I grew up in a household of hobbyists. My dad is a fisherman, a hunter, and skilled cribbage player, chef, gardener, and bowler. My mom is an avid reader, pianist, flutist, singer, sewer, cross-stitcher, macramé creator, Ikebana flower arranger, Haiku writer, and so much more. I vacillated between all of my parents’ hobbies as I truly loved everything they did in addition to taking up my own hobbies like Karate, dance, playing piano & keyboard, painting, and writing. As a family, we loved to all get together and work on challenging puzzles. Family hobbies were something on our collective minds.
While I have retained many of the interests/hobbies I had as a child, I also found myself stepping back from some and exploring new ones after I became a mother. This is mostly due to time, money, and the age of my daughter. It is also due to the interests (or lack thereof) of my current partner. Sometimes it is tough to maintain a hobby when your partner has zero enthusiasm for or interest in it.
So I got to thinking. What family hobbies make sense? What can families do together, especially when you have children under the age of 7 or thereabouts. The world of family hobbies seems to open right up as your children get older but really, you are not as limited as you might think even with young children.
After a good late night brainstorming session with myself, I came up with a pretty good list, or at least I think so!
10 Family Hobbies To Do With Young Children
1. Gardening! My favorite family hobby. Kids love dirt. There is lots of dirty fun to be had in gardening. You get to connect with the earth and watch the fruits of your labor as they blossom, grown, and eventually end up as food on your plate. Gardening is such a wonderful experience for children as they not only learn about where food comes from but they develop an appreciation for all the work it takes to bring food to the family table. It is also a great way to blow off steam. Nothing like digging to release energy!
2. Make music together! Who cares if you actually know how to play an instrument. Learn as a family or have each family member pick a different instrument to play. There are actual music classes designed with this idea in mind.
3. Collect together! My mom and I used to go to antique stores. She collected antique boxes from Japan and I collected vintage photos. Even though our collections were different, we were scouting out cool additions to our collections together. There are also lots of collections that can be turned into more than just a family hobby. They can also serve as fodder for at-home education. Stamps and coins have lots of potential for discussions about history, geography, and math. Rocks, crystals, and shells are another wonderful tool for furthering studies in geology and oceanography. In addition to opening up discussions with an educational focus, collecting also develops certain skills related to sorting and classifying.
4. Take up photography. Even the littlest member of your family can help take photos. Babies who can hold objects can hold a play camera and mimic picture taking. It doesn’t take long until they are actually able to take pictures. Some of my favorite photos are through the eyes of my daughter as she snapped random shots of our normal day. Photography brings about an awareness of the world around you and can be lots of fun for everyone. Comparing photos and seeing how the same shot taken by different people turned out is pretty cool.
5. Explore nature. I have yet to meet a young child who isn’t thrilled with getting out in nature. No matter where you live, there are at least one or two places you can go to get out in nature. Be it hiking, a long walk, discovering plant life, bird watching, or simply just breathing in fresh air, getting out into nature together as a family can be a beautiful thing. Each adventure will be different. Even brand new babies will enjoy getting outside in a sling or baby carrier.
6. Get moving! Exercise! Bike riding, horseback riding, swimming, and the like are all family friendly activities. Whether your child goes along for the ride or is an active participant, there is always a physical activity that families can do together.
7. Volunteer! Not only does this instill some very important values in children, but it serves a need as well. Some of our families best memories center on helping others.
8. Geocaching. This is a pretty fun GPS based treasure hunt that the entire family can get involved in at different levels.
9. Scrapbooking. What a great way to share memories while making new ones in the process. Young children love to hear stories about themselves as well as their family. Putting stories together through scrapbooking is a great way to bring a family together. I absolutely love this “Adventure” scrapbook for families.
10. Building model trains, airplanes, and automobiles. While I am not into as this myself, my daughter’s father loves trains. Before Moldageddon we had a very small train set that he hoped to expand as a family. And I will admit, it is kind of fun to go to the model train store and see all the cool miniatures. Children of all ages certainly would enjoy seeing the fruits of their labor grow over time.
If you need some additional ideas on family hobbies, check out the book 101 Things To Do Before You Grow Up. My other favorite book is 101 Things To Do With Your Child.
Does your family have any hobbies that everyone enjoys equally? Any tips on involving young children in an existing family hobby? How do you find one you all love? Share your advice on family hobbies!
Camille Flores says
What a fabulous list of family hobbies! I agree sometimes it is hard to keep at a hobby when your partner isn’t interested in the same thing, so it requires a bit more effort to find past times that will work for your family, but in the end, it is so worth the effort.
Dionna @ Code Name: Mama says
Great list – I think our family has already dabbled in just about every one of these 🙂 This summer we are hoping to go camping as a family. I am SO excited (and nervous)!
Lauren @ Hobo Mama says
What a great list! We’ve done most of them, and I agree they’re perfect picks for family hobbies! We want to try out geocaching, and Mikko’s been begging for his own model train set. My grandfather had a huge setup (unfortunately sold away now), so maybe it’s in the blood. 🙂
Sophelia says
I love that many of the hobbies on your list are free, or at least economical! I desperately want to try geocaching, it seems like great fun!
Kellie says
What a fun list! We have also dabbled in many of these. I think gardening is our favorite.
Marija Smits says
I love your list – and as you probably know already, we love to ‘do art’! It helps that it’s something my husband likes to do too, and I’d definitely like to have a go at geocaching one day. Thanks for the great ideas!
Ekanem Ebinne says
Awesome fun. Like you said, who cares if you don’t know how to play instruments? And I’d take it farther – who cares if you never do? Singing and rapping and putting dances to it are making music, too – and the most memorable kind especially if you can hold / swing hands or otherwise connect physically.
Amreen Rahman says
Hi all,
Actually in my view there should be a bonding between a child and his/her parents and for that involving them in light hobbies is a good idea.
madame butterfly says
This list are awesome! My daughter will surely have fun doing this kinds of activities. Specially those activities that has something to do with nature and crafting..We will definitely do this activities.. It can be our bonding too as a family..You might want to include reading in your list..Teaching our child to read early multiple benefits and is the key to your child’s academic future. Reading helps to develop a young child’s brain. Which can make them be more active, physical and mentally.. My daughter has this book http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Coloring-Pages-Butterflies-Adults/dp/1500501255 that she really enjoy reading and looking at it.. This book is very informative, she’s always asking me to read this book for her and afterwards ask me to help her color those beautiful butterflies in it.. I think reading books are also great way to have fun with your kids. Your kids can enjoy and at the same time learn..