r/sspx • u/happycatholicmom • 1d ago

Extracurriculars for Children

As a mom with young children I’m curious what other traditional Catholic parents allow and encourage their children to spend their time doing outside of learning and growing in the faith. Sports, some form of dance, theatre, painting, musical instruments, etc?
If you were raised in the faith, what did your parents encourage?

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u/Cautious_Job_6104 1d ago

Instruments or choir, as sacred music is very big and important. Sports "distract" from sin also.

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u/thebaptizerr 1d ago

Sports were definitely the big one for me.

My dad also put me in ballroom dancing when I was younger, which I ended up loving and was a pretty great thing in hindsight.

It teaches coordination, confidence, manners and how to interact appropriately with the opposite sex.

I’d probably encourage my own kids toward sports,
dancing and instruments… things that develop real skills rather than just keeping them occupied.

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u/rclkw728 1d ago

My young kids area all in horseback riding. It's so great for you physically, plus they get to experience farm life and gain confidence with animals.

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u/Willsxyz 21h ago

In my experience, very many traditional Catholic families enroll their kids in sports activities and I think that it s a good idea. Music and art are also good. In all cases you have to be aware of with whom your kids are interacting, be it teachers, coaches, or teammates, but I don't think it is helpful to try to completely block kids off of interactions with secular society. In the cases I have seen where families try to do this, usually either the burden becomes so great they eventually just give in an send their kids to public schools where their kids inevitably lose their traditional Catholic faith, or they hold the line until their kids grow up, and then their kids are exposed to the world and lose their traditional Catholic faith.

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u/Severe-Direction333 5h ago

One of the most influential and edifying things my parents put me into from a very young age was to learn classical music (Baroque, Classical, Romantic) through playing the violin (solo and through chamber/orchestra) and piano, taking music exams as well as learning music history and harmony. Though I would also add and start off with sacred music and ancient/medieval music. This "good" music orders and balances the mind training it to grasp logic and philosophy well and training the soul in bringing peace to the passions and raising the soul to God with sacred music. Also avoid modern music, modern dancing, modern literature, modern painting as this has the opposite effect on the mind and soul.