School Students Home Children Teenagers Play Teams Club

Children and teenagers in the U.S. are often involved in activities after school and on weekends. These "extracurricular activities," or activities aside from school studies, sometimes take place at school itself after school hours. For instance, some students play school sports such as American football, soccer, basketball, and baseball. These school sports teams usually require that the student "try out," or audition before they are accepted as a team player. Each school's teams play against other school teams, and the best teams may travel to other cities or states to compete.

Another type of extracurricular activity students participate in at school are school organizations for special interests. Student "clubs," or organizations, usually has a teacher who oversees the students, but the students often lead their own activities. For example, "French club" would be for students learning French and are interested in French-speaking cultures; "Future Farmers of America" would be for students who plan to have a career in farming; "chess club" would be for students who like to play chess, a board game for two players; "drama club" would be for students interested in acting and the theater. Each school has different clubs and participation in clubs is voluntary.

Many children and teenagers are not involved in school activities. They may go to a library after school to study or they may just go home to do homework or to simply relax. It's very common for children and teenagers to invite their friends over to their house after school to study or to play.