The best way to find the right activity is to let your child try two or three things for free at the start of term and then choose one, not three. Before the age of six, gymnastics, swimming lessons or dance in taster form is enough. From six or seven, when the child asks for it themselves, it is time for a club or Kulturskolan (the municipal school of arts). One activity a week is plenty for children under eight.
It is August, school has started and in the hall there are three flyers from clubs that want your seven-year-old. Football on Tuesday, swimming on Wednesday, dance on Saturday, and the classmate does all of them. You both work until five. The question is not which activity is best, but which one can be made to work without the whole family running. This is how we tend to think it through with our families.
What suits which age?
| Age | Usually suits | Wait with |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 3 | Baby swimming, öppen förskola (the drop-in playgroup for parents and small children), music and movement with a parent | Anything where the child is left alone in a group |
| 4 to 5 | Taster gymnastics, children's dance, swimming lessons | Team sports with rules, competitions |
| 6 to 8 | Football, floorball, gymnastics, swimming lessons, Kulturskolan, the Scouts | More than one activity a week, specialising |
| 9 to 12 | Almost anything, including team sports, instruments, riding, climbing | Dropping everything else for one sport |
Where do you find the activities?
- Sports clubs. Almost every district has clubs for football, floorball, gymnastics, swimming and martial arts. Search the municipality's website or the club register of Riksidrottsförbundet (the Swedish Sports Confederation), and ask at school which clubs the classmates go to.
- Kulturskolan. Municipal, with music, dance, theatre and art at low cost. There are queues for the most popular courses, so put your child in the queue in good time even if you have not decided.
- Swimming lessons. At the municipal swimming pools and with swimming clubs. Places go fast, so apply well before term starts. See our guide to Swimming lessons for children.
- The Scouts. Cheap, outdoors, no competition, and often with places available. Underrated by many Stockholm parents.
- Libraries and youth centres. Free or nearly, with everything from chess to crafts. Check the municipality's programme every term.
Try first, choose afterwards
Most clubs have taster sessions in August and September, and often in January. Let your child try two or three things and say beforehand that you will choose one afterwards. Children who get to choose for themselves go more often, argue less about going and keep it up longer. And be honest with yourselves: an activity that needs a lift to the other side of town at four o'clock will be a battle every week, however much the child enjoys it.
How many activities?
One a week for children under eight. Two for children between eight and twelve, if the child wants it. We see families with seven-year-olds who have four training sessions a week, and what disappears is free play at home, dinners together and evenings without stress. Children need time to be bored, and it is in that time that they really play. One activity the child loves is better than three the child can just about manage.
What does it cost?
It varies hugely, from a few hundred kronor a term at a club or at Kulturskolan to considerably more for riding, tennis or private dance schools. Add equipment: shoes, kit, helmet, instrument. Always ask the club whether there is equipment to borrow for the first term, and buy second-hand until you know the child is continuing. Many municipalities also have support for families who cannot afford the fees; ask the municipality.
How do you fit it around work?
- Work out the timings before you sign up. Training at four means pick-up at half past three, getting changed and travelling. Who does that, every week?
- Choose somewhere close. A hall the child can walk to alone from the age of nine, or that is on the way home, beats a better club on the other side of town.
- Share with another family. Two children in the same group, two parents taking turns to drive.
- Weekend activities. Gymnastics on Saturday morning is easier to fit in than dance on Wednesday afternoon, and the child is fresher.
- Let the nanny take one day. Pick-up at school, snack, getting changed, training and home. It is a common arrangement among our families, and it is often the one day a week that otherwise does not add up. See A nanny who picks up from preschool.
When your child wants to quit
It happens, usually in October or February. Ask why before you decide anything. Is it the coach, a friend who has left, the time, the cold in the hall? A lot can be solved. If it is the sport itself: let the child finish the term if they are not unhappy, and then switch. Never force a child to carry on year after year because you have paid or because you did the same sport yourself. Children who are allowed to quit dare to try new things. Children who are forced quit everything at thirteen.
How we do it with our families
Nike has a family in Solna with a seven-year-old who does gymnastics on Thursdays at four. She picks up from fritids (after-school care) at a quarter to three, goes home for a snack, packs the gym bag that always hangs on the same hook and walks to the hall with the seven-year-old. During training she sits in the stands, and on the way home she hears everything that happened. On the note to the parents she writes what they practised, whether the seven-year-old was happy afterwards and whether anything needs washing for next time. It is the one hour a week the parents could not fit around work, and now it simply works.
Our nannies are out and about with children in Stockholm every week: parks, libraries, swimming pools and playgrounds. Would you like someone to take the afternoons? Book a free first meeting with the nanny in your home.
Read more: Swimming lessons for children · Fritids · Activities for kids · Prices
Frequently asked questions
At what age should children start an activity?
There is no age at which children have to start. Taster groups in gymnastics, dance and swimming exist from the age of three or four, but a preschool child gets their exercise in the yard and the park. From six or seven, when the child asks for it themselves, is a good time to try something for real.
How many activities a week is reasonable?
One for children under eight, two for the slightly older ones. More than that eats up the evenings, and the child has no time to be at home and play. Free play is where children rest, and a schedule with four training sessions a week gives you a tired child and tired parents.
What do we do if our child wants to quit after three sessions?
Ask what it is that is not working. Often it is a coach, a friend who was not there or the hall being cold, not the sport itself. If the term is paid for, it is reasonable to finish the term if the child is not unhappy, but never force a child to carry on year after year.
What municipal options are there?
Kulturskolan offers music, dance, theatre and art at low cost in most municipalities in the Stockholm area, often with a queue for the most popular courses. Swimming lessons are available at municipal swimming pools. Sports clubs often have low fees and taster sessions at the start of term.
How do we manage when we both work until five?
This is where it usually falls apart. Training at four or half past four on a weekday requires someone to pick up, get the child changed and drive them. Many families choose weekend activities, or let a nanny take the pick-up and the training one day a week.