It's been more than 25 years ago, most of the children around our neighbor or among my friends had some sort of hobbies. Reading books was the favourite hobby among good students. Stamp, coin or currency note collecting, photography, gardening were some of the popular hobbies. Not to mention, penpal or penfriendship was one of the popular hobbies. At our school there was an essay writing assessment and my favourite topic was to write about 'My favourite pastime/hobby'. And important part of the essay was related to the importance or benefits of that particular hobby. As stamps/ coin collecting and penfriendship were my favourite hobbies, I wrote about them as a class assignment and was awarded good marks for my description and writing. Today our kids spend most of their time watching television and playing video games. Many are involved in participating social networking sites and spend a lot of time there.
I strongly feel that hobbies, leisure activities and pastimes are very important for our kids. Hobbies are expressions of personal accomplishment and a means of self-discovery, hobbies help build self-esteem.
Hobbies are educational tools, as well. For example, a child who becomes interested in rocketry -- one of the most popular hobbies, by the way -- learns about propulsion and aerodynamics. By working on hobbies, children learn to set goals, make decisions, and solve all sorts of problems. Finally, hobbies often mature into lifelong interests, even careers.
Hobbies benefit children in numerous ways.
Benefits of hobbies:
- Hohhies Give children confidence -hobbies provide a sense of personal accomplishment, bolstering self-esteem. If children get positive feedback from their skills and hobbies, they’re less likely to turn to drugs and alcohol for comfort.
- Encourage reading - Hobbies are the gateway to learning, as well as transforming even lazy readers into avid ones. Most often, kids don’t enjoy reading because they’re not interested in the books put before them. However, once you discover their passions, reading just falls into place naturally, when they read about their hobbies.
- Educate - While reading about their hobbies, children develop a hunger for knowledge, maybe without even realizing it. For example, take rock collecting. After collecting some rocks and shells, your junior geologist will most likely want to know more about her (or his) collection, as she researches and studies.
- Teach goal-setting - Children learn to set goals and make their own decisions when they get absorbed in hobbies.
- Can lead to lifetime careers - Hobbies not only mature kids, but also can lead to lifetime career choices. When James G. of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida got his first racing bike in middle school, he went on to work in a bike shop and today, in his mid-twenties, he manages the shop.
Hobbies and collections are a great way to have fun, learn, and make friends. Most hobbies have clubs kids can join or kids can just do a hobby by themselves. Hobbies can bring some interest and spice to to our life beyond TV and video games.
Here are some fun hobbies which your kids may like:
- Stamp Collecting
- Barbie Dolls
- Coin Collecting
- Lego Building
- Trading Cards (i.e Baseball or pokemon cards)
- Photography
- Scrapbooking
Relates posts:
* Hobbies and crafts for kids at "Indian Child"
* Benefits of hobbies and leisures
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