London is probably the best city in the world in terms of activities for families and children including lots of free activities and events. We list here lots of initiatives that we believe London Mums and their children from babies to teenagers would enjoy especially at the most entertaining places such as the Science Museum, The V&A, Kew Gardens, Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, Richmond Park, Greenwich, West End shows, the London Eye, the London Aquarium, Kingston upon Thames, Chelsea, SouthBank and so much more.
Most Popular After School Clubs and Activities Revealed and Gymnastics hits the top spot…again
- Activities
- Published on Monday, 03 December 2018 09:45
- Last Updated on 03 December 2018
- Monica Costa
- 0 Comments
As a mum I feel totally qualified as an expert in all things relating to after school clubs. New research has now revealed the most popular after school clubs and activities and the biggest surprise is that Gymnastics hits the top spot…again! After all it makes sense. The physical and athletic preparation that is involved in Gymnastics training prepares your body for any kind of sports you might want to undertake in life.
Parents spend over £360 every year on after school clubs and hobbies for children and latest data sees rise in bookings for football.
More than half way into the new school term and after school clubs and activities are more popular than ever, according to ClassForKids (clubs.classforkids.co.uk) a cutting-edge booking and payment platform used by parents and children’s activities providers across the country. Parents in the UK are spending millions of pounds every week on extra-curricular past times, with children and babies as young as one week old participating in activities.
Sports-themed clubs and activities seem to be the most popular choice this season with 63% of all bookings being linked to these kinds of activities, putting them ahead of music, art and dance. In the world of children’s sport however, there is one clear trend; gymnastics has hit the top spot for the most popular high growth children’s activity this term, with well over a third (39%) of children set to attend these clubs and classes across the UK. Their survey is based on anonymised booking data from ClassForkKids booking and payment system as of 26th July 2018.
Stacey Porterfield of Acrobay Gymnastics told ClassForKids: “Due to the success of the British gymnastics team over recent years, the interest in this sport has really increased in popularity. Lots of younger children look up to these athletes and are keen to try out something new, exciting and challenging.”
The second most popular sporting activity this season is football (which has also made it into the top three most popular clubs across the board), with one in 10 children set to attend football clubs and activities next term. Children’s football coach Ashley Thomas at Skillz told ClassForKids: “We are seeing children starting football from a much younger age now and parents are really getting behind their football development. Since England’s positive World Cup run earlier this year our enquiries have gone up by 20% as many children have taken a keen new interest in the sport.”
A number of less-obvious activities have crept into the top 30 most popular kids activities this season too including wrestling, Irish dancing, baby yoga and hip hop dancing.
Nikki Th’ng, co-founder at ClassForKids said: “It’s a really busy time for kids activities right now, we expect to process at least another £3 million in bookings between now and Christmas alone. Choosing activities for children can also be a minefield for parents today with so much choice and a need to manage budgets, particularly for those families with multiple children. Most parents we deal with tend to choose activities that are fun, will help their kids to learn new skills and those that offer value for money (usually in that order).”
According to ClassForKids current data, the Top 30 most popular kids activities this season are:
- Gymnastics
- Baby & toddler groups
- Football
- Multi-sports
- Dance
- Fitness
- Hip Hop
- Swimming
- Street dance
- Cooking
- Education
- Ballet
- Baby swimming
- Trampoline club
- Rugby
- Dance gymnastics
- Art
- Tap dancing
- Science
- Cricket
- Wrestling
- Drama
- Athletics
- Karate
- Musical theatre
- Jazz
- Baby yoga
- Running
- Choir
- Irish dance
About ClassForKids (www.classsforkids.co.uk)
ClassForKids is a secure, cutting-edge online booking and payment system for children’s activities. Used by parents, clubs, coaches, class providers and children’s franchises across the country, the modern platform is simple to use and designed to save both parents and businesses hours of time. Using any device, parents can quickly organise, book and pay for their child’s clubs and classes all in one place and at the touch of a button. Children’s activity providers can also access the platform on the go, via any device to professionally run and manage their business online. From taking bookings and payments, to communicating with parents (via accurate automated messaging), to issuing invoices, managing registrations, class schedules and waiting lists, ClassForKids helps to speed up the payment process while providing full financial reporting to help businesses grow with confidence.
Monica Costa founded London Mums in September 2006 after her son Diego’s birth together with a group of mothers who felt the need of meeting up regularly to share the challenges and joys of motherhood in metropolitan and multicultural London. London Mums is the FREE and independent peer support group for mums and mumpreneurs based in London https://londonmumsmagazine.com and you can connect on Twitter @londonmums
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