fraidycat Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 In this age of video games, 24/7 kids shows available, and a DH who enjoys (encourages) and spends HIS downtime watching t.v. or playing video games, I seem to be fighting an uphill battle at every turn when I try to make changes/lessen our use of electronics around here. Soon it will be too hot out to just "kick the kids outside", so I am planning ahead and hoping to tighten things up around here by scheduling our time more, so we don't default to computer/t.v/handhelds. One way I hope to do this is by scheduling mandatory "hobby" time in to our days. *I* have more than enough that I never seem to get around to, so this will help me progress on stalled projects, as well. However, I refuse to listen to the "cry of the wild" a.k.a. "I'm booooooored, there's nothing to dooooooooo." while I'm trying to relax and I want them to discover other enjoyable ways to occupy their time. I'm hoping to let the kids choose a hobby they'd like to try and making them stick with it for at least a couple weeks to a month before they can try something else. Now, I need a list of ideas that they can choose from. A little bit of initial outlay in cost is fine - say up to $20~ish, but hopefully not incredibly pricey - unless they end up with a passion for it. These I have supplies for: Yarn crafts - weaving, crocheting, plastic canvas Scrapbooking Painting/paper crafts The only option I can think of for DS so far is model building - but given that he doesn't even really enjoy building with Lego all that much, I'm not sure how well that will go over. Other than that, I can let him loose in the garage with some wood, screws, nails and glue. Oh, and if anyone has ideas for hobbies that DON'T create a lot of "junk" (er, um, uh wonderful, collectible precious gems of childhood creativity that must be kept forevermore) I'd like to hear those, too. For both boys and girls. As an aspiring minimalist, I don't like a lot of excess laying around, so I am already at war with myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 How old are your kids? (Didn't see that mentioned.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishMum Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 You could turn some of their screen time into learning to code, Scratch is a good place to start, and a great hobby. I am not much help on other ideas, my boys can turn a cardboard box into hours of fun, so I have never had to guide them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 How old are they? That will make a huge difference. Soap carving for younger boys. Wood carving for older boys. Nerf guns for boys of all ages. Knitting for boys of all ages - yes, for boys. When my ds was 8, I had him make some zucchini bread and sell it at the end our driveway. A cottage industry was born. Dd11 is having challenging fun earning badges on DIY.com but I think it is best for boys and girls her age and up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 Sorry, I forgot to mention they are DD age 10, and DS age 7. I guess that's a little helpful, huh? Duh!! ETA: Thanks for the replies, so far. Very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 http://www.amazon.co...ords=tree forts I should have asked this question a couple months ago. We JUST got back from spending 5 weeks on my parents' farm. The day before we left there the kids (mine + niece & nephew) finally "discovered" the old hay loft in the barn to make into their special "clubhouse", but before that they were so boooooored most of the time. They would have had a blast building treehouses and forts. I may just have to purchase this book before our next visit there. Maybe they can build a "girls fort" and a "boys fort" in the hay loft - it's plenty big enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violamama Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Every hobby we've had so far has come with lots of little collections of stuff, both made and found. No help there. We've enjoyed bug studying, including collecting them and we're planning to do the butterfly thing and maybe the ant thing soon. We have a microscope for which we regularly bring home tidbits to examine. I've thought we should start a science journal of what we see there. Last week one son was so excited that his slightly sunburnt arms peeled (gross, I know) because it gave him pieces of skin to look at. The other brought home sand and a leaf he liked from a week at the beach. They both have mini leatherman tools and I think they would like to whittle- maybe yours would, too. As a musician, I will have to get over my issues with knives + fingers. The knitting thing (well, finger knitting) was HUGE with our campers last year- especially the boys! Bookmaking or those cartoon-making journals (if yours are into drawing/writing). We've done lots of things for the wildlife around our townhouse. We did peanut butter/seed cones, seed feeders, planting stuff with little rocks and stuff to make scenes (not really a hit until they finally saw them sprout). ETA: I'm thinking we might get this if we're in this yardless house this winter: http://www.amazon.co...rds=indoor fort Okay, here it is: I want to make my boys something like this: http://strongarmor.blogspot.com/2013/01/thanks-for-letting-me-be-guest-blogger.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunriseiz Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Things popular at our house: Bird tracking/watching (DS7 loves this), water "blasters", Jenga blocks (mostly for building), watercolor painting (indoors or out), fort building (indoors or out) HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Music? Guitar, drums, piano? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starwarsmomma Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 one of my boys' favorite things we've done is to find old things that don't work anymore and repair them. No joke. Started with a gokart that was destined for the dump. Kids took it apart, rebuilt parts, added some salvaged parts and now it runs perfect. They ride the thing all over-- heroes of all the kids in the neighborhood. LOL They also helped their best friends rebuild a wave runner. The wave runner was free, they spent a year rebuilding and for less than $75 got it running perfect. The boys are looking for a dirtbike now to rebuild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soufflegirl Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 I second bird watching - a set of binoculars and a notebook wouldn't take up too much room, and technically you could even pass on the binoculars. There's always rock collecting, although that might fall into the leaving junk around the house category, depending on your feelings, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 A few more ideas, my DS11 enjoys: origami beadwork (threading colored beads into shapes, animals, etc.) simple hand-sewing kits (DS recently made a water bottle carrier out of a terry washcloth, some