Do you often find your boys glued to their computer monitors with their headsets on playing video games? Do your girls spend most of their time on their smartphones taking selfies or chatting with friends? Does your young one watch TV all day? If your answer is yes to all three questions, then it’s probably time that you help your kids develop other interests.
Here are three steps you can take to get your kids interested in other things and show them that there’s more to life than just their tech gadgets.
Step 1: Introduce them to different activities
Your kids won’t develop other interests if they aren’t exposed to different things, will they? You can start introducing them to different activities right in your own home. For example, if you often bake, why not ask your kids to help you out once in a while? Or maybe you can set up a basketball hoop in your backyard and play with your kids every afternoon. Of course, you can take them out to expose them to different interests as well. Visiting an art museum, watching musical plays, or going to a botanical garden, for instance, can definitely pique any kid’s interests. Hopefully, something will strike their fancy, and they’ll take up an activity.
Step 2: Give them proper training
Once they show real interest in any activity, you should consider getting your kids proper training. If your kids become interested in music, you can send them to a music school that holds voice, drum, guitar, or piano classes for children. Having your kids who took a liking to sports join community leagues will surely help them develop their — say baseball, soccer, or football — skills. Or maybe they’re into dancing, so taking lessons at a dance studio will be beneficial to them. Remember, however, not to force your kids into anything. Run the idea of having them properly trained past them first, and if they agree, then go ahead and enroll them in training courses.
Step 3: Support them every step of the way
Finally, if they’re already hooked on an activity, you need to support your kids all the way. This includes getting them all the tools, such as a guitar, paintbrushes, or ballet shoes, they’ll need. You’ll also have to take them to practice maybe three times a week or even every day! As your kids may want to get some extra practice at home, be prepared to pitch them curveballs, to dance as their tango partner, or to be their art model as well. And whenever they have games, recitals, concerts, etc., be sure to free up your schedule, so you can be their biggest fan or loudest cheerleader when they perform.
Help Your Kids Develop Other Interests
While there’s nothing wrong with letting your kids use tech gadgets, the activity should be done in moderation. Make it easier for them to limit their use of tech gadgets — and to have more in-person interactions in the process — by helping them develop other interests. And you can do this by following three simple steps: (1) introduce them to different interests, (2) provide them proper training, and (3) support them all the way.