Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central Texas is a renowned club that organizes various activities aimed at the overall development of the children belonging to different age groups. The club has tutoring programs helping the child with his academics and arts programs to boost their hidden creativity.

Membership Requirements

If you want to enroll your child with any of the programs offered by Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central Texas, you need to fulfil some minimal requirements. Membership is open to all the children between 6 to 18 years of age. The parent or guardian needs to submit a completed and duly signed membership form each calendar year, both at the time of enrolling and renewing the membership of the child. Along with this, a nominal fee of $20 is to be paid per year. The fees once paid will not be pro-rated for partial year memberships.

Parents should make sure that the information that they provide in the membership form is correct and up to date. This includes your permanent address, workplace address and contact number. If there are any changes in any of these, the same must be notified to the administrators at the club. This is extremely important to ensure the safety a security of your child.

Programs Offered

• Character And Leadership: Under this program, the club organizes various activities for kids aged 8 – 18 years. It aims at boosting the child’s confidence and self-esteem so that they grow up to be responsible citizens of the society. The activities in this program include Youth of the Year, Torch Clubs, Keystone Clubs and Goals for Growth.
• Education And Career: This program aims at improving the educational and practical skills of children aged 6 – 18 years. The activities offered include Project Learn, Goals For Graduation, Power Hour, Career Launch, Junior Staff Career Development, Skill Tech and Money Matters.
• Health And Life Skills: In this, the children aged 6 – 17 years are encouraged to be emotionally, physically, socially and mentally stronger. Kids activities such as Cavity Free Zone, SMART Moves, Passport to Manhood and Healthy Habits helps the child to enhance self-esteem as well as learn about personal hygiene and other developmental needs.
• The Arts: With this program, the child gets a chance to display his latent creativity. Activities include National Fine Arts Exhibit Program, ImageMakers National Photography Contest, Digital Arts Suite and Festivals, Summer Music Camp for Teens and Drama Matters.
• Sports Fitness And Recreation: This program is open for registration to the youth aged 7 – 12 years. The activities offered under this are Youth Basketball League, Cheerleading, Tackle Football League and Swim Team.

For more information about the membership requirements for any of the above programs at Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central Texas, feel free to call at (254) 699 – 5808.

Childhood is an appropriate time to try new tasks and discover a child’s talent. As a parent one must encourage the kid to be creative and help them recognize their potential in any field. Photography is an interesting hobby that appeals to many kids. Due to the easy availability of cameras and smart phones with in-built cameras, picking up this skill has gotten much easier. Thus if you sense that your child has a natural bent towards photography you should motivate them to get better at it.

Some of the career opportunities, related to photography, that your kids could pursue are:

• Photojournalists: One of the most prominent career options in photography is photojournalism. The photojournalists have keen observation skills and gather news through their pictures. They can work for magazines, newspapers, and websites or as a freelancer. 
• Art photography: Art photographers sell their work to shops, museums and art studios. Their pictures are made into posters and prints. This type of photography requires still life photography skills that the photographer uses to click objects, buildings, food and artistic images. Such photographers can work for advertising and marketing companies, restaurants and food publications.
• Forensic photographer: Children can also develop their career in photography to be a forensic photographer. These photographers work for police to document evidences at the crime spot. This is also an interesting work profile related to photography.
• Event photography: This is a lucrative career option as the photographer documents special events such as fashion shows, parties, weddings and birthdays. This type of photography requires artistic skills and good management.
• Portrait photography: Another career option is portrait photography. The photographer works from a studio and click portraits of children, families, high school students and events.

Parents can encourage children to learn photography skills from the childhood days. They should motivate them to click pictures and teach them about the right techniques to click different types of pictures. Parents should get their child more involved in activities and competitions related to photography in their school or at city level. They can also take them to photography exhibitions to explore the work of other photographers and appreciate them. Another way to introduce photography into your child’s life, as a hobby is to make them join kids' club or classes so that they can hone their skills

We, at Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central Texas organize ImageMakers National Photography Contest to encourage kids between 6-18 years to learn and practice photography. For more information, visit 304 W Ave B, Killeen, TX - 76541 or call (254) 699-5808.

