All parents want their children to be well-rounded individuals – extra-curricular activities give children the opportunity to develop their skills in various areas so they develop a number of interests and talents. But when you’re a parent with a child at Long Day Care, you don’t always have time to take your child to all those extra things they’d like to do. Most activities like swimming and dancing are on during weekdays when you’re probably unavailable.

At Columba Cottage, we make life a little simpler by providing your child with access to extra-curricular activities so they don’t miss out. If your child attends our centre on a day that an extra-curricular activity is scheduled, we take your child for you. Currently we take children to Rugbytots, Sprockets, Dancing, Yoga, Swimming, or to Regis Aged Care where children interact with older members of our society. Some activities are held on premises and some further away. Using our 14 seater bus, children travel with 2 educators to the facility, attend the activity, and are then returned to Columba Cottage.

The social and academic benefits reaped from extra-curricular activities are fantastic:

Social Development – for some children succeeding in an activity outside of academics can be very rewarding and encouraging. Some children become more self confident and learn new social skills. Benefits include giving children additional opportunities for forming friendships with others who share their interests. Social development is essential to a child’s self-esteem, language development and conflict resolution.

Emotional development – the camaraderie that develops among teams promotes bonding and meaningful relationships with others; activities that encourage hard work and collaboration with peers foster a sense of pride and accomplishment for children to share with each other. Developing self-confidence, trust and empathy helps children better manage stress and adversity.

Cognitive development – a child’s ability to think and reason can be improved by activities which teach children to problem-solve, use logic, predict or think creatively.

Physical development – encourages fitness, agility, strength and even academic performance, can take place in many extracurricular activities. Some activities promote fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, gross motor development.