Hobbies are important for healthy lifestyle. They help in developing skills , gives more confidence and give positive outlook to one’s personality. Creating opportunities to explore child’s interests and encouraging them to develop it, helps them build hobbies. In this article, we are covering 5 areas to explore hobbies for elementary level children.
Art and Craft
Art and crafts give platform for children to express themselves and nurture their creative side. It helps the child to develop patience and improves one’s concentration. It gives the child a sense of achievement, hence builds their confidence.
Some of the art and craft forms which children can try (but not limited to) are :
- Drawing and Painting : Pencil sketches, coloring with crayons, acrylic painting, canvas painting, etc.
- Quilling : It is an art of rolling the paper strips in different forms and shapes, then gluing it together to form creative designs. This requires patience and can keep the child engaged for good amount of time.
- Warli Art : It is one of the oldest folk art forms of India which has its origin in Warli region of Maharashtra. This art form uses basic geometric shapes and some symbols to create beautiful designs. Warli painting are done on the walls, clothes, canvas, pots, etc.
- Origami : It is an art of folding papers using particular techniques to create beautiful objects/crafts.
- Crochet : It is a process of creating textiles using a crochet hook, a ball of thread or wool. These days this art form is reviving and can be used to make wearables and decorative items.
Music
Everybody needs music in their life at some point of time. Children are naturally inclined towards it starting from their birth. Nurturing that bond with music has great impact on their overall development.
Make your child learn any form of classical music or musical instruments. It teaches them qualities like hard work, discipline, dedication and perseverance along with boosting their brain performance and learning abilities.
Dance
Our children are growing in the technology filled, gadget friendly environment. Reducing screens as much as possible is the need of the hour. To keep lifestyle diseases away from our children we need to enroll them in activities like Dance. It takes care of their complete wellbeing both physical and emotional.
Free style dance forms are good. But we feel, learning classical form is best as it involves structured and disciplined study.
Science
Science always fascinates the young minds. If your child is curious about anything, feed that curiosity by showing them real life examples. You can introduce them to activities like:
- Star gazing and learning about space
- Science experiments
- Gardening
You may like to read our article on how to develop kids interest about space here.
Sports
Playing outside is must for children. Frequently expose your child to any form of outdoor games. It should be developed as a hobby to keep them fit for lifetime. Some of the child friendly options are :
- Cycling
- Skating /Skate Board/Wave Board
- Swimming
- Running
- Any other sports of their choice like badminton, tennis, football, etc.
Life Skills
Building life skills equips the child to face the real world. Some of the skills which can be taken up as hobbies (as per their age) are:
- Cooking
- Organizing
- Event management
- Photography
- Reading
Hope the above mentioned 5 areas to explore hobbies for children are useful to you. Why not try some of these activities this winter, making use of free time available from online classes?