Physical activity is extremely important for kids of all ages. It helps them stay healthy and provides for the overall development of their social and emotional well-being. Swimming is one the best form of exercise as it works on multiple joints of the body without putting any excess stress or pressure on them. It is advisable to indulge kids in this fun activity at an early age.

Benefits of swimming classes for kids:

• Improves Physical Health: Swimming is a tremendous cardiovascular exercise that promotes the proper functioning of lungs and heart. It also helps to improve muscle strength and suppleness, improves body posture and balance, as well as boosts stamina.
• Improves Body Strength: In contrast to the exercises targeting a specific set of muscles, swimming helps to work on the entire body at the same time. It helps to stretch and strengthen the biceps, triceps, arms, legs abdominal and the hamstring muscles.
• Improves Social Skills: Participating in swimming leagues will provide your kid an opportunity to meet and socialize with children of his age group. Thus, he will be able to enhance his social skills and widen his knowledge base by interacting with them.
• Ensures Safety: Learning how to swim can help you make sure that your child is safe in and near water. This will also greatly reduce the risk of any danger in case your child accidently falls into an unguarded pool. Swimming will help the child to build strength and endurance, swim underwater and also develop lifesaving skills to be able to rescue others in danger.

Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central Texas offers ‘Swim Team’ program for the kids aged 7 to 17 years. The registration for the league starts in early May every year. The swim meets are held in June and the members are made to compete against the youth of same age and gender. The parents will be responsible for getting the child to and from the swim meets and practice sessions. They must bring along $55 as league fees per child and a copy of the kid’s birth certificate at the time of registration.

To enroll your child in the swim team of Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central Texas, you can call at (254) 699 – 5808 or visit 304 W Ave B, Killeen, TX – 76541.

Kids are always curious to learn new and interesting things. They have a lot of energy that can be used in a number of constructive activities. Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central Texas organizes various fun-filled and exciting programs for the kids in Texas. The activities offered at the club are suitable for children of all age groups and are intended to explore, nurture and develop the underlying talents within them. The after school programs for kids are educational and entertaining at the same time.

Given below are some of the after-school activities that the parents can consider for their children:

• Music: The summer music camp organized by the club aims at providing a platform to the kids aged 13-18 years to discover various forms of poetry and music. Right from learning to play different musical instruments, writing music and lyrics, the kids are mentored by renowned poets and artists. Open MIC nights, rusting tent camping and canoe tips are also organized.
• Fine Arts Programs: This is one of the most loved after school programs for kids. It is a fun activity that encourages artistic expression among them. Children aged between 6-18 years can enroll themselves in creative activities like painting, drawing, mixed media, collage, printmaking and sculpture making.
• Drama: Theater or drama is an after school activity that interests a majority of children. The activities also cater to children who like to be behind the cameras as they can pick up skills like production, direction and scripting.
• Sports: Participating in sports is a very healthy physical activity. It helps to keep the children fit and healthy while, at the same time, encourages teamwork and sportsman spirit in them. The club offers various sports league such as tackle football, basketball, swimming and cheerleading for kids of different age groups.
• Health And Life Skills: These programs are intended to guide and prepare kids to face the challenges of life and make them physically, socially as well as emotionally strong. Right from teaching them oral hygiene, resistance skills and positive conduct, these activities help them develop into responsible citizens of the society.

For more information about the interesting after school activities offered at Boys & Girls Clubs Of Central Texas, you can call us at (254) 699 – 5808.

Schools introduce arts from the basic classes to enhance the skills of kids who learn a number of life skills from different arts such as drawing, painting, theater, and music. It is found that arts activities lead to building of kids’ brains. When a kid is involved in an arts activity, the right brain stimulates, which is used in intuition, emotional perception, and creativity. Here are some of the skills that kids learn from arts.

Confidence

With stage exposure, the kids not only develop their presentation skills, but also gain confidence. Theater is an activity, which helps kids grow confident and take command of the stage. While training, the kids do mistakes and learn from them, thus, it helps them learn new things out of their comfort zone. They learn to interact with the audience and control them.

