Bonitas Member Magazine B-Living Issue 1, 2019

Fun hobbies for kids Learning a new hobby isn’t just fun, it helps children build lifelong skills, like setting and achieving goals, solving problems and making decisions. A hobby gives a child an opportunity to express and discover themselves and build self-esteem. Pay attention to your child’s interests and see what hobbies would be a good fit. Cookup a storm Get your child into the kitchen and start teaching them how to prepare delicious meals for friends and family. This will help them become self-sufficient by being able to feed themselves and will help them learn how to follow directions and measurements, and teach them patience. Sewing, knitting and crocheting Knowing how to thread a needle, sew on a button or hem a pair of pants can come in handy throughout your child’s life. They can save money on having clothing altered or repaired, enjoy being able to create clothing for themselves and make handmade gifts for others. Get into the garden Children seem to enjoy gardening, as they like getting muddy, seeing seeds grow and discovering insects. Hiking is a great physical activity and helps them gain critical thinking skills by preparing for their hike, plus it helps them learn how to read a map. Building a birdfeeder or birdhouse is a popular nature-related hobby. These activities help them learn to protect the environment. Building something Any type of building hobby can provide valuable skills. There are many choices including woodwork, model building and building blocks. Children learn critical thinking and problem-solving skills and how to follow instructions. It can also develop eye-hand coordination and spatial intelligence, and how to pay attention. Write it down Whether your child tries journalling or creative writing, they will learn wonderful communication skills that will serve them for a lifetime. They’ll also learn to organise their thoughts, communicate clearly and often become more empathetic because of connections made to emotional concepts through writing. Page 13

Bonitas Member Magazine B-Living Issue 1, 2019 | Page 14