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Increasingly, scientists from different disciplines have dedicated their efforts to understand how childhood conditions influence the development of an individual. School and family play a role in this process. More prepared and motivated children today lead to more successful adults tomorrow, in the labor market as well as in all other life dimensions. Between the end of school-day and bedtime, time can be used for more or less structured activities, with other children and adults.  Evidence from US shows that participation in extra-curricular activities is becoming, together with other traits, a further distinctive of diverging destinies of “our kids”. Yet there is no study in Europe that addresses this issue. We contribute to the topic by studying the relationship between the use extraschool time and child non-cognitive development, using UK longitudinal data. We find that reading for enjoyment, doing sport, talking with parents at meals, helping with household chores influence positively all behavioral dimensions. Playing indoor games with family members decreases hyperactivity and peer problems while enhances pro-social behavior. Attending religious activities has beneficial effects on hyperactivity. Spending time watching TV and playing video-games increases hyperactivity problems and decreases pro-social behavior.

child time use, extra-curricular activities, Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire, longitudinal data, Millennium Cohort Study