Why my kids aren't in ANY activities

 Ok, to be fair, where we live, there aren't any activities for the kids to be involved in like sports, co-ops, dance classes, etc.
          But, even when we lived in America for a year and had the kids in public school we didn't have them signed up for ANY activities.   Why?  There are many benefits to NOT being involved in organized sports, classes or groups. 

       I believe in lots of free time for the children to explore their interests, to learn to bake or cook, to read, and to play outside in nature.  Having them busy all of the time takes away from what I think is more important for them at this age- free time.

Katrina cutting fabric to sew doll clothes

      More time for family.  I for one don't like the idea of all of my family time spent driving the kids from one activity to the next.  Instead, I like to spend our time together. 


Katrina cross stitches and Heather knits while I read to them



      We are able to travel when we want, and make plans on our own schedule.  This is a big one for our family, as we travel almost every weekend when we are living in America doing support raising.  We need to be able to pick up and go whenever is convenient for us and not worry about missing a game or recital.

Helping Jonathan snorkel on one of our impromptu trips last month

     It's a lot cheaper. We are pretty cheap people. :)

                                                   This is not to say that organized activities for kids is wrong in any way, but it's just something we have chosen not to participate in as a family.   What do you think?  Do the benefits for being in activities outweigh the benefits of not being in them?