Unlock your child’s interests using these 10 household chores

Children are a storehouse of hidden talent. Parents occassionally get glimpses into their children’s preferences and interests through their antics. The questions that bother most parents about their child’s interests are

1. What is the way to find out what my child is interested in?
2. How do we find out our child’s talent?
3. Is my child endowed with any special talent?
4. How do I nurture my child’s talent?

#Childhood #hobbies often carry on to adulthood. How can #parents #influence their kids to pick up essential hobbies? #ucb Share on X

Childhood hobbies often carry on to adulthood. However, identifying those activities that can be nurtured into hobbies is a crucial step that most parents are clueless about.

Here’s the big secret…

There is a simple way to identify your child’s interests and preferences. Expose your child to various household chores. A keen observation of your child’s excitement, passion and devotion to particular household chores is an indicator of their interest and hobbies.

A keen observation of your child's excitement, passion and devotion to particular household chores is an indicator of their #interest and #hobbies. How do you channelize it? #ucb Share on X

Here are ten household chores that you can expose your child to as you begin the hunt for what their interests and preferences are.

Cooking

“Cooking is one of the greatest gifts you can give to those you love”

When I was at school, I remember one of the summer vacation assignments. It involved learning how to prepare some upma using semolina and a hot cup of tea. This first brush with cooking opened up the doors for a life long love for cooking dishes and savouring them.

Now listen to this…

It was a unique hobby that enabled me to learn more than 30 dishes by the time I reached the age of 20. This cool hobby served me richly when I was posted to a foreign country for 3 years. Never once did I miss home food!

This cool #childhood #hobby served me richly when I was posted to a foreign country for 3 years at age 24. Guess which? Share on X

Start with some great cooking blogs for kids

Chef Grace’s Blog

A blog run by a 6th-grade kid named Grace who started her own cooking blog when she was in Grade 2. Her recipes are all child tested and easy to make.

Sailu’s Food – Recipes for Kids

This website contains a set of recipes specifically targeted for kids who will definitely find it delectable and tasty. This should also be the impetus for you to encourage them to learn the dishes that delight their taste buds.

How does learning cooking help a child?

Pay attention here

1. Exposing your children to the essentials of cooking can free them from a life long dependence on others for their meals.
2. It also imbibes them with a sense of confidence that no other household chore does.
3. Cooking can also go a long way in promoting other interests like summer camping, nature trekking which would not be possible without an elementary knowledge of cooking.
4. Cooking can also lead to careers as a master chef, hotel and hospitality industry, food taster or even a food blogger (travels places, tastes local cuisine and writes reviews on the best food, the best restaurants to pick from, etc.

Cooking as a childhood hobby or interest can lead to #careers as a master chef in the hotel and hospitality industry, food taster or even a #food #blogger. #ucb Share on X

Are you with me so far? Do read on…

Gardening

“The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies”

A household activity that can be extremely soothing for the mind. Gardening helps individuals de-stress as they take up professions post their 20s. It is also a unique childhood hobby that brings your children closer to nature and to you too.

You have a chance to plant a seed of something very special in the hearts, minds and spirits of your #children when you #garden together – Cathy James #ucb Share on X

How does gardening as a hobby help my kids?

Don’t miss these.

1. Gardening can complement a studious child especially one who is an introvert by nature. My friend’s daughter in grade 8 is an avid book reader. She devours books by the hour. Gardening is her other passion. These two complement each other very well. One keeps her mind happy, the other keeps her body happy.
2. Developing gardening as a personal talent can open up your kid’s mind to other allied fields like bird watching, organic farming, vermicomposting, botany, genetics, etc
3. The knowledge and the ability to identify plants, grow one’s own food would be cool hobbies for your child to flaunt about.
4. Gardening can boost your child’s interest in careers like organic farming, hydroponics (the science of growing plants without soil), and mixed farming (the science of rearing animals and growing crops together).

