Sometimes it can be a real struggle spending quality time with your children. And it’s even harder having some quality time to yourself to enjoy the lighter things in life. Hobbies and interests often get put on the back burner when we start a family. But if your children have reached school age, now could be the ideal time to rekindle the flames of your favorite pastime. Best of all, you could share that passion with your children and enjoy spending time together. Here are our top ten hobbies you can do with your kids:

Running - If you used to enjoy keeping fit, it’s never too late to get back into it. Pick up some good running shoes and comfortable sportswear for each of you. There are apps designed to help you get started as well. Best of all, running is free. You can do it any time of the night or day. Just be sure to all dress in hi-vis gear if you’re heading out early or later in the day. Start with a lap or two of the park. Then see where your legs can carry you. You might be surprised just how much stamina you all have!

Fashion - If you all love clothes and fashion, then why not turn that into a hobby? You can buy a sewing machine and start personalizing your jeans or tees together. If you’re feeling really adventurous, you could even have a go at making something from some old material. You can find information about sewing machines on www.QuiltersReview.com to help you get started. Younger children might love making stuffed animals.

Art - It only takes a few ideas to set you up for months of drawing, painting, and sculpting. Children love being creative with pens, paints, and modeling clay. If you’ve always fancied yourself as an artist, now could be the ideal time to introduce your children to the world of art. Start with a trip to your local galleries. Talk about beautiful landscapes or animals you’ve seen. Maybe you like to draw hands or faces. See what inspires the kids and then start your art project together.

Making Movies - There are lots of devices with video cameras built in. They offer you and the family a great opportunity for getting creative. You can make movies together starring your favorite toys. Or maybe the dog has an eccentric personality worthy of a short film? Making a film together can be quite a comprehensive project. It gives you plenty of opportunities to be very creative. It also gives the kids experience of thinking about stories, design, and organizing.

Playing Music - When you were younger, you may have had a few music lessons. Perhaps you even enjoyed playing a particular instrument. Why not rekindle that interest by teaching your children what you know. You could all enjoy a music lesson together to find out more about a particular instrument. Best of all, you can create songs together, and have jam sessions as a family. Learning to play a musical instrument can help the children in lots of other areas of their lives. It’s thought children who play music are better academically than their non-musical peers. They may even make a career of it!

DIY - If you’ve always loved DIY, why not share some of that interest with the children? It’s important they learn the basic skills. It’s also essential they understand about safety when it comes to using tools. These are all things you can teach by doing. You could all come up with a project like a spice rack or a puzzle board. Sketch it, measure the wood and cut the pieces out together. Supervised projects can offer great learning for your children.

Baking - Having a family means we have to be quick and efficient in the kitchen. If you’ve missed baking, then why not grab the kids some aprons and get back in the kitchen? Teach them about foods from around the world. Explain how ingredients work together. These are all important life skills your children will need before they become adults. Cooking and baking together can be great fun for all the family. It may even help you get over those picky eaters too!

Swimming - Swimming is a great activity for you and the children. It’s a fabulous way to keep fit, and it’s important the children become strong swimmers. If you used to love swimming but never found the time with the babies, why not make the effort to make it a regular thing now? You can have races across the pool. Perhaps you can measure the distance each of you can swim underwater. There are plenty of games that can be played in the pool as well to make each visit lots of fun for you all. 

Hiking - It may be that you are all lovers of the great outdoors. Now the children are bigger and stronger, it could be a great time to take up hiking. Walking through beautiful landscapes is a great stress reliever, and it helps to keep you all fit. You could teach the kids how to read a map, teach them bear canister basics, or how to use walker’s apps on their smartphones. For the younger ones, make sure there are regular stops for rests and snacks. Hiking is a great hobby to do with your kids because it offers you plenty of time to talk to each other too.

Stargazing - A night sky is a wondrous place. Learning about space is an important science lesson for the children. You might invest in a good telescope so you can get a good view of the moon and some of the star constellations. As well as being educational, gazing up at the sky can also inspire creative writing about worlds far away and the people that live there. You might even make a model of our solar system with papier mache planets and moons. It’s a great one to get really crafty with.

Having hobbies and interests is very important for all of us. It gives us something to enjoy and can fill the time on a rainy day. The best part about sharing these interests with your kids is having that quality time together. What will you do today?