Extracurricular activities are a vital part of teaching your child skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. They develop friendships, learn to work out problems, learn time-management skills, gain confidence, learn to deal with stress, and many other benefits.
These are all great things! Who doesn't want their child to grow into a well balanced adult? That's the goal, right? But what happens when we try so hard to give our child "the opportunities we never had"? Sometimes we go a little overboard.
A child's brain develops through creative play. That's why preschool and Kindergarten involve a great deal of what looks like free time. Playing with blocks, dolls, finger paints, dress-up clothes, play dough, etc. This isn't simply playing; this is how they discover the world around them and how they fit into that world. This type of learning does not stop just because your child gets a little older and starts to hit the books.
Even when kids get older they learn through playing. So give them some play time! From what I understand, and I'm no mom, most school-age children are involved in multiple sports/clubs/whatever, and their days are jam packed until bed time. Then they wake up and do it all over again. Sounds like an adult life to me. Kids need to be kids. Not stressed out, super-productive little adults.
So instead of packing your child's day/week/month/life full of "opportunities that you didn't have", let them enjoy the opportunities that you did have. Playing (not sitting in front of the tv or xbox or whatever) will teach your child more than you realize.
Here are a few websites to support what I've said:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0826/is_4_21/ai_n15926044/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/39190/six_benefits_of_afterschool_activities_pg2.html?cat=25
http://www.creativityinstitute.com/creativeplayhelpschildrengrow.aspx
http://www.kiwifamilies.co.nz/Topics/Toys/Benefits+of+Creative+Play.html
-Miss Land
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