Your child may develop an absorbing passion like collecting baseball cards, that he'll enjoy for many years. Or he may flit from hobby to hobby -- one year it's making models, the next year he's interested only in building kites. Or your child may fit her interests into whatever the family does together. If you love to garden, she may happily join you in transplanting the annuals in the spring.
Encourage your child in her choice of activities, whatever form they take. Kids gain confidence and a sense of self-esteem from the activities they choose themselves. They may have had a bad day at school, or their best friend might be mad at them, but they can forget their frustrations, at least temporarily, when they focus on their current interest. Some children develop hobbies that accompany them through adolescence and perhaps into a career.
Let your kids choose their activities
Kids need a smorgasbord of activities to choose from, but their weekly schedule should he appropriate for their age. Between the ages of six and 12, children still need opportunities to explore, undirected, in order to develop their individual imagination and build confidence in themselves. A weekly schedule that contains too many classes or organized activities might stifle that inner development. Let them choose from the variety of activities available in your community, but limit the number in any season to what you both can handle while still allowing time for their homework, friends, and family time or chores. Older children can soon catch up to a peer who started at an earlier age in an activity that interests him, so your child's potential for success is not sacrificed if you don't enroll him for a year or two.
Suggest a trial period for every activity
Expect some of their hobbies to be short-lived -- it's just as important for them to discover what they don't like as what they do like. But when the interest may involve a family investment in years of lessons, be sure your child is ready to commit to attending classes and practising regularly. Agree on a reasonable trial period before she can drop the activity. Tell your seven-year-old daughter who wants to be a ballet dancer, for example, that you will pay for three months of ballet lessons. Once the three months are over, she will have to decide whether she likes it enough to continue or wants to quit or change to tap-dance or jazz dance lessons. With a 12-year-old, you might want to draw up a contract outlining your expectations and her commitments.
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