Hobbies to do with your kids

Pick something you would do anyway

A hobby you share with your kids lasts when you enjoy it too. If it is only for them, it turns into supervision, and before long you stop suggesting it. Start from things you already like or have wanted to try, then look for the version a child can join.

The second test is how soon something happens. Young children drift away from anything that takes weeks to show a result. Bean seeds come up in a few days, a tray of cookies takes an hour, and a kite either flies or it doesn't.

Ages 3 to 6

• Gardening with seeds that come up fast, like beans, radishes and sunflowers. Give them a pot or a patch of their own.
• Baking, where they can measure, stir and decorate.
• Flying a kite on a windy day in an open park.
• Tide pooling at low tide, turning over rocks to find crabs and anemones.
• Building with LEGO and modelling with air-dry clay.
• Watching the birds at a feeder outside the window until you both know the regulars.

Ages 7 to 12

• Bouldering. Many climbing gyms run kids' sessions, and the walls are low with thick mats underneath.
• Board games and chess. Kids this age can play properly, and some will soon beat you.
• Camping and stargazing, starting with one night not far from home.
• Fishing from a pier or a lake shore, where there is always something to watch.
• Geocaching, which turns an ordinary walk into a search.
• Magic tricks, juggling and the Rubik's cube. They practise alone and then perform for you.

Teenagers

Teenagers want to get good at something, and they don't want to be managed while they do it. Choose things where they can overtake you.

• Climbing and snowboarding.
• Scuba diving. PADI's Junior Open Water course starts at age 10, so a family can learn together.
• Programming, and building a small game.
• Tabletop role-playing games, with their friends at the table and you running the game if they let you.
• Photography, guitar, or cooking dinner for the family one night a week.

Keeping it going

• Offer two or three options and let the child choose. Kids stick with what they picked.
• Stop while it is still fun. Twenty good minutes make them ask for next time.
• Rent or borrow gear they will outgrow within a season or two: skis, boots, wetsuits, bikes.
• Keep a record, such as a nature journal, photos of everything you baked, or a list of the climbs they have finished. Children like seeing how far they have come.