Every kid should have something they enjoy doing outside of school. National Hobby Month is a great way to help your child explore hobbies he may not be aware of!

Why hobbies?

Adults aren’t the only ones who benefit from having a hobby.Hobbies are an enjoyable way to gain new skills and learn something new about yourself and the world around you.Children who excel at something grow to perform well at other tasks because of the confidence they gain from their hobbies.

When your child enjoys one or more hobbies she will:

• Develop strong social and emotional skills
• Grow academically
• Learn to be more patient
• Gain a sense of accomplishment which leads to confidence in other areas
• Develop willpower, concentration, determination and dedication
• Learn how to set – and meet – goals
• Feel more confident when asked to try new things
• Develop good reading habits by actively participating in a hobby; not sitting passively and being entertained (e.g. reading vs watching tv)

Kids who excel at something tend to define themselves by what they’re good at. For example, think back to your school days.
Maybe you had someone in your class who always had his head in an engine fixing up old cars, or maybe your friend always knew the best fishing holes.

Each kid was the best at his particular hobby, and because he loved it so much – and grew to be competent at it – he became an authority among his peers.

What do your kids enjoy doing?

Your kids are probably already enjoying a hobby, but they may not think of it in those terms. For our purposes, a hobby is simply defined as an activity done outside of work or school that you enjoy doing.You may have thought of some things your kids love to do already. But are there other things they have shown an interest in that you can explore this month?

How to help your child explore her interests

Take some time this month to brainstorm ideas with your child. Encourage her to think of all the hobbies that people do, all across the globe.Then, narrow down the list to those things which interest her as well as those things you believe she might enjoy if she gave them a try.
Ask her to choose which one she’d like to try first and help her get started. Of course, some hobbies may be more realistic – such as stamp collecting or scrapbooking – than others, such as falconry or deep sea diving! So it’s important to discuss all the factors that go into choosing a hobby.

Even if it’s not practical to help your child start a particular hobby, that doesn’t mean you can’t explore the idea. Look for videos and/or articles about people doing the hobby(ies) that interest your child.

National Hobby Month is the perfect opportunity to take some time to help your children explore different hobbies. They’ll never know what they can do until they try it!