Activity/Lesson For a 6 Year Old Female

I would look into having her join Brownies. This is girl scouts for younger girls. I was in it as a child and loved. Unlike a sport or dancce you do not do the exact same thing every time which may keep her interest. We went camping, did crafts, made snacks, sang songs, earned badges that we were interested in, sold cookies, played games, exercised, the list goes on.

You have received a lot of great ideas. Some I may even try with my 6 yr old. I don't know a lot about about ballet/dance. But I do know that whatever you choose you will only get out of it what you put into it -- like all activites anyone choose. I am a lifetime member of Girl Scouts. I love the Scouting program. It taught me about confidance, self-displine, introduced me to new activities I wouldn't normally do and I got to meet a lot of new people. Espically as I got older and got to travel around the US. If you daughter is interested, I say go with it.

This won't provide a lot of exercise, but what about theater classes? My five year old has been taking theater classes for two years (even though it's not "true" acting class for another year or two) and she loves it. She also loves yoga, but I haven't been able to find a children's class in Dallas. They did it at her summer camp and she's still practicing poses at home.

I've heard a lot of great things about martial arts, but we haven't tried that yet.

Hi M.,

Emily was put in gymnastics at 4. In 2 years, she had not learned anything new, was far ahead of her class in every aspect and becoming bored with it. The instructors kept telling us that she was an olympic hopeful. (She was/is very good and excels at everything she does, but I'm not sure if they were saying that because it was true or so we would keep her in class.)

She wasn't interested in ballet either. If your daughter likes music, she might enjoy Casa - they have classes for youngsters of just about all ages....singing, dancing, acting.

Emily went on to field and track which she LOVED. She got involved in volleyball, basketball, baseball and loves them all. Her only problem is she doesn't have time to do ALL of them, as much as she would like to. Plus she does all kind of art & craft.

Your daughter sounds very creative. We wanted Emily to have the exercise too. We wanted to give her the opportunity to do whatever she thought she would like, so we stayed away from 'commitment' type things. We also opted for school & church things instead of private things that cost a lot more money. She would ahve loved Casa, but we didn't have the time/money to get her there/back. Now she's in the marching band playing the baritone. She started the band 2 years ago and loves music.

If I were you, I would start with what seems to interest her most. You might have to take her to a show at Casa so she can see what she would actually be doing. Also, there is a dance school in Granbury that puts on plays .... if you want to talk more, please email me at ____@____.com

Emily learned how to walk hanging on to our Harlequin, KC. We lost her in Feb at 12 1/2 years old. She was the love of our lives and so wonderful with everything/everybody - cats, kids, dogs, chickens, you name it. What is yours? We really want to get another one....

Good luck, M.. Just keep trying with your daughter. The more you expose her - the more options she'll have.

God bless!

C.

I too loved being a girl scout and can not wait to enter my daughter. I told my husband as soon as I found out she was a girl, I would want her to try girl scouts. I started out in girl scouts in kindergarten and would have loved to have graduated one but my troop dismembered. I learned so many things for example: cooking, camping teamwork, to leave a place better than I found, community service, first aid, hiking, cannoeing, how to make ice cream in the ground(durring a Texas summer), safety, etiquette and most of all how to make friends. All my best friends I meet in scouts all 5. Sisters for 24 years. I swear I would not be who I am today with out it.

You didn't mention where she had done gymnastics. If you/she want to continue in a very fun - no pressure atmosphere you should try University of Gymnastics. They have the greatest coaches and will never push you to do more than you want to do. There phone number is ###-###-#### in case you are interested.

Soccer is a great sport that provides a lot of exercise!!

Girl Scouts is AWESOME! And it is SO AFFORDABLE!! Way less time/money commitment than any sport. I would highly recommend it.

If you decide to stay with gymnastics or dance, try the Parks & Rec department. I live in Arlington and our P&R dept has great low-pressure programs. Affordable too. It's worth checking out.

soccer and brownies!

how about cooking lessons or art lessons? my daughter started both of those at 6 yrs of age

I would offer some other ideas to your daughter, and have her choose something. If she's in school, you might even have her get ideas from her friends of what they're doing.

Unfortunately, many of the sports leagues like soccer have already closed registration, but you might try calling them to see if you still have any opportunities. A list of local leagues in Flower Mound and Lewisville can be found at http://www.familyeguide.com/index5.php?id=13&sid=67.

I would also check out local rec centers. The CAC and Lewisville Rec offer lots of options for young kids, including thing like tennis, baton twirling, cooking, and drama. A list of the local activity guides is listed on page 8 of our most recent newsletter: http://www.mediafire.com/?zn0ynkmgk1r and includes FM, LV, Grapevine, and Coppell.

Good luck!
www.familyeguide.com Free guide to affordable family activities in Lewisville, Flower Mound, Highland Village and the surrounding communities.

Hi M.,
It sounds like your daughter is in a great position to try Kindermusik. If you've heard of it before, you may know that we do classes for babies - 7 years old. There is a great class for her called "Kindermusik for the Young Child". This class provides a pressure-free, developmentally appropriate transition where she can musically succeed before taking on more formal instruction.

The curriculum helps her develop a working knowledge of musical aspects in a fun, yet structured, environment. She is introduced to keyboard, string, and woodwind instruments through the use of the glockenspiel, dulcimer, and recorder. She begins to read music, create musical compositions, and participate in instrumental and vocal ensemble exercises. Young Child broadens and deepensher introduction to the fulfillment and excitement of music and its a 2 year program. So by the time she 'graduates' she will be ready for piano, violin, etc.

We have various locations throughout the metroplex. I teach in Plano and Dallas and would be glad to help you find a class, if you'd like to email me back. Or you can go to Kindermusik.com and enter your zip code for the nearest location. Hope that helps!

