After-school Activities For Teens In Las Vegas

Although known as an adult playground, Las Vegas is actually home to roughly 138,000 citizens younger than age 18. If you're a parent who works in Vegas, you may be looking for safe, healthy activities for your teenager. Fortunately, Nevada's largest city has a wide assortment of programs for teens to participate in after school.

Dance

Your kids have several different options if they're interested in participating in after-school dancing programs. After-School All-Stars has partnered with several Las Vegas middle schools to offer a variety of activities on campus, including hip hop and ballet folklorico dance classes. All After-School All-Stars programs are free.

If your teens don't go to one of the schools served by After-School All-Stars, they might want to take classes at one of the many dance schools in Las Vegas. Dance Connection studio is geared especially towards kids and has after-school classes for teens that range from hip-hop to Broadway jazz.

Fitness

The Centers for Disease Control reports that 18 percent of all teenagers in the United States are obese. According to the CDC, the way to combat adolescent obesity is through physical activity and healthy eating. If you want to make sure your teen does not head straight for the television and cheese curls after school, you might want to check out the YMCA of Southern Nevada. The Y's three locations in Vegas offer after-school programs for middle-school students that provide adult-supervised indoor and outdoor games, swimming and healthy snacks.

Tennis

Las Vegas is building its reputation as a tennis town; greats in the sport like Andre Agassi and Sam Querrey were raised in Vegas and still call it home. Your child has many options when it comes to learning how to swing a racket or perhaps improving his current game, as Las Vegas is home to several tennis academies that offer after-school programs and lessons. The Darling Tennis Center offers group and private lessons in the hours after school. The Bradley Tennis Academy holds its Junior Tennis Academy after school from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Chess

A recent study from India finds that chess helps kids to concentrate better in school and think logically. According to the report, chess "enabled (students) to meet academic challenges through thoughtful preparations and execution." Checkmates Tournaments of Las Vegas is a chess club geared towards helping kids ages 5 to 16 learn about chess and improve their game. For teens who want to play chess after school, Checkmates Tournaments has after-school programs just for teenagers.

Clubs

Sometimes teens just need a place to go after school where they can hang out and stay safe. The "Teen Scene" program is offered by the City of Las Vegas for kids in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The Teen Scene club provides an adult-supervised environment for kids to do homework, play games in the game room and sometimes go on field trips. The club is low-cost and financial assistance is available.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Las Vegas offer a "Triple Play" program that teaches kids how to develop healthy habits in nutrition, offers daily challenges, sports clubs, games and social recreation. It also has special programs for teenagers, like the Keystone Club. The Keystone Club is for kids ages 14 to 18 and is centered around the teens getting involved in community service.