How You Can Help Your Kids Embrace Their Hobbies

 

Image Credit: UnSplash

{This is a collaborative post}

Childhood should be fun, and it should include hobbies that your kids engage in. Unfortunately, childhood hobbies and interests are less common now than they were before the advent of social media, as a lot of kids spend more time at a device than trying out different hobbies. As parents, our job is to teach kids to explore and experience more out of life, and this means introducing them to different hobbies.

This post will explore why hobbies are such an important part of childhood, as well as how we as parents can balance our view of our kids’ hobbies and, hopefully, help them get the most out of them.

Why Hobbies Are Important

One of the ways that children learn best is through having fun, and hobbies are meant to be fun. The best hobbies involve developing different skills that your kids might not learn while they’re in school. 

Hobbies also provide opportunities for children to develop as people and to find things out for themselves. They become their own person, rather than just an extension of their parents. Even if a hobby is short-lived, it’s beneficial. 

Another reason why it’s good for kids to have hobbies is that it can give them another opportunity to meet new people and make more friends. While it’s common for children to have just one or two good friends, it’s good for them to branch out as well so they can learn from each other.

Celebrating Their Interests

So, your kid has a hobby. What do you do about it? As a parent, it’s important to do what you can to support your child’s hobbies and interests by matching their enthusiasm. Even if the hobby isn’t something you’re actually interested in or even understand, you should still be there for your child.

Give them opportunities to express themselves and to excel. Talk to them about their hobbies. If they reach a milestone, find a way to celebrate it. If your kid enjoys a sport, for example, you can take them to games, help them learn to play, and even give them sports-themed stickers when they achieve something they’re proud of.

Knowing When to Step Back

But it’s important to have balance as a parent and to know when to step back and allow your child’s hobby to remain just that, their hobby. 

Some parents, especially if their child’s hobby matches their own interests or if their child shows some real talent, can take things too far. You might be trying to help your child, but if you keep on pushing them, you risk taking the fun out of the hobby. In some cases, kids lose interest because of this behaviour.

There’s also the fact that, for many kids, hobbies are temporary. It’s important not to invest too much time and money into something too soon, because some children might just move on to something else in a few months or even weeks. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing; it’s just part of being a kid.

 

Flip Out Trampoline Park Chichester - What did we think?

A couple of weeks ago we stayed in Worthing for a weeks holiday and we had a great time. When I asked my twins what they'd like to do, trampolining was top of their list and when they saw there was a Flip Out not too far away they were over the moon, as they'd heard before how good these trampoline parks are. 

What does it cost?

Flip Out Chichester is super easy to find, as it is situated just a short way off the A27, which skirts around the outer edge of Chichester. There was a large car park available and notices to remind you not to park on the industrial park roads, so I assume it can get crowded at times. 

It wasn't at all busy when we went on a weekday during term-time. I booked for the Daytime Bounce session which is 2.5 hours of bouncing. We booked the slot from 10am to 12.30pm and truthfully my girls didn't need that long as they were super tired after about 90 minutes. The cost was £12 for the session, which seemed reasonable but it was also mandatory to buy the Flip Out socks for £2.50 a pair, which seemed such a shame as I had trampoline specific socks with me from our local venue. But they told me some story about them not being tested on their trampoline and thus my girls could not use them. I had the socks to show them and they had the same kind of rubbery bottom, but they wouldn't even look at them and that feels like a bit of a con. 

I also had to pay £2.50 per spectator to be on-site and wait for them. Again this feels like an unnecessary cost. I understand during busy times they may need to limit spectators and this is a way of doing that but when there were only about 10 people in the building, it is obviously just another way to make money. Thankfully they did offer a complimentary drink for each paying spectator, so my mum and I had a coffee and it was very nice.  

During busier times, it is £10 for one hour at the early bird time of 9am or £12 for one hour for the rest of the day.

We're Going on a Rock Hunt #KindnessRocks

These amazing rocks were painted by the super talented Helen at The Crafty Norman, our local craft shop

In the middle of last year, I read a post over on The Holy Mess about Kindness Rocks. I loved the idea and saved the link, thinking that at some point I'd write a post about it and maybe do something similar where we live and then I forgot all about it, until last week when I saw a friend post on her FB timeline that her daughter had been rock hunting in our home town, here in East Sussex.