rick-rack, and a drawstring) ditto on whittling/carving DS has recently become interested in competitive swimming, so he likes looking up & viewing stroke technique videos on YouTube DS likes feeling useful, so lately he likes helping in the kitchen - chopping, washing produce, stirring, baking DS follows major league baseball, so he looks up highlight clips and stats on his favorite players sketching and drawing with charcoal and pastels - using Mark Kistler online art lessons or how-to books for kids painting and assembling model airplanes and cars messing around with learn-to-play apps for piano and guitar on the iPad As for clutter, I've started taking photos of every completed project, then DS can decide whether to keep the actual item in **his** room or give it away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Origami Magic - My dd currently has a wonderful book that combines crafts and magic called Start-A-Craft Magic Tricks by Peter Eldin. It looks to be out of print, but used ones can be bought for the cost of shipping. My dd8 has this book from the library right now called Sneaky Art. It has kept her quite busy, though it does require an occasional local field trip to place her art somewhere. My dh has been teaching cat's cradle to dd8, and he has found new ones by looking it up on YouTube. Sock Puppets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheriwe Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Here are some of our summer plans for my DS 7 He has a fun book called "Art 2 D2". His two favorite things... origami and Star Wars. Cooking. He loves to help in the kitchen. Writing. He really enjoys writing his own books. He has his own series going. "The Adventures of the Fantastic Four". It is the adventures of our family (DH, me, DS and our cat) I really like the post above with the PVC pipes. I might give that a shot. I think he would really like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Have you see the Dangerous Book for Boys? Your library probably has it. Maybe he'd find something to inspire him. http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Book-Boys-Conn-Iggulden/dp/0062208977 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs.m Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 I turned off the Xbox last summer. I actually hid both of them along with their DS's. If anyone said they were bored I handed them a scrub brush and put them to work on the floors or pulling weeds. It only took once! They found things to do such as building massive buildings with the huge amount of Legos we already have, Lego robotics, drawing pictures about the video games they used to play, playing card or board games, programming on Kubo or Scratch (with permission and time limits), working on 4H projects, or reading Garfield books. My kids now fall into the "play with a cardboard box for hours" category. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma2Luke Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 My son, 7yo, and my husband are VERY much wanting to get into metal detecting as a hobby.... a beginner detector is not all that expensive and so we've started a loose change jar which is almost full and we're going shopping for a metal detector... great family hobby and who knows what you will find!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbookbuzz Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Have you see the Dangerous Book for Boys? Your library probably has it. Maybe he'd find something to inspire him. http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Book-Boys-Conn-Iggulden/dp/0062208977 Barbara, personally I'm glad you mentioned the book because I'd forgotten we own it! Glancing in it briefly this morning, I noticed "knot tying". So in a few minutes, the boy and I are going to head to the cafe, maybe get a donut, and practice knot tying with "plastic lace" from the craft store. Should be fun! Then we may head over to JoAnn Etc. because I have two coupons for 60% off a cut of regulary priced fabric. Maybe I'll set him loose inside later to make forts! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 We are a boardgaming family. Eldest loves to make his own board game pieces and cards. This is the easiest one to explain so I'll go with this one. For awhile this game was popular in our family: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGnwIlCn0EQ&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL63C6546B9F5DCD3E Eldest and Youngest then came up with there own set of Descent cards. They made versions on paper, then with my help versions on the computer. They then played games with them testing for playability. They learnt to judge it a card was to powerful, to cheap to buy... I must say Eldest is now great at making expansions for boardgames. He is now working on a new character class for Descent the 2nd edition. He is also creating a new set of character cards. He might even have them play tested at board game night. He even has made his own board game called, "Arrow shot". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morganvicky98 Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 You really need to learn where his interest lie? Does he like guns and CIA stuff? Does he like sports? Is he creative and like to invent, solve, or build? Is he artisitic or musical? Is he more social, academic, or what? Start from there. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Probably not practical but at that age my brother and I liked to make fires and cook afternoon tea for our parents or grandparents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Lots of good ideas mentioned! One I did not see was drawing. Both my children enjoy drawing with the right books to help. Try started with this bug book, we got it from the library several times and eventually bought it. We now own 4 of his books and several other drawing book favorites from the library. http://www.amazon.com/Bug-Drawing-Book-Ralph-Masiello/dp/1570915261/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377836502&sr=8-1&keywords=bug+drawing+book You will need colored pencils eventually but can start with a normal pen or pencil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Only Children Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 My ds loves Science experiments books. The best ones use things you already have around the house.. Janice Vancleave has some great ones. Also check out Steve Spangler's website or books. Make slime or a marble run out of paper towel tubes. If he likes photography have him take pictures of his favorite toy in different settings then write a story to go along with the pictures. Or document a day in the life of your family with pictures. I'll add my recommendation to The Dangerous Book for Boys - great book with lots of inspiration! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Not "hobbies." Sports! Get them on a team (or similar). Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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