Extracurricular Activities: Unique Places To Find Fun For Your Kids

Getting our kids out into the community and experiencing a variety of activities is an important part of homeschooling. Extracurricular activities can provide a great chance for our kids to interact with others, make friends, try new things, and develop skills. 

But where can you find extracurricular activities to do with your kids? There are the usual clubs like Scouts and Guides and sports like soccer and hockey, but this list thinks more outside the box. Here are some ideas of places and activities your child can participate in. 

Just remember not to overschedule yourself or your kids. 

First, check your local homeschooling groups. There are groups on Facebook specifically dedicated to setting up field trips and community activities like lessons and clubs. Start there and see if there is anything that your child would enjoy. 

The Library

Libraries offer so many different resources and activities, including clubs and classes for kids and youth. It depends on your specific library but over the years, we’ve seen activities like Summer Reading Club, LEGO club, craft times, board games meetups, robotics club, book clubs, and more. Check what your local library offers. 

Home Depot 

Once a month,(the 2nd Saturday morning),Home Depot runs a Kids Workshop where they provide pre-made wooden kits, tools, and a place to build. Kids happily hammer together things like race cars, birdhouses, toy games, and more. Some locations offer kid-sized orange aprons and pins for completing the build. You need to register online ahead of time here at your local store here: https://www.homedepot.ca/workshops  or check in-store for more details. If you have a teen, they might find some of the adult workshops interesting – as they provide hands-on opportunities to try new techniques and skills in construction and house repair.

Indigo, Local Bookstores, and Other Specialty Stores

There are some great opportunities to learn more books and meet authors at bookstores like Indigo and local community stores. Although many of these are geared towards adults, there are kid programs at different locations. Other community stores, especially art supplies, sewing shops, and baking stores also sometimes host classes and events. This can be a good way to get some experience and connections with experts in a particular skill. See what is happening in both the mom & pop stores and the boxed stores near you for some potentially unique extracurricular activities.

Churches

Depending on your beliefs, you may want to see what churches around you offer in terms of activities and clubs. It’s quite common for a church to offer mid-week activities for kids and youth – usually including games, community, and lessons. These groups can offer a great opportunity to connect with other local kids and usually don’t cost much (if any) to participate in. For youth, some groups do trips together, go away for weekends on retreats, and volunteer in their communities. 

Community Theatre

If there is a local theatre, check to see what they are working on. Even if your child doesn’t want to be on stage doing a performance, there are lots of ways to get involved behind the scene. From sound to costumes to set design, your child can find others to work with to help create a great experience for the audience. 

Community Recreation Activities

Many communities have a community centre or community programming full of activities. Although I know that many people check these to learn about skating and swimming classes, there are often some great other activities offered – from arts to handicrafts to fitness to table-top games! It really depends on how big your community and what facilities they have available.

Geocaching 

If you aren’t familiar with geocaching – it’s a fun, free, family-friendly activity where you use GPS coordinates to find small hidden containers. But there are also community events set up by local users and enthusiasts, such as clean-up challenges, on the website – geocaching.com. You need to make an account with your location and there is an area on the website with a list of events near you. 

Running Room / Walking Clubs

The store, Running Room, has various running and walking clubs from spring to fall, for anyone who is interested in weekly meetups. They welcome anyone at any level who would like to be part of it. If you don’t have a local store, check to see if there are any other walking groups in your community that you can join in with. Sometimes these can be run by the city or local community.

4-H Canada

All across Canada you can find this community group. Each local club has different programs or projects to sign up for. These aim to be fun, engaging, hands-on activities – typically focused around agriculture and rural community living. Some examples might be:  

• Raising animals
• Gardening
• Breadmaking
• Knitting 
• Woodworking

What is offered in each local group is dependent on the available volunteer leadership, resources, and interest. Find out more about 4-H clubs.

Art Galleries, Museums, Gardens, and Historical Centres

If you happen to live in a community that has any museums or galleries, be sure to see what they offer. You might find classes, re-enactment opportunities, and guest speakers. If there are any botanical gardens or nature centres, see what workshops or programs they run. Sometimes there are discovery camps, nature study classes, and other activities that your kids (or family!) can join.

Community Support Services

See if there are any community programs that you can join in on. For example, there is a program near us that has a regular food kitchen, farmer’s market, community classes about nutrition, and a food bank. There are lots of opportunities to get involved. See what’s available near you. 

Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement runs programs for youth to learn about business and entrepreneurship. One of the flagship programs helps groups of teens set up their own company, create their own products and sell it, and handle all the inner workings to make it run throughout a year. It’s a lot of fun (and hard work) but it gives a great opportunity to experience what it’s like to have a business. But they also offer a plethora of other classes and activities. You can find out more about what’s offered near you on their website. These programs are typically free because of donations from companies to make the program successful.

Hobby Groups

If your child has a particular hobby or something they are passionately interested about, look for a local community group about it to see what extracurricular activities they offer. Stamps? Coins? Model trains? Medieval history? Sewing? Chess? There are often enthusiasts meeting together about all kinds of different passions somewhere! And why not look into some lesser known sports like lawn bowling, croquet, or curling? Even bowling alleys offer a variety of leagues that you might want to consider.

Farms

Some farms offer unique experiences – like classes about farm animals, farm education, food preservation, seasonal festivals, and more. Some offer riding lessons and summer camp activities. See if there is anything near you.

National Parks, Provincial Parks, and Conservation Areas 

Check any parks or conservation areas near you. Depending on the park, you can find a wide selection of activities – from guided tours, educational programming, wildlife training, craft opportunities, and festivals. I’ve seen opportunities for indigenous astronomy presentations, hikes, and more. Typically you can find a calendar of events on their websites and stay up to date on what’s going on through various social media channels.

First Lego League / First Robotics Competition

First Lego League are community based clubs where kids ages 6-14 join to compete in a LEGO challenge – specifically around robotics, engineering, problem solving, and programming. When students reach high school ages, the challenge shifts away from LEGO and more into robo-sports, where you can create a team to compete at regional and then district levels. For both of these, you can look to see if there is a team you can join or you can start your own. Find out more at: https://firstroboticscanada.org/

Extracurricular Activities: Think Outside the Box!

You can find lots of really interesting and unique extracurricular activities for your kids and family. Don’t be afraid to look at outside the box locations and see what’s happening in your community. You never know what fun ideas might pop out at you!