@blossom There are, no question, people who are wasting ridiculous amounts of money of ECs for little kids, like $250 leotards for first year ballet kids. Actually, $250 leotards are a dumb idea at any age at any level.
However, not all ECs are private tennis lessons or horse riding for 6 year olds. Many ECs are cheap or free, even music. Many ECs are associated with schools, so the kids just stay at school, and are picked up late. Others are provided by park districts and local organizations.
Luckily, as academics, we had the flexibility to juggle our commitments so we could take our kid to dance lessons. However, these were only once a week in 2nd grade, twice at 3rd, three times at fourth, and then they were back to back, so it was never more than 3 times during the week, and once on weekends by the time she was in middle school. But then you find other families and car pool. Our babysitter took her sometimes, etc.
However, I can say that dance has kept my D healthy and a lot saner than she would have been otherwise. If the trade off was dance or a more expensive college, we would vote for the cheaper college option, no question. In all honesty, I think that her dance experience training and focus were an important part of the characteristics which allowed her to successfully compete for her scholarship. Her social action ECs were why she was tapped for it, but without her years of dance I do not know that she would have won it.
Of course, unless your kid has been engaged in the activity, AND is benefiting from it, there is no point in investing any time of money. If your kids is their 4th year of dance, and shows little to no interest, before, during, and after the lessons, it’s time to do something else. Unless your kid is a prodigy, there is no point in spending thousands of of dollars on any EC. If your kid IS a prodigy, their school/club/etc will find ways to have the kid’s expenses taken care of.
Of course, playing outside is way underrated as an activity that is healthy and can provide all sorts of benefits. I did that a lot as a kid. The reason I went to college to study ecology was the hours and hours I spent chasing lizards in the open space around where I grew up. To follow up on what I found, I reached out to herpetologists, hung out around different people, etc. A kid can also create their own ECs, too.