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How important are hobbies anyway? For children and
teenagers, the answer is probably greater than you think. Hobbies, such
as participating in craft projects, do more than just fill a child’s empty
afternoon. Crafts may seem rather unassuming, but actually they have a
great deal to offer in your child’s development. Structured play can be
as important as free play to your child’s development. In fact, play of
all kinds is vital to healthy brain development. In the same way that we
know simple nutrient-rich foods provide immediate and long term benefits to a
child’s body, developmental psychologists tell us that simple crafts and
handmade projects provide both short and long term benefits to a child’s
emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive development.
Crafts provide teens and children with a wonderfully
direct way for them to receive parental approval and support. As a mom or
a dad, being present in the moment with your child/teen, provides you with a
wonderfully direct way of sharing in their world. If a parent
participates in a craft project, and offers praise throughout the project,
rather than only at the end, the long term effect on self esteem is much
enhanced. The key here, however, is for the parent to take a lesser role
in the constructional process of the craft and allow the child/teen to lead the
activity. The task for us as parents during this process is to notice and
praise the elements of the craft that reflect your child/teen. For
example, if they are demonstrating good frustration tolerance, or even if they
are finding a unique way of using colors or patterns, point this out to your
children and reinforce to them how this shows you something that you like and
approve within them.
Keep in mind that they, like their project, are a work in
process! In the same way that you were present in those moments when they
learned to walk and talk, crafts provide you with a way to be present as they
are developing more internal skills and personality traits. When your
child first learned to walk, they needed to practice, to fall down at times,
and then have your encouragement to try again; so also they may need you to
find that same cheerleader within yourself as they are learning to navigate the
more difficult emotional world of self regard, mastery, self control, and
character development. Crafting together gives you this valuable
opportunity to shape and share in these more intrinsic elements of your child
or teenager.
Lastly, crafting often leads to creating gifts for
others. For example, creating handmade gifts for Father’s Day or Mother’s
Day will certainly give children a chance to show you who they are, but it also
teaches them to put themselves in someone else’s place or perspective.
They get to think, “what would my mom/dad really like?” Since they know
you better than they know anyone else, children and teens can usually answer
this question pretty easily and accurately. (Young children will have a
harder time with this and will normally think that the parent will be as happy
with something that they would like, but with some guidance, even younger
children can recognize that mom or dad’s interests may be different from
his/her own). Being able to successfully put yourself in someone else’s
perspective is the foundational element for further empathy and character
development. Thus when you receive that handmade gift for Mother’s Day,
you can treasure who they are at the moment, and also know that they are well
on their way to developing strong character traits.
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