Integrating hobbies into your child’s routine can have several benefits for their mental and emotional wellbeing. Hobbies can help them learn how to communicate better, believe in themselves, and learn how to regulate their emotions. The following are some helpful hobbies you can try to incorporate in your child’s daily life.
- Gardening
- Gardening is an excellent hobby to help children relax and let go of their worries. It also helps to connect them with nature, teach them the responsibility of taking care of something, as well as helping them feel accomplished when seeing their plant growing.
- Yoga
- Yoga for kids can help children nurture their wellbeing through mindfulness, as well as increase their sense of resilience. Put on some soft music and help teach them easy poses that can be safe and enjoyable for them. You can also incorporate easy breathing exercises to help them relax and stay focused.
- Arts
- Encourage your child to try out drawing, painting, or making crafts as an artistic expression of their feelings. This can be extremely therapeutic for them as it allows them to have a safe space where they can learn how to self-express themselves through a creative process.
- Journaling
- Journaling is a helpful technique to help children have a safe space where they can express any feelings or thoughts that they may have. All you need is to provide them with a notebook and encourage them to start putting in daily entries so they can learn to incorporate it as part of their routine. Then, allow them to share with you any entries which they feel they need help with.
- Mindful colouring
- This hobby requires a lot of concentration from your child because they must focus on the present task at hand. This task helps them to let go of all their worrying thoughts for a few hours till they complete their drawing. It’s quite an easy hobby to set up because all you need is a colouring sheet and some coloured pencils.
- Baking
- Baking can be a mindless hobby that you both learn to do together. It can help you both relax as well as feel satisfied with the dessert that you make. Once it’s ready, you can also enjoy it together and it would be an excellent bonding opportunity.
- Dancing
- When you see your child feeling down, turn up the music and have a silly dance break together. Help them to learn how to let loose and release any pent-up energy whilst also bonding through joyful moments together.
Parents play an integral role in how they affect their child’s mental wellbeing. However, by starting to introduce one or two of the above hobbies, you will help them build a strong foundation for their wellbeing.
If you think that you can benefit from professional support on this issue you can reach out here.
Mandy Brincat is a Gestalt psychotherapist who enjoys working therapeutically with adults on various issues. These include general mental health and wellbeing. She also has experience working with anxiety, victims of domestic violence and eating disorders.