Hobbies come in all shapes and sizes and for many families much of the school year is taken up with sports or outdoor activities, dancing or music lessons. But, what about when the school routine is no longer there? The school holidays can be a great time to encourage your child to focus on a different interest for a few weeks, especially if the weather means your family is stuck indoors!

If you have a budding chef or baker, consider letting them experiment with different simple recipes e.g. making a small batch of cupcakes but adding different ingredients to some for different flavours. They may even want to create their very own cookery book!Or perhaps your child loves learning how mechanical things work. Encourage their interest by clearing some space - perhaps a small table - where they can take models apart, rebuild or build their own working machines. The local library can be a great place to discover where to start, especially if your child’s hobby is new to you as well.

Some hobby ideas are: Discovering local history - Making jewellery - Photography - Baking - Electronics - Model building – Scrapbooking - Creating comics - Puppets - Drawing or designing - Sewing or Knitting

Can they collect it?

Children love collecting things and a collection can be a great activity to delve into on a rainy day.They can enjoy sorting, cataloging and organizing a collection or swapping items with friends to complete their collections.

A collection can also be a nice activity that relatives can become involved in. They may be able to add to the collection with a gift for your child’s birthday or perhaps sending items for the collection when they travel abroad.

Ideas for a child’s collection

Game cards - Books or bookmarks - Autographs or posters - Badges, stickers or postcards from places that you visit - Tickets or coins - Model characters e.g. Star Wars, Lego, historic or mythical characters - Toy cars or key rings - Dolls or ornaments

Make sure that your child is able to have a box, shelf or other place in the home, where they can keep their collection safe.