It turns out that Kindness Rocks and rock hunting, in general, have become big news over the last year. It looks like the initiative started in the USA but I could also find early evidence in Australia too. But no matter where it started, it is wonderful fun and a really positive initiative that I wanted to be involved with.

Basically, it is a pay it forward project where you paint a rock with a positive picture or phrase, such as breath, be kind, you matter, be brave, laugh often etc and then you hide it in your local area for others to find. When they find the rock there's a message on the back asking them to share a picture on the local FB page so others can see what has been found and so the creator can enjoy the joy of it being found.

These are all rocks we have found in our local town Battle

They can then either re-hide the rock for someone else to enjoy or take it home and ideally put one into the project themselves, paying the kindness forward.

"One message at just the right time can change your entire day... outlook... life!" Megan Murphy, founder of The Kindness Rocks Project

If you put #Kindnessrocks or #TheKindnessRocksProject into Instagram or a search engine you'll find loads of information and so many amazing pictures and tutorials for painting stones. But it is super simple to be honest.

Making your own Kindness Rock

1.  Find a good rock to use. If you don't have any in your local area then please buy some from a home store or on Amazon. Don't take from another persons garden or such.

2.  Ensure your rock is clean and dry.

3.  Paint on it or draw with something like sharpies. There needs to be a good strong colour, so it will last.

4.  Put a message on the back so that the finder knows what to do with the rock. You can write on the rock but as I don't have great handwriting, I have printed out small labels to stick on the back. (They say - This is a #Battlerock, please take a photo and share it in the Battle Rocks FB group, then re-hid this stone, thanks.)

5.  Varnish the rock on both sides so it is weatherproof. I use DecoArt DuraClear varnish and a small tub goes a very long way.

#kindnessrocks #RSrocks

A post shared by Michelle Trotta (@michelletrotta) on Feb 2, 2018 at 6:27pm PST

Hiding your Rock

Search on FB for the name of your town and then Rocks, so my group is Battle Rocks and if there is one there, great you can join and get straight on and hide your rock. If not you might have to be the pioneer and start the group and drop a few rocks and see if it will catch on in your area and people will join in.

You need to be respectful as to where you put your rock as they should not be a nuisance.

• Don't put in the grass as they will damage lawnmowers
• Don't put one too far into a large flower bed as you don't want people to have to tread on the bed to get it
• Make sure it is not a trip hazard wherever you leave it
• Make sure they are just in public areas, you don't want to encourage people onto private property

Now go rock hunting! We hope you enjoy it. Our best day has seen 14 rocks found so far and we took one home as my daughter loved it and we re-hid all the others for more people to enjoy. We are currently making some new rocks to put out so we can pass on the kindness too.

Why not pin this post for later?

Encouraging Your Child's Imaginative Play

I'll make a confession to you and I'm sure I'm not the only parent who feels this way but I really dislike having to play make believe with my children.

I know, I'm terrible, right? I just find it so boring. I am a realist and I'd much rather be doing something that my logic says is worthwhile and is achieving something. You know, perhaps crafting some cards, baking cakes or going for a ramble.

But the research shows how important it is to encourage your children to take part in imaginative play. A key article in Psychology Today cites benefits such as increased creativity, enhanced empathy, your child gaining an understanding that others thoughts differ to their own, advanced language skills developing and even a reduction in aggression to name just a few of the major plus points.

Christmas - get the kids involved!

Christmas can be a really busy time and for some it all becomes too much and the burden of jobs and money takes its toll. I'm firmly in the camp that says if you can't afford it, do not do it. No Christmas is worth having to pay off credit cards for months afterwards. Nor is it worth making yourself ill with stress.

Advent
Christmas is supposed to be a time when we celebrate the best gift of all, the birth of Jesus Christ and ultimately the sacrifice He made for us, so it is important for me and my family to spend time during Advent where we focus on Jesus and not ourselves. That is not the easiest of tasks with three kids as ultimately they would like to just take, take, take but they need a grounding and an understanding that Christmas is bigger than them.

I don't think Christmas is just the responsibility of parents, they should not have to plan it alone and do all the organisation, the kids need to be involved too. My kids may have groaned the first few times I asked them to set the table, empty the dishwasher or do the recycling but now they do it as standard and know they are part of a team and are making a difference to family life and you know what? I think they even enjoy it too, it gives them a sense of achievement and they thrive on the responsibility.