Reuse/Recycle

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” – Red Indian saying

One thing that comes easily to kids is the curiosity about things. Anything parents usually consider as waste is often picked up by a kid as it kindles their curiosity. This ability of kids can be used to nurture their talent of reusing and recycling stuff.

Anything we adults deems a #waste, is usually collected by #kids – this curious nature of theirs can be tapped in a unique way. Find out how…#ucb Share on X

Take note of these.

Youtube is full of videos that showcase a hundred ways to reuse and recycle household stuff into crafts and artefacts. Here’s a popular Youtube video on using newspapers to make a paper jar and here’s another Youtube video on converting plastic bottles into nifty craft items.

How does Reusing/Recycling benefit children?

Why I believe this hobby could be the most important of the lot.

1. It creates awareness among kids about the need to contribute towards the betterment of the planet at an individual level. Here’s one kid from Sweden who went on to speak on behalf of kids her age to the member nations of the United Nations.
2. Kids learn the value of their possessions and move away from just amassing materialistic things as they grow up.
3. As young green ambassadors, this hobby can infuse interest in a kid to embrace careers like an environmentalist, ornithologist, agriculturist or something unique like a wildlife photographer, a geologist, an activist, etc.

Teaching

“Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions”

A secret of my life

An encouragement that I received from Dad when I was young has steered me towards the domain I find myself in today. He encouraged me to teach kids younger than me. Today I find myself moulding a career for myself in the field of education.

A lot of kids are good at studies. Parents can encourage such kids to try teaching to a younger sibling at home or the neighbour’s kid. I was encouraged by my parents to do the same. That habit got so ingrained that I even ended up completing a lesson at the college level for my peers when one of our professors was on a week-long leave.

In #learning, you will teach, and in teaching, you will learn – #Teaching peers can be an excellent #hobby for bright #kids. Share on X

How can teaching help my children?

Make a note of these.

2. Teaching others consolidates the things learned. Coaching others is an excellent way of revising one’s study material.
3. It improves confidence among children as the feedback from the learner is instantaneous and positive vibes boost the teacher’s confidence.
4. Teaching brings a whole new clarity to the content learnt. When you learn to teach, you need to be in a position to explain in a way different learners can grasp the material.
5. Teaching opens the doors later in life to the field of education, career planner, mentors and counsellors, educators, life coaches, etc.

To #Teach is to #Learn Twice – How encouraging your studious #child to teach peers can unlock his #talent? Share on X

Shopping

“I have unlimited patience for my kids and …my shopping” – A shopaholic mom

Who does not love shopping? Kids love the glamour of shopping, the chance for exploration and discovery of new items. You only need to channelize this enthusiasm in the right direction. The fun of getting into a grocery shop with a cart and a shopping list to hunt down the items needed is a mini adventure in itself.

This will blow your mind

Here’s the story of one kid who loves shopping toys, unboxing them and reviewing them along with his parents. He is a Youtube star who is already earning millions. He is so popular that toy companies send him free toys in return for a simple Youtube video where he reviews the toys.

How does shopping benefit kids as a hobby?

Yes, it comes with ‘cool’ benefits

1. Shopping under guidance will enable kids to recognize common items needed in a household.
2. It teaches them the importance of money and gives them a rough estimate of the cost of each item
3. It may also pique their interest in estimating the total bill amount, total items in the cart, the time it may take to bill the items – all of which are essential life skills as they grow up.
4. An exposure to shopping done in a guided manner can lead to careers in accounting, business management, strategy planning, financial planning and others which involve handling of money.

The next five hobbies are equally fantastic for your kids

Storytelling

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” -Steve Jobs

An example close to my heart

My daughter is an excellent storyteller. She loves reading and as a natural extension loves narrating the stories she reads to her nephew and niece.

Kids love telling stories. They allow their imagination to run wild and with a little push can be masters at concocting stories of their own. Their minds are not limited by the constraints of the adult world.

How can storytelling help as a hobby?

