A survey of children's activities in the 12 months to April 2000 found that 777,700 children (29%) were involved in at least one of four selected organised cultural activities outside of school hours. Girls were twice as likely as boys (40% compared with 20%) to participate in at least one of these activities (table 12.29).
During the year, 10% of girls were involved in more than one of the selected organised cultural activities outside of school hours, compared with 3% of boys.
The rate of children's participation in at least one of the organised cultural activities ranged from 22% in the Northern Territory to 34% in the Australian Capital Territory.
Playing a musical instrument was the most popular of the selected cultural activities (18%), followed by dancing (10%), singing (5%) and drama (5%). The activity with the highest ratio of girls to boys was dancing, with 11 times more girls participating than boys.
12.29 CHILDREN INVOLVED IN CULTURAL ACTIVITIES(a) - April 2000 |
|
Age |
| 5 years | 6 years | 7 years | 8 years | 9 years | 10 years | 11 years | 12 years | 13 years | 14 years | Total |
|
Activity | PARTICIPATION RATE (%) |
Males - | | | | | | | | | | | |
- Playing a musical instrument | *4.0 | 9.8 | 11.0 | 16.5 | 17.0 | 20.4 | 20.2 | 20.8 | 19.7 | 18.1 | 15.8 |
- Singing | **1.1 | **0.6 | *2.1 | *3.2 | *3.8 | *4.1 | *3.0 | *4.4 | *3.6 | *2.8 | 2.9 |
- Dancing | **1.2 | *2.2 | *2.1 | **0.8 | *1.5 | *1.6 | **0.5 | *2.8 | *2.7 | *1.7 | 1.7 |
- Drama | **0.1 | *1.3 | *3.6 | *3.5 | *2.8 | *4.7 | *2.4 | *4.3 | *4.2 | *4.8 | *3.2 |
- Total | 6.2 | 12.6 | 15.2 | 20.5 | 20.5 | 25.2 | 23.5 | 24.6 | 24.4 | 24.0 | 19.7 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Females - | | | | | | | | | | | |
- Playing a musical instrument | 5.4 | 8.2 | 15.6 | 23.7 | 24.1 | 27.3 | 29.4 | 23.0 | 23.7 | 20.0 | 20.2 |
- Singing | **1.1 | *3.5 | *4.1 | 7.5 | 7.7 | 10.3 | 7.7 | 8.8 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 6.7 |
- Dancing | 23.3 | 25.0 | 22.0 | 21.0 | 21.4 | 19.5 | 20.4 | 15.2 | 15.7 | 11.6 | 19.5 |
- Drama | **0.7 | *2.6 | *5.1 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 7.8 | 7.2 | 10.5 | 8.4 | 7.0 | 6.1 |
- Total | 27.9 | 32.8 | 37.1 | 41.8 | 44.8 | 45.0 | 48.0 | 42.1 | 41.5 | 34.6 | 39.7 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Persons - | | | | | | | | | | | |
- Playing a musical instrument | 4.7 | 9.1 | 13.2 | 20.1 | 20.5 | 23.7 | 24.5 | 22.0 | 21.7 | 19.0 | 17.9 |
- Singing | *1.1 | *1.9 | 3.0 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 7.0 | 5.2 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 5.1 | 4.7 |
- Dancing | 12.1 | 12.9 | 11.7 | 10.8 | 11.3 | 10.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 | 9.1 | 6.5 | 10.4 |
- Drama | **0.4 | *1.9 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 6.2 | 4.7 | 7.5 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 4.6 |
- Total | 16.9 | 22.0 | 25.8 | 31.1 | 32.5 | 34.6 | 35.1 | 33.8 | 32.8 | 29.1 | 29.4 |
|
(a) Outside of school hours during the 12 months prior to interview in April 2000. |
Source: Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia, April 2000 (4901.0). |
Participation in dancing was highest for children aged 6 years (13%) and lowest for children aged 14 years (7%). Participation in the other three activities peaked between 10 and 12 years of age. During the 12 month period, 93% of children involved in dancing had dancing lessons. Some 75% played a musical instrument, 69% participated in drama and 57% in singing.
In the two school weeks prior to interview in April 2000, 44% of children (34% of boys and 55% of girls) undertook art and craft activities. This compares to 97% of children who watched television or videos and 69% who played electronic or computer games.
Children's participation in organised sports and other leisure activities is outlined in the section Children's participation in sports and leisure activities.