Keep Your Kids Active With These Creative After-School Activities
Helping kids stay busy and enriched after a long school day doesn’t have to involve traditional sports leagues. For families who want opportunities for skills building, friendly competition and more out-of-the-box activities, there are plenty of unique sports and hobbies in Chapel Hill to help kids grow.
Non-Traditional Sports
For kids bouncing off the walls, consider having them join the Bouncing Bulldogs, an award-winning jump rope team and nonprofit organization. If you attended the 2023 UNC v. Clemson basketball game, you may have watched the Bulldogs’ performance at halftime! With three weeks of jump rope instruction camps in August, there’s plenty of time to practice alongside these high-energy athletes.
Tumbling and martial arts are both strength-building sports for your child to try this year, and they can be found in one place! Chapel Hill Gymnastics offers gymnastics classes for children as young as 1 year old, as well as tumbling and trampoline classes for kids 6 and up. With beginner to advanced martial arts classes as well, this Chapel Hill facility is truly a one-stop-shop.
If teamwork is what you are seeking for your child, few sports rival cheerleading. At the Emily Krzyzewski Center in Durham, kids ages 5 to 11 can participate in an eight-week season of highflying fun, hosted by i9 Sports. Cheer season starts in September, so make sure you register soon!
Classes Galore
Is there a skill your child has always dreamed of learning? Chapel Hill and Carrboro have a wide range of classes for your family to explore! From the arts to engineering to computer science, there are plenty of offerings to keep your child learning outside of school.
Ranked the #1 employer of musicians and boasting over 325 locations across 15 countries, School of Rock is the place to go for all-ages music lessons. Off of Fordham Boulevard, the Chapel Hill location provides both instrument and vocal lessons to stars in the making. Another way to let your child shine on stage is through Movie Makers. It offers workshops to teach kids how to perform in front of and behind the camera and has been operating in the Triangle for 22 years.
From robotics to coding, the Chapel Hill area has activities for tomorrow’s engineers and scientists. Named the #1 Children’s Enrichment Program by Entrepreneur Magazine, Snapology uses Legos and K’Nex toys to shake up learning during their after-school enrichment for pre-K through 8th-grade students. The program is research based, goals oriented and flexible, making it an ideal learning experience.
Sylvan of Durham & Chapel Hill also teaches students exciting STEM skills. With their Coding for Kids, elementary and middle school students are given the chance to dive into innovative technology for an hour a week. If your child wants to learn what goes into making a video game or animation, sign them up for Sylvan today.
Fun for the Family
Chapel Hill and Carrboro are abounding with after-school activities for the whole family. If you want to try something new with your kids — we have options for you!
Rock climbing, pump biking, skateboarding, oh my! These daring pastimes make the perfect adventure for a group. The Chapel Hill Community Center operates open climbing hours on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. Located on Northern Park Drive, the Chapel Hill Skate Park’s 10,000-square-foot facility is open every day for recreation. Finally, the Town of Carrboro leveled up with two pump biking tracks, open to the public.
What about even lesser known, yet equally thrilling, sports and activities? Encourage your kids to pick up freestyle soccer, a whole sport dedicated to the cool tricks you can do with a soccer ball. Another unique hobby is slacklining. While it does require the purchase of a slackline, investing in one will provide hours of skillbuilding for everyone. Try starting a competition amongst your family and friends to see who can balance the longest!
Last but certainly not least, sometimes the only thing your kids want to do after the school day is go outside. What better way to enjoy the outdoors than through a nature activity or walk. See these creative and colorful ideas for some backyard fun from the North Carolina Botanical Garden.
Learning, enrichment and exercise don’t end when the school day is done. Help your kids discover their passions and get inspired after school. And maybe they will develop a new lifelong hobby along the way!