Storytelling can positively impact your kid’s studies

1. Storytelling helps organize the stuff absorbed by the brain.
2. It improves the memory of the child
3. Storytelling helps overcome the fear of speaking which usually arises due to a lack of the ability to summon the right words to deliver your message.
4. Storytelling can lead to a variety of other vocations like stand up comedy, FM anchor, TV show hosts, compering anchors, news anchors, life coaches and so on.

Newspaper Reading

“A child who reads will be an adult who thinks” – Sasha Salmina

I have been an ardent advocate of instilling the habit of newspaper reading in children when they are young. This is one hobby that is the mother of all hobbies. It can pave the way for everything else.

The reason is simple. A newspaper is so packed with diverse information that it throws open the child’s mind to limitless possibilities.

Insightful examples

News on a volcano strengthens some aspect of his geography. A piece on palaeontologists having excavated a large T-Rex fossil resonates with his history lessons. An article on Mars explorations drums up his interest in space science. There is just no end to the possibilities.

Get your child to read the newspaper for 15 minutes daily. You may need to assist them in the initial days by picking up specific articles for them, even read it out loud for them and explain it in a gist for them. Slowly you will see your child’s interest in newspapers picking up.

How will reading newspapers benefit my child in the long run?

1. Newspapers stimulate a child’s interest in diverse ways. They make up for any deficiency on the part of parents and even teachers in exposing kids to different life possibilities.
2. Reading newspapers is a habit that keeps your children in good stead long after they have crossed the threshold into adulthood.
3. Newspapers can be used to encourage your kids to write stories, poems and essays themselves that can then be submitted to relevant newspapers and magazines for publication.
4. Newspapers open up the possibilities to careers in journalism, news reporting, news anchors, writers, etc.

Sewing

“When feeling low, its time to sew”

This can fetch your child, financial freedom

With the Internet providing an opportunity for everybody to enter the ‘Services Economy’, Sewing is one of those hobbies that can reap rich dividends.

Sewing can introduce your kid to different handicrafts, canvas bag designs, art and craft related work. All of these can come handy to sell handcrafted items from the comfort of one’s home by tapping onto market places like Amazon, AliBaba and Flipkart.

How can sewing help as a hobby interest?

1. Sewing can be a great stress buster for kids as well as adults.
2. It can provide a deep sense of gratification as a skill that can churn out items that can place others in awe.
3. Sewing can pave the way for home business, online coaching classes, etc. that allow one to lead a boss free life.
4. It can be both a money making hobby as well as one that you can remain passionate about for a long time to come.

Money Management

“Teaching Kids about Money is never just about Money” -Dave Ramsey

The best thing you can teach your child

Managing household finances is no joke, and I am not advocating you to hand it over lock, stock and barrel to your junior. I am asking you to catch ’em young. As you sit down to evaluate your financial position, involve them. Enrich their vocabulary with a phrase or two.

Teach them how a saving account in a bank helps. Let them accompany you to the bank occasionally. Get them interested in developing their own savings. Appreciate it when they beam with happiness on a fat piggy bank savings.

How does money management help as a hobby?

1. Interest in money management is something cultivated and teaches your kids the value of hard earned money.
2. Allows your kids to appreciate what they have in life. Awareness about money lets them see how fortunate they are compared to a lot many other, not so fortunate kids.
3. It also makes them aware that money at the end of the day is just pieces of paper or metal. The real value comes in the form of skills acquired for life.
4. An early confidence in handling money can lead to careers in financial management, stock and funds and other money oriented careers.

Pet Handling

“Teach your kids to be kind to animals and they will be kind to people too”

Hobbies can influence personalities too

Last but not least is pet handling. Handling pets is a talent that is cultivated. Not all kids are comfortable around pets. It is something they acquire by observation and hands-on grooming practice sessions when they are still young.

Pet services is a growing area for startups with services like WagWalking.

How can Pet Handling help as a hobby interest?

1. Pet handling can help your kids develop a sense of compassion towards animals.
2. Kids also learn to quickly differentiate between friendly and aggressive animal behaviour. They can better assess animal moods than novices.
3. It can also lead them towards niche jobs that involve dealing with animals. These can be personally satisfying and also high paying.

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