After-School Club Ideas with Purple Mash

The display boards are looking pristine, the children have all found their pegs and seats, you've had several cold cups of coffee... it must be the start of term! With the start of term also comes the start of new after-school clubs.

After-school (or extra-curricular) clubs are an amazing way to build children's skills and explore their interests beyond the classroom, as well as being a great way to develop key social skills.

Purple Mash offers a huge range of tools and resources that you may have never thought of using in your club, so here are a few ideas of what you can get up to post-3pm:

Computing Club (Mash Club)

Run an easy and engaging computing club using the Mash Club resources inside the Purple Mash Teachers Area. With three terms of ready-to-use resources, activities and slideshows, pupils can experiment with coding, create their own games and even make 3D models. Everything in Mash Club has been designed to promote independent learning, with children following step-by-step instructions.

There are printable resources which include posters, stickers, certificates and name cards. You can also purchase Cody lanyards and Mash Club badges from the 2Simple Shop.

Computing Club name ideas:

Mash Club, The Debuggers, RoboCoders, Tech Explorers, Cyber Squad, Mission: Code

Creative Writing Club

The Videos for Creative Writing on Purple Mash are fantastic for use in a club setting. With 4 adventures to follow, and 5 video episodes in each, there's plenty there for a whole year's worth of creative writing club! Each video episode introduces the week's challenge, and there are digital writing templates for each, as well as extra bonus activities.

Creative Writing Club name ideas:

Word Wizards, The Writing Den, Inspirations, The Writing Quest, The Storyteller's Circle

Music and Media Club

Children can get creative with the music and media tools inside Purple Mash for this club:

• Make music with 2Sequence, Busy Beats or Tracklab
• Create an animation with 2Animate
• Put them together with 2Create A Story

You could set weekly challenges, like composing music for a scene in a story, creating a school song, or designing an animated advert for their favourite toy.

Music and Media Club name ideas:

Music Makers, Sound Squad, Media Mash-Up, Toon & Tune Club, The Jamination Crew

Digital Art Club

For pupils who love to draw, design and paint, Purple Mash offers endless opportunities. Use 2Paint a Picture to explore different artistic styles and techniques, or try 2Design and Make to create 3D models and printable nets. You could run sessions themed around famous artists, challenge children to illustrate book covers, or create seasonal designs.

Digital Art Club name ideas:

The Digi-Designers, The Colour Collective, Art-venturers, Masterpiece Makers

News and Media Club

Encourage budding journalists with Purple Mash's publishing tools:

• Create a school newspaper using templates in 2Publish Plus
• Put together a school news podcast with 2Cast

Report on school events, local news and even interview staff and students. Club members could even create and design their own blogs in 2Blog.

News and Media Club name ideas:

Mash News Network (MNN), Junior Journalists, Reporters' Round-Up, The Broadcast Bunch, Press Pass Pals

Debate Club

With Oracy resources being a recent addition to Purple Mash, it's now even easier to run your very own debate club. Within the resources, you'll find videos and activities to develop oracy skills, as well as talking prompts. Once the club members have developed their oracy skills, try one of the group debate prompts, with one club session for planning, and one session for the debate itself. If the debate goes well in the club setting, why not come up with a topical debate to showcase to the school in an assembly? It might be about school dinners, playground equipment, or school uniform.

Debate Club name ideas:

Debate Dynamos, Argument Architects, Debate-inators, The Tough Talkers, Opposition Force

All of these tools and resources are included in a Purple Mash subscription. If you'd like to explore the platform yourself, you can get a free trial here.