Creativity

Arts help children explore their creativity and thus, think out of box. When they paint their imagination or dance, they see life from different angles and think differently, which makes them stand out. They may compose a new poem, write a story, compose a song, and indulge in various other activities that show their creative side. This creativity becomes one of their biggest assets in future.

Problem Solving Skills

Most of the arts activities help kids become problem solvers, as they are constantly exposed to problems. They work through challenges and test possibilities. They make assessments and try to solve the problems by using different techniques. This practice, for sure, enhances the kids’ ability to reason and helps them succeed in life. They learn that there can be many solutions to a problem.

Communication Skills

By painting, drawing, or doing other arts activities, children learn to communicate visually. They use art to express their emotions and feelings when they cannot actually communicate in words. They paint their experiences in colors and share it with the help of other forms of art. Art is much powerful than verbal language and communicates feelings more expressively.

Ability To Focus

Arts work helps in developing one of the major skills that is ability to focus. Arts require focus and concentration and thus, the kids who indulge in art are more focused on different aspects of their work. This applies to other aspects of life.

Collaboration

When kids practice arts, they collaborate with each other and thus, learn to work together, make adjustments with others, and share the responsibility to achieve common goals. They learn that their contribution is valuable for being successful. Contributing in their own way, they achieve satisfaction and confidence. When they understand that their actions affect the performance of the entire team, they learn to be accountable.

Besides these skills, the kids develop many other skills such as fine motor skills, social and emotional skills, etc.

Art activities are essential for the overall growth of a child. Like other recreational activities, children should be encouraged to develop an interest in art. Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Texas organize various art activities for kids of different age groups. As a part of their arts program, the club offers various activities that are aimed at helping the kids discover their creative side.

Some of the art activities organized by Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Texas include:

• National Fine Arts Exhibit Program: This program enrolls kids of 6-18 years of age. The program intends to boost the artistic side of the children by way of collage, painting, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, sculptures etc. Each year, a panel of judges selects the most unique piece of art which is displayed at all events of Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for the subsequent year.
• ImageMakers National Photography Contest: This program is specifically aimed at the photography enthusiasts between the age of 6 and 18 years. In this, the kids are made familiar with different techniques of photography, including digital, black and white, color and alternative process. The members are encouraged to freely showcase their skills and interests. Also, there are various regional level contests held to recognize and commend their creativity.
• Digital Arts Suite and Festivals: With a view to develop career options for the kids, Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Texas also teach digital arts to the kids. This includes Design Tech (graphic designing), Web Tech (website designing), Music Tech and Photo Tech (photo designing). The kids are also made familiar with editing and filming movies, writing screenplays etc.
• Summer Music Camp: Kids aged 13-18 years can enroll themselves in this program to learn various musical instruments, writing music and scripting lyrics by professional mentors. The music camp is organized in collaboration with Texas Folk Music Foundation (TFMF).
• Drama Matters: This program, organized in partnership with TNT DramaMatters Afterschool, is aimed at increasing the awareness of kids about the benefits of drama and theater.

All the programs offered by Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Texas focus on complete physical, social, emotional as well as psychological development of the kids. For more information about their programs or to enroll your child with the club, feel free to call at (254) 699 – 5808.

Homework is an essential part of school education as it contributes towards learning of facts and helps the child revise the syllabus. Kids however are never too keen in doing their homework and keep getting distracted towards other activities. As all parents want their kids to be organized and regular when it comes to doing their homework they often look for ideas to make homework creative, exciting and interesting. Here are some tips that will help you make homework fun for your kids.

• Develop a homework routine: Choose an appropriate time when your child can concentrate better on his homework. You should let your child have some free fun time after school and before he begins his homework. You should find the right setting and timing, and make a routine. Following a routine is a good idea as it will help your child work more efficiently and know what is expected of him.
• Set up proper homework desk: Make sure that your kid has a comfortable, quiet and a well-lit place to study. You should set up his desk with essentials and ensure that there are no distractions nearby.
• Work together: Young children focus more on their homework if an adult accompanies them. Parents can sit down with their children and even do their own work while children carry on with their homework.
• Give them short breaks: Continuous studying can be monotonous and it is difficult for children to sit for long hence you should let them have short breaks. This will not only help in improving their concentration but will also improve their mood. You can use this break to feed them and to do stretching exercises or any physical activities.
• Make homework fun: You should encourage your children to have a playful attitude towards their homework. You can help them by using puzzles, brainteasers and other fun activities to make them learn in an interesting way. You should communicate with your child and encourage him to study and do well.
• Give incentives for finishing the work: You should help your child learn, clear his doubts and finish his homework on time. Setting a reward for performing well can be a good incentive for the child to study quickly and without distractions.

