With the start of the new school year a few weeks away, many Iowa families are studying the calendar, trying to figure out how to get the kids to and from all their after-school activities.

Children today have so many opportunities available to them — piano lessons or dance, soccer practice or flag football, church youth groups or 4-H — that it’s easy to fill up the weeknights, and even the weekends.

While it’s tempting to sign up kids for every club, practice and lesson to avoid the fear of missing out, overscheduling can cause stress for kids, and their parents, says Kere Houghes-Belding, an...