Joining a club offers many benefits for kids of all ages. It’s a fantastic way to meet new friends who share your interests and to discover hobbies you didn’t know you loved. There are loads of places in Virginia where your family can join in on the fun. But finding a good club can be challenging. We took care of the research and put together this guide to six local clubs your family can join near Port Potomac. 

Prince William Swim Club

Prince William Swim Club is a year-round league. Experts suggest that parents should ensure their children aged 4 years and older know how to swim. Making this vital skill a priority can help prevent drowning and makes water time safe and fun. Experienced, qualified instructors are the key to success in the pool, and a swim club is a terrific way to ensure they learn good habits right from the start.

Head coach Lorena Caballero founded the program and has served area swimmers for more than 35 years. This competitive team guides children from kindergarten through adulthood. Caballero and her staff invite your kids to join other Virginia youths and train to compete at the local, state, and national levels. The first day of practice for advanced children is August 30, 2022, and for newbies, it’s September 7, 2022.

Ready-Set-Sports

Image via Flickr by mriggen Licensed CC BY 2.0

Ready-Set-Sports has a plan to help your child boost their physical and cognitive development through athletics. The coaches here provide an activity-filled curriculum that focuses on individual, team, and game skills. Its extensive playbook covers today’s most popular sports, and with a consistent weekly game plan, both parents and your kids know what to expect from the organizers of this club. 

Whether your family is into football or baseball — or both — your kids can get into the game at Ready-Set-Sports. This club delivers positive, age-appropriate experiences for children that leaders tailor to their skill level, with plenty of structure, attention, and praise to nurture their growth.

Your child will come away with a knowledge of the sport’s fundamentals and a clear understanding of teamwork and sportsmanship. The coaches measure your child’s success not on performance but by what they learn and how much fun they have.

Youth Orchestras of Prince William

If your child has shown an interest in making music, encourage them to explore their creative side with a club. The Youth Orchestras of Prince William program promotes quality music education while providing club members with a wide range of outstanding performance opportunities.

With this fellowship, your kids will expand their melodic awareness and develop an appreciation for the musical culture of our region. Board President Sheyna Burt’s team of dedicated conductors here leads various orchestras and ensembles, including string and symphony for beginner and advanced students.

One article by Stanford Children’s Health states that playing music is a terrific activity for kids. These clubs offer many benefits that help children prepare for success. Playing an instrument may boost your child’s imagination, increase their self-confidence, and even raise their IQ. This healthy habit can also improve their language and reasoning skills, and in an orchestra setting, it strengthens traits like teamwork, discipline, and focus. 

KidSpanish

Learning a second language introduces your child to so much more than vocabulary. Crème de la Crème’s teachers understand the importance of raising your preschoolers to appreciate other cultures through stories, music, and delightful, hands-on activities.

You can also try out the language enrichment programs at KidSpanish on Dawes Avenue. This school offers weekly get-togethers that organizers designed to teach children from kindergarten to fifth grade how to speak Spanish. The club’s goal is to guide kids on a path to fluency and develop their reading and writing abilities.

Each meeting features a different theme that helps students learn the language’s most frequently used words and phrases. Club members feel empowered and are much more successful with this program’s effective methodology. Instructors combine six proven learning styles into an interactive language and storytelling class: visual, aural, verbal, physical, logical, and social.

Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre

Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre is a quality arts education club that has served the Woodbridge area since 1979. The company produces three full-length shows a year featuring local youth actors from 8 to 18. Board President Lexi Keogh and her passionate staff are committed to the philosophy that everyone can benefit from participation in the arts, especially kids.

The theater program also hosts camps over Spring and summer breaks and after-school enrichment classes. Its mission is to provide a fun and supportive environment for kids to indulge their creative sides and build confidence on and off the stage. Its highly qualified leaders have professional theater knowledge and extensive teaching expertise, and they’re all vetted with background checks for your peace of mind. The 2022 production season includes shows like the Tony Award-winning Annie.

NASA Kids Club

Sometimes family schedules get so full that dropping everything for a local club meeting across town can sound daunting. Thankfully, you don’t have to pencil in that commute. Today’s kids have access to a seemingly unlimited number of online clubs.

These diverse opportunities, like NASA Kids Club, might be exactly what your kids need to stay engaged socially and academically all year round. It’s the ideal place for your out-of-this-world space cadets to play games and learn all about the exciting happenings over at this world leader in aerospace science and technology. They can go on a mission, download an educational podcast, and watch NASA TV — all for free from home.

So, there you have it. Crème de la Crème of Port Potomac (Woodbridge) informed you of the best six local clubs your family can join near home. Did you like our picks? Did we miss your family’s favorite club — one Virginia families will love? If we did, let us know! Drop us a line so we can add your suggestions to our list.