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

my son is obsessed with football. He has weekly training sessions and it teaches him co ordination and how to listen to instructions and work as a team!

my eldest started beavers last year, he is so shy & this has really helped him make friends

My Grandson Jaret is a Junior Sea Cadet. It is wonderful for him and two of his friends joined too when Jaret told them how much they do.
Already in his first year (he is 10 and is a Junior until 12) he has learn kayaking, has a Powerboating certificate and is on his way to his Sailing one. Been camping and done Orienteering). They swim a lot.... outdoor in clothing (up until now as it's too cold and dark)in our Marina here where their unit is based. So, it's exercise and I am sure he could handle himself in a situation if he needed to save someone or got into difficulties himself.
There is kit... has to be maintained. Hair kept neat and their appearance has to be as required in the uniform. He goes twice a week for 3 hrs a session which I thought may be a big commitment... he can't wait for the next session to come around.
At school him and his friends had to do a Power Point presentation..all their own work into what they did at Sea Cadets after meeting Princess Anne a couple of weeks ago.
He is happy, more confident and respectful to others and is learning so much. At present as it's darker nights they are working towards a First Aid qualification and when he is old enough he will do Duke Of Edinburgh award.
It's an amazing thing to be wrapped up in.
The picture is of the day Princess Anne came... so they are waiting for her. Jaret is the one slightly forward looking around, the girl and the fair haired boy next to him are the friends from school that he has brought into Sea Cadets.

DD attends majorettes and this has helped her confidence grow and also is great excersise. On carnivals they can walk up to 6 mile in one session whilst doing routines.

My DD is only 2, but has recently started ballet and loves it. I love it too as for a full 30 minutes she really concentrates and actually listens! I'd love a bit of the magic recipe the teacher has in order to get that response at home! Hoping it will continue....!

tennis cubs football golf

My boy plays cello with an orchestra which has taught him so much, particularly confidence, as he's played and been assessed on the stage with an audience. It's also taught him that you don't become a brilliant player without practice.

He also is very sporty and plays shinty, basketball, hockey and football.

Our lives are spent ferrying him to sporting or musical activities and standing about in cold fields, but it's worth it as he learned team work and the need to apply himself.

Drama classes have really helped with confidence, and our eldest used to be a member of the Scouts. They give kids resilience, team working skills and they made some great mates!

My 6 year old takes violin and karate lessons. Although they are very different activities they have both improved his attention span and helped him develop more confidence.

Thanks for all your comments! The winner of the prize draw is Dragzena - I'll PM you for your details shortly :)

My 12 year old is a red belt in Teakwondo she has been going twice a week since she was 5 and loves it.
It has made her confident and fearless to confrontation in school.
I recommend martial arts to all growing children.

my two sons have both started to do forest school as an after school activity it has helped them both with there confidence especially my one son who is on the autitstic spectrum (aspergers) this is the first time he has chosen to do an activity as he struggles with socialising ,he happily attends each week and looks forward to it which is a first for us.

cycling, gets them out & about exploring new places

My DD trampolines competitively. I think the competitive element helps her strive to do well and the actual physical element helps her balance and body awareness.

Football,cycling, swimming and hiking we love anything that keeps you fit and burns off that nervous energy the kids have 'Go get em tiger'

DS was diagnosed with DCD- and attending a weekly drama group has really helped his co-ordination- recently a choreographer came and taught them street dance, which he loved (but found very difficult!).

I used to attend his boxercise classes years ago, and since then the guy who took the class has become a good friend. He also teaches Tae Kwando and persuaded me to start taking my little one. She was so hesitant for the first few classes I never thought it would work, but, now however she loves it. It's brought her a new circle of friends, young and old, and it's bringing her a confidence and self belief which is wonderful to see.

I have four children and, at different times & ages, all four have joined and been members of different clubs/had different hobbies. However, the most important thing I have learned is not to fill all their spare time with clubs - they need time to chill out, play alone and use their imagination. All four have had swimming lessons - some continued for longer than others but they all went until they could swim - an essential skill in my opinion. What I did also find is that, although all three daughters have been members of Rainbows/Brownies, my second daughter gave up Brownies to become a member of the local cub pack - it helped that my husband was a leader, but she generally found the activities more to her liking and loved the cub camps, particularly ones where they challenged themselves with events such as abseiling. My eldest daughter enjoyed making cards for a while but then found schoolwork meant she was short on time to be so creative. My youngest daughter loves gym - she has spent most of the summer doing cartwheels, the splits, making up routines by herself and so she has just joined the school gym club - the time she spent on her own doing it made me realise it was worth giving her a chance to be taught properly.

ballet, street dance and gymnastics :-)

Our DS is only 2 so he has no hobbies other than doing activities with Mummy and Daddy. He really enjoys swimming and going for walks to the park, and his favourite things are tractors and trains.

Both my sons are into kick boxing. The eldest is autistic and obsessed with anything to do with compueters or also, he's developed an interest in georgraphy. The little one is only 5 but loves art and drawing. I have thought I'd like to try out other after school clubs and things to see if they might enjoy something else. There is so much to choose from really!

DD (aged 6) goes to weekly swimming lessons which she really enjoys. Also her school puts on a wide range of clubs and short term activities so she also has gymnastics club and is scheduled to do a month of cooking lessons in the new year.

Swimming lessons are great not only for the obvious safety reasons but also as an only child it gives her a wider range of children to get to know other than her classmates.
When she's 7, she wants to join Brownies so that 'll be another evening taken care of and more new friends to make.

my little boy LOVES reading hes read so many books and can read a book in a few hours - its made his vocabulary bigger than mine and hes only 8!

Dd's hobby is definitely reading. She started reading at an early age and loves books. Reading has definitely helped improve her vocabulary, spelling and grammar as well as her general knowledge.