The new school year is here! There are always so many choices when picking your child’s after school activities, and you may already be overwhelmed by a packed schedule. So how do you pick the one activity your kids love, but also helps their development? Don’t get us wrong, there are a lot of great options out there, but if we can let our bias show for a moment, we love all the things circus classes do for kids.
1. Mental Stimulation
Anyone who’s taken a circus class will tell you that there are definitely some frustrating moments. Not every skill is going to come easily. This can be equally frustrating for kids, but don’t worry; that’s a good thing! In class, students will be faced with obstacles and use tools given to them by their teacher to overcome them. They will experience failure, but more importantly they will experience accomplishment when they finally achieve that difficult skill.
Research has shown a relationship between physical activity and academic performance. One study found that after just one session of physical activity, children can increase their attention and memory, and reduce inappropriate behavior (1). Now imagine what coming to circus class once a week can do for your child’s academic performance long term.
Physical Education
Humans are pretty simple. If we love doing something, we want to do it more often. The same is true for exercise. If kids, or adults for that matter, love the way they exercise, it won’t be such a chore. Circus creates a fun environment where kids can exercise and develop in ways such as physical strength, stamina, and flexibility. The entire body is exercised in every class. Plus the strengthening of muscles helps students to prevent injuries. While many athletic programs are competition based, in circus the only competition is against yourself. Students don’t compete against each other, but are encouraged to measure their success by their own progress and willingness to keep going.
Social Interaction
It’s always a good idea for kids and teens to have friends outside school. This allows them to shake up the social order. If they are typically more of a follower in a school setting, changing the people that surround them may allow them to take a leadership role or simply continue to develop how they socialize with their peers. Circus is a great place to make new friends outside of school. Our coaches want to create an environment that makes forming friendships easy. Games, partner exercises, and warm-up conversations cultivate a team mindset.
Opportunities and transfer of skills
We don’t expect all of our students to grow up to be in Cirque Du Soleil, but we do expect all our students to use the skills they learned with us. Discipline, creativity, problem-solving, and team-work are skills that we use in school, at our jobs, in our homes, and everywhere else we spend time. While your child may not have long term goals of flying through the air in a big top, they will gain the confidence to make large leaps in life.
Does this sound like a great fit for your child? Check out our class offerings for Youth Circus this Fall.
1 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (n.d.). Active education: Growing evidence on physical activity and academic … Activelearningresearch.org. Retrieved July 28, 2022, from https://activelivingresearch.org/sites/default/files/ALR_Brief_ActiveEducation_Jan2015.pdf
