kids are allowed to play in a safe and secure environment without intervention by adults, they develop creative and imaginative skills. Indoor games provide them an opportunity to explore things at their own pace, question their surroundings, figure out solutions to given situations, learn from their peers, etc. This boosts the confidence level of kids and encourages them to trust their skills.
  • Social Skills: Indoor games require children to play in groups and encourage them to communicate among themselves. Thus, kids learn to express their ideas, formulate strategies, work as a team, help one another, etc. Such acts boost their social skills which may be helpful in their life.
  • Adaptable Environment: The environment for playing indoor games can be easily adapted to suit climatic conditions, number of players, kids with special needs and certain other factors.
  • Learning: Indoor games provide an opportunity for children to learn life lessons and develop skills such as a positive attitude, being balanced in the face of success and failure, discipline, decision-making, the value of time and much more.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas organize various programs to help kids develop their skills and maintain physical health. To know more about the importance of indoor games for kids, visit 304 W Ave B Killeen, TX – 76541. You can also call at (254) 699 - 5808.

How Playing Sports Initiates Positive Attitude

14. November 2018 Administrator Blog (0)
Participating in sports activities is highly beneficial as it helps in developing emotional and social skills of a player as well as assists in fostering positive feelings and responses.

Playing sports trains the mind to look at everything optimistically as there is a goal/vision, and then there is the attitude to achieve it. Players are trained to be positive and to believe in themselves till last minute of the game.

Let’s take a look at some ways in which sports initiate a positive attitude in players:

  • Teamwork For A Positive Result: Team work is must to win any game. Playing sports teaches how to strive for a goal with positive attitude as a team. For success, positivity is crucial and that is what sports imbibes in the players. Each player strives to do his best for improving the team’s performance. This requires good communication skills, organizational skills, problem-solving capabilities and many other such positive traits.
  • Encouraging Fair Play: Fair play is a key requirement for any sports. Unfair acts are discouraged and punished whereas fair and rightful behavior is appreciated. Players develop these positive traits and implement them even in their day-to-day lives.
  • Positive Influence: In every sports team, there’s someone who plays the role of a leader. This could be the coach or a veteran player. These individuals are polished and thoroughly disciplined in what they do. Their influence on other players can be immensely positive and motivating.
  • Teaches How To Cope With Unpleasant Situations: Encouraging sports right from childhood can be a powerful platform for major life lessons in a safe and structured environment. Players experience emotional highs and lows in a controlled environment and learn how to deal with these emotions in the best way possible. They grow into balanced and emotionally strong individuals. Also, they learn how to take both success and failure in their stride.
  • Good Company: Playing sports makes you interact with like-minded individuals who share the same passion. These interactions can develop into stronger bonds and even convert into lifelong friendships that are based on a positive foundation.
  • Develop Empathy For Others: Empathy and a positive attitude go hand in hand. Sports helps players learn how to be sensitive to the feelings of their fellow players. They learn how to support, motivate and care for each other.

We, at Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central Texas, offer a wide range of programs for kids from 6 to 18 years of age. To enroll your child at the club, call at (254) 699 –5808 or visit 304 W Ave B, Killeen, TX – 76541.