J.

Try Rick's Kick's Martial Arts behind Tom Thumb in Frisco off of Lebanon Rd. The classes are fun, the pressure to compete is minimal. They do participate in some competitions but like only once or twice a year and no one is forced to compete. As a bonus your child knows how to defend themselves against an attack.

We dance at a wonderful dance studio in downtown frisco called raising the barre. They have a web site but you can google them also. They are a christian studio and we just love them. If you have any other questions just email me ____@____.com

D.

My 4 year old girl and 7 year old boy are trying The Little Gym for the first time, and they love it. We even have them in two classes, a non-contact karate and a sports skills class that lets them try skills from a lot of different sports. The classes are about an hour long. It's a little pricey, but worth it to us. I love the fact that they are getting exercise that is fun without all of the pressure and competition. Plus, we don't have to drag them to endless practices during the week or games on the weekend! We signed them up for 2 free trial classes so we could "try before we buy." They were hooked from the moment they stared in the window and looked at all the fun things on the gym floor.

Girl Scouts is a GREAT organization! However, you daughter will only get out of it what you and she are willing to put into it. At this stage she will get more involvement if you two work together on her goals and activities. YOUR role will be to encourage and support her while guiding her to learn to be more independent in her Girl Scout adventures. I was a Girl Scout for 5 years and worked at a Girl Scout Camp for 1 year as a Swimming Instructor. My Oldest was active in Girl Scouts from 3rd grade all the way to her Sophomore year. Now my youngest is starting Kindergarten and we will start Girl Scouts all over again :-)

I am a girlscout leader in Arlington. Email me at ____@____.com so that I can talk one on one. In Arlington everything is split by units and depending on her school depends on who I contact for you. And her age is my group and my girls go to POPE.

F. Decker
safe4myfamily.com

Does she like to swim? My niece joined a swim team this summer and she really enjoyed it. She even won some 1st place ribbons! Swimming can help with exercise, disipline and is very fun, too!
Good luck!

Look at what she does on a daily basis. Does she draw a lot? Enjoy helping you cook? What toys does she play with most often?

After evaluating what she naturally likes, look into the classes that your rec center offers and try some of those. They don't require a long commitment or money. She can try it and see if she likes it - or not.

As far as the exercise goes... do you have a Wii game console? Many of those "games" are very active.

About Girl Scouts... We have had BOTH of our kids (boy and girl) in scouts. It is a joke nowdays. It would have been fun if the leadership was better - MUCH better.

She might like cheerleading. If she doesn't like being competitive she might like swimming.

I would look into swimming. There are lots of club swim teams in the area that swim year-round, and each club has multiple levels. I don't know what area you are in, but if you are interested, PM me and I can tell you a few in your area.

Another thing, if she liked gymnastics at all, there are several diving teams in the area that you might check out. By having some gymnastic experience already, that could put her at an advantage with that sport.

Does she enjoy drawing - art classes are good for the imagination and challenging the brain. For more physical activity, how about soccer? I loved soccer at this age.

When my daughter was 5-7 she was a girl scout and it was "ok". It just did not engage her. Like your daughter, ours was in dance, gymnastics, soccer, etc...NOTHING engaged her.

This is the age when she started a martial arts class just by chance because "we had nothing else do do" and a friend did not want to go alone. Who would have thought....it was her thing.

She is a black belt and has been for 3 yrs now.

Also, I encourage music. In 6th grade my daughter took the required music class and she chose orchestra (violin). We had no idea she would love it. She is now in 9th grade and participating in the 10th grade orchestra, writing music and playing from ear some pieces she hears on the radio that she loves.

We NEVER would have placed her in these activities... think outside the box!!!

TF

I went through all those things too. My daughter didn't like softball - not fun enough. She got hooked on soccer.

Awana is a program where children make new friends, play exciting games, and receive awards as reinforcement for their good performance, as they learn and memorize God’s Word.

Check it out at http://www.awana.org/about/default.aspx?id=149

You can find a location at http://awana.findlocation.com/

Try either Girl Scouts or American Heritage Girls (Christ-centered scouting; http://www.ahgonline.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=18722). I have a friend who is putting her girls in American Heritage. I was in GS for many years growing up; however, my daughter is only 19 months. We have many years before this decision. But I'll be researching the difference between these two options.

GS allowed me to explore many different areas of interest from out doors to art to community service to science and more. All through short simple activites. I became a very well rounded person through HS and college. I tried everything music, art, Computer science, Chemistry, Math. All this until I settled in to Education (Math in particular). GS allowed me to have a broad knowledge and experience base. Now I can relate to most students, because I tried "that" once and know something about it. Scouting however allows this trial without making one look flighty on a college app. You were in Girl Scouts all that time...

Hope my perspective helps.

girl scouts is a wonderful activity. i was in girl scouts all through elementary and junior high.she can learn so much,if they still teach them all the things that used to be. i went to scouting camp every summer and we had field trips as well. good luck

Girl scouts is a wonderful organization that encourages building of self esteem through activities with peers. I think the only time it really might get competitive is the cookie drive, but even then, troops try to keep it as a team effort, rather than individual.

If exercise is a main goal, perhaps cheerleading? Some high schools have programs where the cheerleaders have "little sisters" in the community.

Good luck!

Taekwondo. It is probably the best thing you can do for her.
She will have a blast and in the process, learn focus, discipline, respect and how to protect herself. We've been going to Yims on Greenville for years and it is great.

For girl scouts, try www.gsnetx.org and ask for info. Join Girl Scouting nights are going to be in the area the next two weeks or so.

How about soccer or swimming