After School Clubs
When the school bell rings, do your kids run to the TV or video games? After a hard day at school, students need some R & R, but it doesn’t have to come with a plug! Savvy moms can start an After School Club to inspire new hobbies and skills, while creating lasting relationships with their kids.
How to Start a Club:
You can host the club once or twice a week and invite as many kids as you like. The number of guests will likely grow as your club succeeds. One mom can host a club for several kids, or several moms can team up to divide the work.
The best clubs have a purpose or a theme. For inspiration, start with your skills and interests, the kids’ hobbies or a just-for-fun theme!
Ideas for Your After School Club:
- Photography Club: Start a photography club and teach techniques for taking and developing photos. Hold contests for the most original photos each week and create scrapbooks.
- Lego Club: Legos are downright addictive, but that’s okay… they are also one of the best toys for building a young imagination! Each week provide a new theme (i.e. outer space, under the sea, zany creations) and let the young architects create! Take photos and create a digital slideshow. If you have space, set up a Lego museum exhibiting the best creations.
- Classic Movie Club: Do your kids think E.T. and the original Karate Kid are classic films? Visit the library to check out true classics, then, introduce a new one each week. Watch family classics like Herbie the Love Bug, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Absent-Minded Professor. Or, go for cinema treasures like Casablanca, Gone with the Wind and Ben Hur. Watch behind-the-scenes info and learn about original special effects. Discuss characters and plots. Let the audience choose films and take a cinematic journey they won’t forget!
- Ethnic Cooking Club: Explore ethnic recipes and make dinner at the same time! To get you started, check out Kids Around the World Cook!: The Best Foods and Recipes from Many Lands or The Around the World Cookbook.
- “Games That Don’t Require Batteries” Club: Play your favorite board games, invite the guests to bring some of their own and serve snacks! We love Apples to Apples, Cranium, Scattergories, and classics like Monopoly, Scrabble and Pictionary.
- Cupcake Club: Each week, bake a new batch of cupcakes or muffins and decorate them. Try new recipes and decorating techniques. Rate the recipes for flavor, consistency, creativity and style! For great ideas, check out Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make or Crazy About Cupcakes.
Can’t decide? More than one theme is tempting? No problem! Choose a new club theme each month. Remember, your goal is having fun, learning new things and building relationships.