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Hobbies for boys?
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My friend and I were talking over our curriculmn yesterday and started talking about hobbies for boys. We feel stumped and wonder if you could give us any advice. Here’s what I mean .. you child gets up early and needs something to do alone, later that afternoon there’s a break inthe day what do they do?
For girls it seems easy: read, knit, color, sew, etc. With boys’ it seems harder. The things I know and the kids like or have tried are: whittling, everyone does legos/knex, .. then I’m stumped. I mean I know there are tons to do in the summer and I don’t have to think about it. But it’s cold, snowy and there nature (which is truely boys best friend) is kinda hard to play in now.
Could you give us some idea’s of indoor hobbies for our boys!~ Thanks Misty
My boys have made potholders, origami, paper airplanes, electronic circuits, they have taken apart and put back together household items (toasters, blenders, etc.) They have done tile mosaics. Their current obsession is making small weapons out of household and offic supplies–crossbows, catapults, guns that fire paperclips, etc. LOL We have done all kinds of woodworking, not just whittling. Leather work. Woodburning. Try giving out woodblocks, k’nex and a few household supplies and giving the boys “design challenges”–a bridge that can hold the most weight, a contraption to carry messages down the hallway, a burglar alarm, something that shoots marshmallows—whatever you can think of. My boys enjoy making soap and candles with me. There is NOTHING wrong with knitting, crocheting and sewing with boys. Have them build some birdfeeders or birdhouses, squirrel feeders. Have them design a way to keep squirrels OUT of the birdfeeders and birdhouses. 🙂 We made baskets one winter (there’s actually a boy scout badge for that) In fact, see if you can find some Scout books of varioius types. There are TONS of things to do in those!
All of these things work well for us. Just make sure to buy them OLD appliances at the Goodwill to take apart, not yours (they don’t always go back together right the first few times!) and be prepared for things like getting hit in the behind with a paperclip as you do dishes . . .
The Dangerous Book for Boys has lots of ideas.
Heather
I don’t know if this is considered a “hobby.” But, my boys like Amaze-N-Marbles. They are a cross between a marble set and wooden blocks. We bought about 120 pieces. (You need a lot or it limits them. It is expensive, but well worth it!) The blocks have holes in them. You stack them and then try to see if the marble will go down your contraption. It is intended to be built with lots of creativity-each time being different. Plus, they are compatible with most wood block sets. So, the bases can be just regular blocks, not marble blocks. My boys spend hours and hours building marble runs! My husband and I love doing it, also! We like building two runs and then having marble races, also! Fun, fun!
I love the idea about letting them take apart old appliances and putting them back together!! My kids would love that! I think we may be makinga trip to Goodwill!
Jennifer
Bookworm –
I’m laughing so hard about being hit in the behind with a paper clip! Can my 6 yo son come play at your house? It seems he’d fit right in!Blessings,
Christie
thanks for the idea’s. Some are an option others not.. we were looking for ones for the 8 and under crowd that could be unsupervised. We will be discussing this more. Thanks again, bookworm you always have an array of ideas.
misty
Here is a recent list I made for my boys, ages 9 and under. Some of them are games that we own so substitute the games you have in their place. Also, some require a brother, some are solo.
Lincoln Logs
Magnetics
K’nex/K’nex
Bionicles
iPod learning games (20 minutes limit)
Leapster
Rush Hour and Rush Hour Jr.
Pattern blocks
Legos
Crafts (I have a craft bucket for them filled with stuff they can use any time)
Draw
Write a letter
Read a book
Ben 10 duel game
Hissss
Chess
Math scales
Research a subject
Look through the encyclopedias
Mighty Mind/Super mind
Puzzles
File folder games
Tangrams
Use math blocks
Pretend you have a store
Act out battles/wars/historical events we’ve read about
Paint
Playdough
Write a page in Pokémon book
Cover Your Tracks
Collide-o
Trimonoes
Dominoes
Corners game
Sum Swamp
Creativity Express
Typing program
Make a page in Hero book
War (card game)
Go Fish or Go to the Dump
Old Monkey
Listen to an audio book
Do your chores
Read a book to a little brother
Geoboards
Dress up
Draw on white boards
Scissors practice
Listen to music
Starfall
Science experiment
Use flannel board
Play with magnets on white board
Do online drawing lesson
Gears
Pizza Fractions
Beads
Serpentiles
Hyper Dash
Blokus
Castle/ship building cards
Coloring page
Straws & Connectors
Origami
Wedgits
Trio blocks
Perfection
4 Way Countdown
Pokémon dice game
Connect 4
Lacing cards
Pokémon memory
Battleship
Open-ended art project
Act out a part from your favorite book or scripture story
Design Challenge
Ds5 (almost 6) loves paper plate puppets. I had some generic animal ones from my days working in an elementary school. They could make them with cheap paper plates, construction paper, glue, crayons or markers, and popsicle/craft sticks and use them to act out one of crazy4boys’ suggestions. The younger ones may also like to make animal puppets and play zoo or farm or something like that. What preschooler doesn’t like to make animal sounds?
I’ll also second the Starfall suggestion. Another fave of ds.
Bookworm….any ideas as to what old appliances would be the easiest? My 8yo boy would love that! But, he is a perfectionist and will ditch an activity if he feels unsuccessful the first time out. Toaster or blender maybe?
Crazy4boys….wow, love the list! I am going to copy it for my 8yo and 6yo. We have a lot of what you listed…..but, they still say they don’t know what to do! So…..I am thinking I will make a chore list and this fun list. I’ll hand them both and tell them to choose! A couple questions….what is online drawing lessons and design challenge?
I will second the puppet idea from nerakr! My 6yo loves them. We like the paper bag puppets cuz they almost completely independent.
Jennifer
Mark Kistler has some online drawing classes. They can be accessed here http://www.mkisdraw3d.com/public/p_mmval/. There are 3 different “schools” and you can see them by clicking the links in the upper left. You can buy a subscription to them, but for now we’re just doing the free lessons.
The Design Challenge I found here – http://delightfullearning.com/category/instant-challenges/ It’s my goal to print them up and put them in baggies with the materials needed. That way they can just pull one out when they want to do it. I’m sure there are other sites with similar challenges if you scouted around.
I made the list because they often look at me like deers in the headlight. This helps them remember everything we have and sparks some creativity now and then!!! Adding your suggestions to my list now!
Heather
Okay, this isn’t a handicraft, but please don’t forget about sports! Boys can practice their sport of choice and/or do fitness training. Improving one’s physical fitness and knowledge about a sport is a great hobby and has many, many benefits beyond just being physcially fit.
I only let the boys do sports/play outside when I’m able to supervise though. I don’t like them to be out and about the neighborhood while I’m in the house, which is why I didn’t list it as things they can do unsupervised (like early risers).
Jennifer, toasters are pretty easy and inexpensive. So are older radios–transistor type. I hold off on blenders until I’m sure they are not going to slice a finger off. LOL TV’s are a bad idea to do, I’ve read, and I haven’t let my kids do that yet. Old razors are pretty good. A little more advanced–old vacuums and cassette players.
I’m laughing so hard about being hit in the behind with a paper clip! Can my 6 yo son come play at your house? It seems he’d fit right in!
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