You can also encourage your child to enroll in a kid’s club that offers various education programs focusing on completing homework and offering tuitions to kids between 6-16 years of age.

It is your responsibility, as a parent, to ensure that your kids have good oral and dental care. Children are prone to cavities due to their tendency to eat sweets which leads to the buildup of bacteria in the mouth and causes damage to the teeth. However it is possible to prevent this damage if you pay attention to the proper dental care of the kids from an early stage.

Here are some tips that will help you make your kids stay cavity free.

• Assist your children with routine dental care: It is crucial to take care of your child’s teeth from an early stage. As they are not capable of brushing and flossing their teeth on their own so it is your responsibility to help the child.
• Use quality toothpaste: A large variety of toothpastes is available in the market however, not all toothpastes are for kids. It is always a good idea to ask your dentist about any recommendation as it is important that the paste your kid uses does not have any harmful content. The paste should have pleasing taste so that the kids enjoy brushing at least twice a day and fluoride helps strengthen the tooth enamel.
• Choose right toothbrush: With so many toothbrushes available, it is important that you choose a brush that is suitable, has soft bristles and is designed for the size and shape of a child’s mouth and hands. The child should be able to hold the brush properly and control the movement of the brush. Choosing colorful and attractively shaped brush encourages kids to make brushing fun.
• Monitor the diet of children: Children are fond of sweets and snacks and this is usually the main cause of tooth decay. It is important that you monitor their diet and always choose nutritious snacks for your child like fruits, low fat cheese, vegetables and other healthier options.
• Get regular dental checkup: You should take your child for regular dental checkups and make sure that every issue is resolved. Dentists often offer fluoride treatments to the children and other preventive treatments such as sealants, which are durable plastic coatings that cover the grooves and can offer protection for a few years.
• Set an example: Kids often follow their parents, so it is essential that you set a good example for them. Follow a good oral health routine and your kids will follow you.

These tips will help your child adopt good habits and have healthy teeth and gums.

We, at Boys and Girls Clubs Of Central Texas, organize Cavity-Free Zone program for kids. For details, visit us at at 304 W Ave B, TX- 76541 or call Ms. Carol Dunn (Administrative assistant) at 254-699-5808, Ext: 102.

Computers have become a part of almost every home, school and office and it is very important that kids are aware of its basic functioning. Thus, kids should be exposed to computers at an early stage so that they are well prepared to enter the digital world. Given here are some of the benefits of enrolling your child in a computer skills program.

Educational Benefits

Computer has provided new ways for the children to learn, particularly for those with learning disabilities. Having proficiency with word processing and spreadsheets can be of great help in doing various assignments when they grow up. Computer also offers a number of engaging lessons, interactive games, productivity software and other activities that help the child to expand his knowledge.

Career Benefits

Sufficient knowledge about the computer hardware and software can open the doors of new career opportunities for kids. They will also be able to search for other career options and the educational institutes that can help them reach their goal.

Better Learning Opportunities

In the present world, computers provide as an important learning source for the kids. They have an easy access to vast learning material and programs, can get exposure to people from different communities through social networking as well as retrieve information over a topic much faster by searching over the internet.

Enhance Creativity

Apart from providing ways to learn computers can also be a means for the kids to show up their creative side. It can help them improve problem solving skills, design skills, programming skills as well as improve on various subjects.

Enhanced Motor Skills

Young children can develop their motor skills through various computer activities. Handling the mouse helps the child to practice hand eye coordination while choosing which key to press on the keyboard can also help in exercising of the brain.

At Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Texas, we focus on developing the overall computer skills of children through various practical programs and activities. We have different programs for the children of various age groups to provide them complete knowledge of computer- starting from basic till advanced. To enroll your child at our club, call at (254) 699 - 5808.