Young children's extracurricular activities as natural venues for the socialization of emotion regulation

Children younger than 6 years old often participate in extracurricular activities (ECAs), yet research on the developmental impacts of early childhood ECAs for children’s social–emotional development is limited. Participating in these activities may be pivotal for young children's developmental needs, providing novel opportunities for them to safely practice nascent emotion regulation abilities, which are critical for overall well-being. ECA leaders can act as salient socialization agents, paralleling parents' and teachers' scaffolding of young children's emotion regulation. We propose that ECAs in early childhood may provide experiences that are effective for promoting emotion regulation in a sensitive developmental phase. We suggest multiple targets of investigation to begin illuminating how ECAs may help shape social–emotional competencies in early childhood.