Tell Get Into Martial Arts about your DCs hobbies – £200 of high street shopping vouchers prize draw NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

Get Into Martial Arts have asked us to find out what hobbies your DCs have and how it’s helped them in everyday life.

Here’s what Get Into Martial Arts say, "With so much choice and influence around it can be a real challenge for Parents to decide on, and organise out of school hobbies and activities for their child. Where to start looking?! What will the activity involve? is this purely for fun, or could the children get more out of it – maybe making friends or learning new skills?

“Martial Arts is packed full of benefits for children, and so we’ve made it easy for parents to start the journey towards getting their child involved. On getintomartialarts.com parents can find the Martial Arts school nearest to their home, and better still book a free trial lesson – allowing the child to try it out before deciding to join!"

So, do your DCs have any hobbies? Do you think they also help your DCs in everyday life, or not? Perhaps they have an unusual collection of comic books which you think has helped teach them how to take care of their belongings? Maybe they have taken an interest in building robots which has aided their concentration with certain subjects at school? Or are they taking martial arts lessons which has helped them gain confidence? Whatever it is, we’d love to hear it!

Everyone who leaves their comments below will be entered into a prize draw to win £200 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

All 3 of my children have done swimming. I think this is the most important thing to learn, because you never know what could happen like them falling into a river. My dd also plays the piano and violin. She is a quiet girl but this has given her confidence!!

My son is into baseball - it's helped loads with his confidence and getting him outdoors!

My DD has two hobbies, reading and swimming and I think they are ideal as one expands her mind and challenges her, the other keeps her fit and healthy.

My seven year old loves puzzles - has helped with his maths no end - he is really logical and im sure the puzzles help!

My youngest D goes to Brownies and Athletics, and middle S goes to Cubs and Kick Boxing. Been so hard finding something that was fun but also sporty for them, fingers crossed they stick at these ones :)

My little boy and i have done baking every friday since he was about 18 months. Hes at school now and still asks to do some baking when he gets home on a friday! When he was at preschool they used to let him help to make the the lunch as they knew how much he loves being in the kitchen and it made him feel so special getting chosen to do it.

Swimming calms them all down afterwards, even if they don't fancy the cold beforehand.

My son is not very sporty which is hard for boys so we tried archery which he took to immediately. It has given him confidence and he is only competing against himself.

My son has tried all sorts from football to Jiu jitsu and has finally settled on Rugby Union with a smattering of basketball.

My daughter got a MicroScooter for her 2nd birthday and has been obsessed with it ever since. She now has a balance bike too and alternatives between the two. It makes life very easy now I have #2 as haven't needed a double buggy and she has an amazing sense of balance for her age.

I started DD doing Taikwondo but unfortunately she found it a bit intense! So as not to put her off I let her stop, and will give it another go in a year - maybe 6 years old was a bit young. I so wanted her to be a ninja! Now she is taking regular swimming lessons and having lots of fun with her new found water skills. It has done wonders for her confidence and sense of fun!

My younger DD is very into dancing and acting which is giving her confidence, fitness and stamina. My older DD is getting into golf which teaches her etiquette and how to work for herself and as a team!

My daughter's only 18 months so no hobbies yet, but she loves music and dancing so will probably get into something like that.

My Daughter does ballet and choir. Both have really helped her from a confidence point of view, have enabled her to mix with children of different ages who have a common interest and have reduced anxiety in group situations.

Gymnastics, helps with grace, poise, fitness and has taught them the importance of working hard to win and it not being the end of the world if they don't

My 4 year old is a huge gaming fan - mainly the mario kart on the nintendo wii, but also play games on the iPad. It's helped teach him counting, colours, shapes, reading, writing and problem solving - all of which helped contribute to him settling into school within a couple of days!

My 2.5 year old, loves sticking stickers and counting conkers from one pot to the other, helping with his motor skills for every day tasks such as getting undressed/holding a pencil etc

DS has recently got hooked on high ropes course like Go Ape. It started when we got call from his friends mum asking if he was OK to go to an indoor ropes course. He went, loved it and was soon helping his friend and little brother round the course. He's been on 2 others since then and can't wait to go again. It's been a real boost to his confidence knowing that if he applies his mind to it he can do something that scares many people.

My daughter has dyspraxia and the routines and repetitive steps in her dance classes have really helped her.

My DD doesn't attend clubs yet but I am keen that she gets involved now she has started school. I hope she will join a local jnrs football team so that she learns ore about discipline, team work and builds her confidence.

My grandson loves football and it has helped with his co-ordination, concentration and of you explain something from a lesson in football terms it helps him to understand it

Joined a dance club, and it's made them more sociable. Also it tires them out so they sleep at night! ;-)

All my children have done ballet, swimming, a bit of tennis, yoga and circus skills! The tennis helps with hand eye coordination though takes a lot of patience!!! the circus certainly helps with balance! they loved the ballet but i didn't really think they did much! the yoga was super, fun with a bit of meditation thrown in, which hopefully will help them in the long run! : )

DD1 will be going to swimming lessons as I didn't really know how to swim until I was much older and I wish I had been taught when I was younger. I also want my daughters to do a martial art so they can protect themselves if they need to, plus it will help with fitness and confidence.

DD is 4 years old and her hobby is baking. She is learning important everyday skill of using kitchen utensils and creativity with icing

My little one is only 20 months so has yet to develop any proper hobbies but he is MASSIVELY into Thomas & Friends & loves to list all the engines (& I do mean ALL of them!!) with Mummy & Daddy - we can also recite them & do so often in our sleep - haha!
Can't wait to see his interests develop - happy to support him, especially anything sports based - get that heart pumping!