5 Fun and Educational Hobbies to Keep Your Kids Engaged

Children need hobbies. When school is out for the day and homework is finished, children need to play. Hobbies are the fun breaks from the daily grind of school, practice and chores. Your kids want to enjoy their free time, but as a parent, you probably want them to get something more out if it. Wouldn’t it be great if your kids could find a productive or educational hobby that they love? Check out Earth Science Jr.’s  educational and entertaining activities for kids, or introduce your kids to one of these five hobbies.

Music

Playing a musical instrument is an enriching and creative activity that can also help children improve academically. The life skills developed through playing music—not just listening to it—are immeasurable. Making music matters because it rewires the brain and improves neural processing. Bring your children to a music store and let them try everything. Once they pick their instrument, sign them up for classes at the music store or find a local school that teaches lessons at your home.

Science

Many kids dread science class because they don’t understand it. However, you can make science fun by giving them hands-on experiments such as making your own edible glass. You can create a teachable moment with your budding scientist by explaining the at-home activity’s results.

Another activity for your kids to try is catching caterpillars and making a butterfly habitat. As the kids care for these creatures until they grow wings and fly free, they learn about the cycle of life, insect metamorphosis and how to care for other living things. It might even spark a new passion for science class.

Birdwatching

Birdwatching is another way for kids to learn about nature and life, as they study the different species of birds and then apply that knowledge to real life observations. Birdwatching is more than just watching them through a pair of binoculars. It also involves auditory observance of their sounds and tweets. Because of the auditory aspect, this hobby is called Birding as well. New hobbyists should study these guidelines for safe, environmentally friendly birding. Once your family is ready to head out on an adventure, pick up a pair of binoculars, a field guide, notebook and a bird guide app.

Woodworking

Woodworking doesn’t need to involve complicated project benches and dangerous tools. Kids should start off simple and small to build their skills and practice. They can build decorative items, a birdhouse (to accompany their birding hobby!), useful knickknacks for the house, pictures frames, and stools. Start with a router and smaller projects that they can easily tackle without a ton of skill and experience. As they improve their skills enough to use tools without supervision, they’ll be able to take on bigger projects. One day, this hobby could even become a carpentry career.

Baking

Another science-based, creative hobby is baking. Baking has many benefits for children. It lets them indulge in snacks that are healthier than the store-bought versions, teaches them about chemistry and math, allows them to create, gives them vital skills for life, and most importantly, feeds the family. Baking is a safer way for kids to start experimenting in the kitchen because there’s less interaction with heat and no need for a knife during food prep. Let the kids do all the mixing and crafting, and when it’s time to transfer the tray to the oven, an adult can step in to help.

Once your kids start developing these new interests, you can foster these hobbies by providing them a space to practice. Hobby rooms will give them a special place to work on their hobby while keeping their supplies out of the common living areas. Everybody wins in this situation!

Hobbies are the activities that your children don’t need to do, but they want to do. It’s their identity project. There’s no team relying on them, no grades to make, no expectations from you or their teachers. They do these things for fun, to pass the time, and to find interests outside of school. They do these things to figure out what they love so that they might understand what they want to do for the rest of their lives.

Photo Credit: Pixabay