The New Filipino Private School

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

The Importance of Extra-Curricular Activities in School
1. Help as Stress Buster
It is humanly impossible to be fully energetic with a single activity al through the day.
Nowadays, the educational curriculum is vast and ever expanding. This can create a lot of
mental and physical stress as well as a mental block to take up a study routine day in and day
out. Activities like sports, music, arts, etc., expose students to a variety of lighter activities that
help let go of the mental tension and stress of studying for a short period of time. In activities
like sports, there is known to be a high rush of adrenaline that soothes the strained body even
as it experiences physical exertion.
2. Improve Health
Schooling often tends to be sedentary in nature. The load of school schedule and heaps of
homework often keeps students glued to their desks. Young children need a lot of physical
activity to keep them physically fit. These activities help curtail tendencies of obesity and
health-related issues amongst young children while improving the childs immunity. Also, when
students are engaged in outdoor activities, they are prone to receive sufficient quantity of
Vitamin D that is essential for their physical growth and development.
3. Help Develop Multitasking and Time Management Skills
There is no better lesson than to learn the art of balancing studies and work along with other
activities. Opting for multiple responsibilities from a young age creates an acute sense of time
management as well. These skills accumulate over a period of time and mold the students
mind for a brighter future.
4. Search Hidden Talents
Studies do have the capacity to improve a students set of skills. However, when students are
actually exposed to new and variety of activities at a very young age, they may develop their
own taste for the activity and thus, parents as well as teachers can search for the students
hidden likings and talents.
5. Develop Team Spirit
Most of the extra-curricular activities like sports, debating, etc., can never be completed without
the involvement of a lot of team members. When exposed to such teaming with like minds,
there is seen to be an active exchange of creative ideas and the ability to work together as a
team. This creates a sense of belonging, a sense of loyalty towards the team, and development
of sporting spirit. Friendships thus formed, have often survived for a lifetime.
6. Develop Interpersonal Skills
Activities like public speech, social service, sports develop a students interpersonal skills so as
help them become masters of communication in their adult life. Crucial arts such as listening
skills, leadership skills, stage confidence, negotiating skills, oratory skills and logical reasoning
get developed in the students from a very young age.
7. Create Social Responsibility Sense
Exposure to activities like social service and volunteering helps students understand true social
problems since a very young age. This is known to stir the humane side of students creating a
sense of social responsibility and social justice in these young minds. Students might be guided
by their teachers to help senior citizens and young helpless children by organizing social visits to
homes for the aged and orphanages respectively. Students with previous experience in social
work have reported that they feel an acute sense of owing some of their precious time and
energy to the welfare of the less advantaged people.
8. Help in Making Dual Careers

Bookish knowledge can never be complete without its actual application. Schools stress that
students must engage themselves in lots of extra activities for which they are awarded grades.
Such work experience goes a long way into shaping the students career. The nurturing of a
liking for these activities from a young age, may encourage these students to take up dual
careers in their adult lives, e.g. a student who had taken up painting as part of her extracurricular activity since early age, may balance her life between a professional career and
painting as an alternate career during her adult life.
Examples of Extra-Curricular Activities
Arts: theater, music, dance, painting, photography, creative writing, and other creative
endeavors
Church activity: community outreach, helping the elderly, event planning, community
suppers, church-sponsored music and athletic programs, teaching or organizing summer
camps and retreats, missionary work, and any other activity done through the church
Clubs: chess club, mathletes, mock trial, debate, anim club, role playing club, language
clubs, film club, skateboarding club, diversity/minority groups and so on
Community activity: community theater, event organizing, festival staff, and many
other activities that are organized through the community, not the school
Governance: student government, student council, prom committee, community youth
board, advisory boards and so on
Hobbies: Be creative here. Read these articles on how Rubiks Cube or Collecting Free
Stuff can be transformed into an extraordinary activity. Also, colleges are interested in
your passion whether it be rocketry, model railroads, collecting, blogging, or quilting.
These interests show that you have interests outside of the classroom.
Media: local television, school radio or television, yearbook staff, school newspaper,
literary journal, blogging and online journaling, local newspaper, and any other work that
leads to a television show, movie or publication (online or print)
Military: junior ROTC, drill teams, and related activities
Music: chorus, band (marching, jazz, symphonic, concert, pep), orchestra, ensembles and
solo these musical groups could be through school, church, the community or your
personal group or solo efforts
Sports: football, baseball, hockey, track, gymnastics, dance, lacrosse, swimming, soccer,
skiing, cheerleading, basketball, volleyball and so on
Volunteer Work and Community Service: key club, habitat for humanity, tutoring and
mentoring, community fund-raising, rotary, church outreach, hospital work (candy
striping), animal rescue, nursing home work, poll worker, volunteer fire department,
creating hiking trails, adopt-a-highway, and any other work that helps the world and is not
for pay