Afterschool programs in the United States and leisure-time centres in Sweden could emphasize children’s leisure as well as be of importance to children’s learning. However, in both cases, the association to leisure is mostly ignored and the acceptance is not widely practiced. Instead, other discourses that partly are more related to the field of education serve as a guide for programming in afterschool programs and leisure-time centres. The authors present the argument that afterschool programs and leisure-time centres could be more associated with leisure activities and presented in a new way with the guidance from the field of leisure that also could be beneficial for educational research. Existing definitions of leisure, and their possible consequences for the activities, are discussed in terms of the framework of afterschool programs and leisure-time centres. The authors argue that knowledge grounded in understanding the importance of leisure and its potential to develop and satisfy people could be a means to develop both the activities and the current work of the staff in afterschool programs and leisure-time centres.