Hobbies on a Budget
It goes without saying that not every family can afford thousands of dollars to support a healthy, yet expensive hobby for their children. Yet, it also goes without saying that every child needs something to be good at, something to keep them motivated and out of trouble, and something to help them define themselves. Believe it or not, there are many inexpensive hobbies in which you and your child can become involved. We have put together a brief list for your child to consider, and to help you find even more productive hobbies for your children. We encourage you to leave a comment at the end of this post describing your success at picking up a new hobby, or with any additional suggestions you may have for other families!
Hobby #1: Building model airplanes.
Most people know that a hobby of model airplanes can easily break a budget. But what most people may not know is that it can also be one of the most inexpensive hobbies for your child. The secret is in looking around for the less expensive sources. This is a wonderful hobby for any child! With many different levels of difficulty, any aged child can participate and grow in her hobby. It also encourages children to consider careers in aeronautics or engineering, and it teaches your child patience, care and dedication. If your child is not as interested in airplanes, not to worry! There are also model boats, cars, and many other things to look into! There are three basic levels to model planes.
The first is your basic paper airplanes. It might sound juvenile, but many companies have designed very sophisticated paper airplanes that look as beautiful on a shelf as they do flying through the air. The top web site for this type of modeling is The Paper Airplane Company. Here, they do feature a free airplane model for download. You can print it out, see how your child enjoys it, and then proceed through with the rest of the downloads (start as low as $4.95).
Once your child has become an expert at paper airplanes, you can allow her to become a more advanced modeler with plastic models. Many of these require the child to paint the model airplane which can be as time consuming as the child wants. Once the child has assembled the airplane, she can try flying it in the backyard, or put it on display for others to see. Of course, with plastic airplanes, prices will be slightly increased, but not dramatically. By shopping at craft stores such as Michaels, Hobby Town USA, and eHobbies.com, you can find plastic models for as little as $15 or as much as $1000.
The most difficult level for plane models is the Remote Control (RC) planes. These are planes that include engines and can be controlled from the ground by your child. You can buy these fully assembled, or you can assemble them yourself. RC planes can be very expensive, many starting at about $250.
Hobby #2: Good old volunteering.
Every child should be exposed to volunteering through their life, and many organizations such as the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS), National Honor Society (NHS), Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are already encouraging and requiring members to participate in volunteer activities. But volunteering can be as much of a hobby as building paper airplanes, and most children (even very young ones) can easily participate. Students can participate to help build a house for a lower income family at Habitat for Humanity. They can help inspire another younger child to stay on the right track with Big Brothers Big Sisters. They can become involved in their own neighborhood community at the YWCA, YMCA or at their local church. They can bring happiness to the elderly by volunteering to read or play games at a retirement home. They can join a children’s choir that tours to different hospitals to bring hope to patients. They can even stay in the comfort of their own home and put together care packages for groups such as a local Women’s Shelter or the Ronald McDonald House. These are just a few examples, and finding a fun and rewarding activity for each child’s tastes can be difficult, but there are countless web sites to help do that. Try VolunteerMatch or ServeNet.
Hobby #3: Blogging.
There has been a lot of press lately about blogging and the safety issues involved for children. However, blogging can be an excellent hobby and place to vent for children. They can improve their communication skills as well as have an easy option to share the important parts of their life with their family. If done safely, blogging can be a safe and extremely beneficial activity for children of any age. Naturally, certain precautions must be taken, such as keeping all personal information (name, age, city, school, pictures, etc) private, keeping the blog out of view from the public, and never communicating with strangers online. Parents should help the child start the blog so they can make sure all safety settings are what they should be, and parents should also consider starting their own account so they can “friend” their child and child’s friends to keep a closer eye. There are many web sites that can give parents more information about staying safe and have contracts between children and parents for download (SafeKids and NetSmartz), and there are also software programs available for download that can monitor everything your child does online for the ultimate monitoring abilities (ExploreAnywhere). Parents should also check into the safety tools available for each of the blogging sites, such as MySpace, Xanga and YouTube.
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