Kids' Extracurricular Activities May Cost More Than You Think

So your child wants to sign up for dance class or karate lessons? Or maybe he or she wants to learn to play the piano. But given that lessons could lead to the purchase of a piano, you may be tempted to ask your child if he or she would rather learn to play the cost-effective triangle.

Any financial dread you feel when you start looking into after-school activities is understandable. Extracurricular activities can be eye-poppingly expensive.

There are a lot of benefits for children who practice the violin or catch fly balls, and no parent should be discouraged from showing their children there's a wide world beyond TV and tablets. But it's nice to know what you're getting into financially when you sign your kids up for lessons and activities. Here's what you need to know:

Motivate your kids. If you want to see results for what you're paying, you may need to be an active cheerleader, says Nick Ambrosino, who owns Music Simply Music, based in Long Island, New York.

"Many parents assume that a child will magically become self-motivated to practice once they have started private music lessons," he says. "This is simply not the case, and a parent who enters a relationship with a teacher with this expectation is throwing money down the drain. Even the best teachers can't keep a child motivated to practice. We see the student once, or at best, twice a week."

Ambrosino adds that if your child isn't practicing, that doesn't necessarily mean he or she isn't interested in the instrument. "Often it simply means a child hasn't yet developed the necessary time-management skills to accurately allocate time to practice. That's where the parent comes in," he says.

Plan for hidden costs. As Kalen Holliday, a working mom in Sleepy Hollow, New York, with an 11-year-old taking ballet and modern dance, says, "Generally, it's not the cost of the classes themselves that busts your budget -- it's the gear, travel, outfits and tickets."

"We signed our daughter up for art class, as she loves to draw," says Stacy Haynes, a counseling psychologist in Turnersville, New Jersey, who adds that her 8-year-old really does seem to have a talent. "We thought the monthly price of $59 for a weekly one-hour session wasn't bad, but when we received the art supply list, we were floored. We didn't expect a $400 supply bill."

The art school, Haynes says, encouraged parents to buy their own supplies, but there were many brand names on the list, like a pack of color pencils that cost $53. Haynes' daughter is now in her second year of art classes and, not surprisingly, is only allowed to use those supplies for the art classes.

And hidden costs can appear in the unlikeliest ways. "One thing that surprised me was how much my food budget would increase," says Kim Blackham, a licensed marriage and family therapist who lives in Tampa, Florida, and has four kids, from ages 3 to 12. "My gymnast works out for 15 to 20 hours a week and is famished when she gets home. I noticed the same thing when my oldest was swimming. I don't have any great solution to this one, but I wish someone had at least put it on my radar before starting all of this."

The costs often go up with age. Mary Donnellan, who works for a marketing firm in Pompano Beach, Florida, says her 12-year-old daughter plays volleyball with a club sports company.

"It's a graduated cost. The older the player, the higher the cost," Donnellan says, who is shelling out $2,850 for her daughter to play. If her daughter is still playing at age 16, and inflation hasn't raised the price, the cost will be $4,500 -- for a 10-game season.

"But the catch is that this is just for facilities and coaches' salaries," she adds. "Parents then have to pay for travel costs if any weekend tournaments are out of town."

"I wish I had known this before she tried out," Donnellan says. The mother of three adds that she is glad her daughter likes sports and loves going to her games, but she cautions parents to consider travel costs if your kid is competing.

Look for bargains when you can. Stacey Hudson, a public relations official at Georgia Regents University in Augusta, Georgia, who has a 9-year-old daughter, says dance gear is cheaper at big-box stores than at studios and specialty stores. For instance, she bought tap shoes at Payless for $20 -- bypassing the $100 tap shoes sold at dance studios.

She learned that lesson after ordering shoes through a dance studio. "Unless it's recital time, and the studio requires a particular outfit, just go with what's cheapest," she advises.

Blackham recommends children's consignment stores and inquiring among friends whose children have outgrown or finished using sports equipment. "Even the competitive leotards and swimsuits can be swapped out with other kids who have outgrown theirs," she says.

Randi Brown, a school psychologist in Westchester County, New York, and a parent of two teens, suggests parents ask instructors to provide a free trial class "before fully investing and signing their children up for a class."

And if you aren't keen on the idea of sitting on the sidelines while your kids have all the fun, consider following the route of Tara Goodfellow, a managing director of a career and college coaching firm in Matthews, North Carolina, and the mother of two daughters, 7 and 9.

For the last year, Goodfellow and her daughters have been all taking Tae Kwon Do classes together. "We're currently working on our blue belts," she says. "The added bonuses -- exercise for me and time to spend with my girls."

Costs also increase if your child is gifted. Holliday says her daughter's dance instructor encouraged her to add two more classes. Why? "Because the instructor told her she would advance faster," Holliday says. "Teachers will also push private instruction."

It's great to develop your child's talents, but "careful what you wish for," Holliday says. "The kids that excel can drain both your time and your wallet. At age 13, my daughter did 44 shows of 'Seussical' at a local dinner theater -- that's 88 trips there and back for the parents or sitter, who you're paying for transport."

Of course, if you pay for lessons or activities but your kid turns out to lack talent, he or she will still benefit. "There's the actual skill they start to learn, but there's so much more. It teaches focus, motivation, patience and confidence," Goodfellow says of extracurricular activities. "Just the process -- even without producing the next international ukulele player or rock star drummer -- teaches our children so much."

And on the bright side, if your kid's skills are mediocre, it will save you a fortune.