Why is it that extra activities for kids are so expensive, swimming, tumbling, gym, dancing and much more. I would like to have the girls continue with their swimming lessons and also to be able to do tumbling lessons. This is not going to happen due to the cost.  Just to give you an example of the cost:

• Swimming lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $140
• Tumbling lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) –  $125 plus $32.50 annual gymnastic NSW membership fee

The price above for each activity is for 1 child. So as I have 2 children, I would need to double it. So the costs would be:

• Swimming lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $280.00
• Tumbling lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) –  $315.00

My question is, how does the average family give their children exposure to these sort of activities? With the girls going to pre-school 3 days per week, there is no way we will be able to cough up extra money for anything else. Last year we were able to give the girls about 3 sets of swimming lessons, but I don’t think that will happen this year.

Lillian turns her left foot in a bit when she walks and trips over more, especially when she is tried. Nothing that strengthening the ankle or more sports would help. To do the sports and training you have to pay. I cannot just put one child into sport, I would like to put both in for the experience as well. The physiotherapist at Katoomba Hospital said tumbling classes would really help Lillian, but how do I do this when they are so expensive.

One of my other questions is why is the council pool charging so much to teach kids and babies to swim. This is a skill that can save your life, swimming is essential in Australia as we are surrounded by water and nearly everyone has a pool, goes to the pool or the beach. I believe that swimming allows you to have the ability to exercise, be safe and to participate in a great lifestyle.  Why does the council charge so much? Why cannot the fee be a token to the centre, say $20 or $50 for swimming for your children to learn. It should not be $280 to teach your kids to swim for only 10 weeks. Then after the first 10 weeks you have to pay it all again. How many school terms are there in Australia, well there is 4 terms per year. So that would mean that I would need to pay Katoomba Pool, $1120.00 for a year of tutuion for swimming lessons.

Learning to swim should be free or nearly free. From my conversations in the Blue Mountains, NSW, there are a lot of people and kids that don’t know how to swim. What happens when these kids go to their swimming carnival at school? Is it then the schools job to teach kids to swim? Do schools have a learn to swim programme? I am not sure and have not found out, so if someone knows please let me know.

I grew up in North Queensland, Hervey Bay to be precise and I swam at a young age. We were close to a beach at all times, always on a boat and had to swim.  I think everyone has a right to save their lives and others by knowing how to swim. I love swimming and really enjoy it, I cannot imagine not knowing how.

So this year, I think we will take the kids swimming ourselves and teach them swimming techniques. We also cannot take them to tumbling classes no matter how much I would hope to do it. Julia and Lillian’s balance and ability are so great, that I would like to build on it, and have them do something active that is also healthy. For a society that is worried about weight gain, overweight and obese kids they are definitely not doing anything to help families with easily accessible activities.

Why is it now a matter of how much money you have, if you can learn to swim or not. Money is not the issue, it is making sure that the government/council makes this available at all levels. Learning to swim is something everyone needs to know how to do, rich or poor.

Do you have the same concerns over costs for children’s activities? Do we need to get like minded people together to see if we can lower costs? Should we have an online petition for the council to do something about this? Let me know your thoughts.