5 Unique Extracurricular Activities for Kids in LA County
This is a writing sample from Scripted writer Anthony Sillemon
Extracurricular activities help kids develop social skills, life skills, and self-reliance outside the classroom. Kids love extracurricular activities because they are also a way to relieve stress and boost morale. Properly planned extracurriculars can also help them discover hidden talents.
There are many unique extracurricular activities for children in Los Angeles—visits to botanical gardens and children’s museums, enrollment in creative studios and theatres, kids clubs, scouting, and volunteering. Encourage your kids to participate in these extracurriculars to break up the monotony of schoolwork.
Let’s take a deeper look at these unique and highly interesting extracurricular activities for kids. These should be the first considerations for families living in LA.
1. Botanical and Children’s Museum Visits
One of the most therapeutic things you can do with kids in LA is head out to botanical gardens and children’s museums. This is not an excellent opportunity for family bonding but also for kids to learn. Botanical gardens and children’s museums are excellent opportunities to practically experience nature. As kids enjoy the experiences of botanical gardens and museums, they also get to confirm what is learned in class.
These experiences are also refreshing and exciting. They rejuvenate your kids’ desire to learn and enjoy the world. You also get time to understand your kids and assess their overall well-being. A bored kid in a museum, amusement park, or botanical garden is a cause for alarm. This indicates deep-seated psychological issues, especially for younger kids.
Descanso Gardens
Los Angeles has plenty to offer when it comes to this extracurricular activity. Descanso Gardens is a botanical garden you should add to your list. This garden is just beautiful. There are pods of lilies, roses, and trees everywhere. There are blooms in spring, an orange-yellow splendor in fall, and camellias in winter. The kids will love walking around and exploring all this beauty.
Kidspace Children’s Museum
The Kidspace Children’s Museum has numerous interactive exhibits to jog your kids’ imagination. There are vast outdoor and indoor rooms for kids to lose themselves in educative activities and learn more about the environment.
Other notable places include:
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The Los Angeles County Arboretum
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Griffith Park
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TreePeople
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The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
2. Creative Studios and Theatres
Los Angeles is considered the global entertainment capital. Parents can also consider theatre, art, and creative activities as extracurricular activities for their kids. Arts are popular in this region because parents hope this might ignite talent in their children. This explains the presence of many creative art and theater training institutions for kids.
Dancing, singing, and acting classes for kids are found on almost all streets in LA. Many established studios also offer summer programs for young actors and musicians. These programs enable kids from 2-16 to participate in music, ballet, Jazz, Hip-hop, Guitar, and fairytale-inspired creative activities.
Two notable programs are:
Another program worth consideration is LA’s BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow), a nationally recognized after-school program that supports creative enrichment for children 5- 12 years. This free program supports more than 28,000 children from more than 180 elementary schools around LA.
Other programs include:
Reputable kids’ creative studios and theaters in LA include:
3. Kids clubs
Many shopping centers near LA offer free kids’ clubs. Participating kids enjoy a variety of enriching and beneficial after-school classes and weekend camps. These regularly scheduled clubs offer musical performances, story times, puppet shows, swimming lessons, book reading, foreign language, sports, and crafts for children. These kids’ clubs are excellent places for children to meet new friends. Other premium kids’ clubs offer snacks, reading programs, and homework assistance.
Some of the best kids’ clubs in LA include:
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Kids Club (Waterside Marina del Rey): Hosts weekly kids clubs on Tuesdays, between march and October.
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Mommy & Me and Daddies Too: Hosts free kids clubs for preschoolers. These include live entertainment, crafts, and arts.
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Summer Kids Club - Sherman Oaks Galleria: Hosts kid’s clubs every Saturday.
4. Scouting
Scouting is a lifetime fun activity where young people can find adventure and make friends. Scouts grow up to become the best versions of themselves as they learn discipline, courage, and self-reliance. Scouting breaks the indoor class and home monotony by allowing kids to live outside.
A variety of interactive boy and girl scouting activities are available in LA. These programs teach kids about environmental stewardship and empathy for nature’s creatures. Some programs include legacy for trees, outdoor art, camping, guided tours, gardening science, and environmental education.
Some reputable scouting programs in LA include:
Some adventure and training programs these institutions offer award achievement badges that have great academic importance.
5. Volunteering Clubs
Volunteering clubs for boys and girls are highly effective platforms for teaching responsibility and accountability to children. Children volunteer out of passion and dedication and learn about empathy, compassion, and communication. You can find an opportunity for your kid to volunteer in charity and non-charity communities with religious or non-religious organizations. Hospitals, food banks, senior citizen centers, and orphanages are common volunteer environments.
Veterans of Hope, a non-profit organization helping veterans struggling with mental health issues, is a good place to check for volunteer opportunities for your kids in LA. You can also consider Vital Transformation and Connections for Children.
Conclusion
Extracurricular activities are a great way for kids to learn and discover new things. Kids in LA have a lot of options when it comes to extracurricular activities. Museums, botanical gardens, creative studios, and theatres are a few places your kids can visit in LA. However, scouting, volunteering, and kids’ clubs are some of the most interesting activities your children can participate in while living here.
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