What hobbies do your DC get the most out of

[Chimbos]

I have tried to follow DD’s own interests and needs so I’ve booked her into classes as and when we she has asked or we have felt she is ready for a new challenge. She is 7.

She does gymnastics, 2 types of dance, swimming and plays a musical instrument. She had been competing in one of the types of dance and absolutely loved the competitions but has moved up an age category and is enjoying this less so is thinking of giving up this side of the dancing. She is keen to try something new, whether it is dance related or not so I’m looking for ideas for a new hobby/dance that she might enjoy.

If she liked dance she may enjoy cheerleading or trampoline. Or try drama with a large dance/song element?

My dd (age 15) gets the most out of martial arts - she hated dance but her martial arts are (eventually) beautiful and she has become very skilful. Great fun and lots of aerobic activity - it’s more about your self-development and there is (in her class) absolutely no competition and very little actual fighting. You do need to find the right group though - some of them are so disciplined there is no fun in it and the kids tend to drop out early. But we struck gold, in this club has made a bunch of friends (age 12 through 18), she has been going since age 8 and just loves it. She has never competed, and that has never been a requirement. She started at an hour a week and it has built up to 4 hours a week now (including instructing little ones).

She also really enjoyed climbing from about age 4 - bouldering and roped climbing is a lot of fun and no pressure (unless you try and get really good). It’s also very sociable so as a teen there are lots of places you can do indoor bouldering with friends or clubs.

DD has dropped her instrument, netball, swimming, drama and coding club. But her friends have kept up all sorts of different things… it’s hard to predict!

I would definitely be aiming for a sport or club with longevity - something you can still see her doing as a teenager.

With eldest dd we did exactly the same. She did dance, netball (briefly) swimming and jujitsu. Dance wasn't for her so she gave up, she swam till she wouldn't drown, hated team sports but absolutely loved jujitsu. She is a black belt and has taken up boxing at uni and has a fight in a couple of months.

Dd 2 gave up jujitsu after lockdown. Now aged 14 she plays netball to county standard and plays football too. She loves both especially the netball.

Ds1 plays football and Thai boxes. He did do rugby but gave up as we had too much on and he wasn't too fussed. He's going to secondary in September and it's a rugby school so he's been making noises about starting again.

Ds2 also plays football and Thai boxes. He competes at Thai boxing and is very good. Loves football too and plays to a very high standard.

Beavers! It’s awesome for trying out loads of different hobbies that they might want to go on and try eg DS has done circus skills, pony riding, forest school, lots of different crafts

Don’t forget that not all hobbies have to be organised - I spent many summers with a skipping rope, a yo-yo and a hula hoop for company. My brother got a set of real juggling balls (he got up to 5) and a home electronics set.

A good quality yo-yo for doing tricks with will set you back about £15 and I discovered as a teenager it impresses your bf far more than being able to turn a fine pirouette 😀