Hobbies for Homeschoolers: New Year Resolutions

Winter can be a challenging time in homeschool. The days are shorter, the weather is colder, and it’s easy to feel cooped up. It’s even easier to turn to screens to entertain yourself and your children.

Let’s resist the temptation to be frustrated with the cold and make a plan to live internationally and start (or resume) new hobbies this winter. 

Winter is a wonderful time to find a new hobby, especially in a homeschool family. 

In my mind there are five different types of hobbies that we should have in our lives, plus a reading list to work through. 

Each person in your family can pick hobbies from these categories to guide them through an intentional, productive, creative and fun year.

• Active Hobbies
• Indoor Creative Hobbies
• Outdoor Creative Hobbies
• Life Skill Hobbies
• Educational Hobbies
• Reading List

Of course, we all have favorite activities, but we should continue to develop as whole persons. Children and adults can develop in all of these areas.

I challenge each person in your family to pick a hobby or activity from each category and spend some time throughout this year working on it. 

Moms, if you follow my advice, your children will never complain that they are bored, because they will have their personal list of hobbies. They will always have something to do, read or research! 

Active Hobbies

Active hobbies can be things like team or individual sports, but this blog is about discovering new ideas and passions that kids can pursue and explore on their own. 

If your child already has team sports they participate in, encourage them to try new active hobbies they can do alone or with their friends or family. 

Some ideas might be: 

• Hiking
• Geocaching
• Metal detecting 
• Airsoft
• Target shooting
• Dirt Bikes or four wheelers 
• Canoeing or kayaking
• Mountain biking/BMX bikes
• Trampoline tricks
• Skateboarding
• RC vehicles 
• Rollerblading 
• Weight lifting

For Airsoft:  Should I Let My Kids Play Airsoft Guns?

For Archery: How to Make a Homemade Bow

Indoor Creative Hobbies

Creative hobbies are for everyone! I think that creation is a very important part of being human. Everyone likes to say, “I made that!” 

Like everything else, you can improve any skill with practice. Seeing the results of your efforts makes hobbies and activities more enjoyable. So don’t feel like any of these things are something that you cannot do. Just try! 

There are countless indoor creative hobbies. This year, try:

• Sewing: hand sewing or machine sewing, embroidery or cross stitching 
• Knitting or crocheting
• Make a Drawing Portfolio: anime, comic strips, nature, people, architecture Teaching Drawing in Homeschool When You Can’t Draw Yourself
• Painting: watercolors or acrylics
• Creative Writing: poetry, comics, short play scripts, songs, and short stories
• Jewelry Making
• Music: play an instrument or learn new songs to sing- for piano, I highly recommend Hoffman Academy! Sign up through my link and get a small discount.
• Photography

• For younger kids: Legos, magnatiles, pretend play, dress up, playdoh, sand dough, coloring, dot to dot markers, circuits, and painting peg dolls

Outdoor Creative Hobbies

In my big family, outdoor creative hobbies are especially encouraged because it takes the mess outside. Some of the things that we have enjoyed over the years: 

• Knife Making
• Welding
• Woodworking
• Furniture Restoration
• Treehouse and Fort Building
• Nature Art

Life Skill Hobbies

I think life skill hobbies are the most rewarding. Independence and self reliance are always good things to work toward. We have enjoyed the following: 

• Candle Making
• Soap Making
• Raising animals
• Entrepreneurship
• Cooking 
• Foraging
• Auto-Maintenance
• Small Engines 
• Survival Skills

For Teen Entrepreneurship Ideas: 16 Fun and Creative Side Hustles for Teens

For Raising Rabbits: Raising Rabbits for Kids

For Cooking Skills: Empower Your Kids in the Kitchen: 10 Cooking Skills to Master

For Gardening: The Homeschool Family Garden: Planning and Planting

Relaxing Hobbies

Relaxing hobbies are needed by the soul. Some of the hobbies we enjoy:

• Puzzles and boardgames
• Bird watching 
• Journalling
• Nature journaling
• Reading
• Movie watching

For Nature Journaling:  A Winter Nature Study Guide: Finding Beauty in the Cold

Educational

Ask yourself, Is there anything I want to learn about this year? Some ideas might be: 

• CAD/3D Design
• Coding
• Natural Health/Homeopathy
• Science: Astronomy, Geology, Chemistry, Physics
• Philosophy
• Historical Time: Middle Ages, Ancient Times, Westward Expansion
• Learn a foreign language
• Paleontology (Dinosaurs)
• Spiritual/self development topics

Reading List

Now that you have a list of new hobbies and activities, you can work on your reading list!

Try to find books on your interests at your local library.

Besides books on your new hobbies, you could also include books that you want to read in these categories: 

• Fiction
• Non-fiction 
• Biographies 
• Spiritual Reading
• Self Development

For Guidebooks: 10 Guidebooks for Adventuresome Kids

New Hobbies for Your Homeschool

Below is a printable I created for each member of your family. Please print it (it’s free!) and use it to jot down your ideas in each of the categories. Refer to it when boredom strikes!

I hope this printable helps you to be inspired and intentional. There are so many interesting things to know and learn! 

For more inspiring ideas:

Unique Hobbies for Homeschoolers- 14 Hobbies Your Kids Will Love

February Homeschool Burnout: Tips for Resilience

I hope the coming year blesses you abundantly! 

Please leave a comment to tell me what your family is planning to learn and pursue in the coming year!