Hobbies, what interests teenagers?

Music, painting, pottery, sports, speleology, dance, chess, modeling, gardening ... It would be impossible to mention all the hobbies that can arouse the interest of our children. Now, what characteristic should an activity have to be attractive to your adolescent eyes and your little desire to move more than necessary?

What interests teenagers?

The interest is directly related to the APTITUDES. Something that we think we can not do, will not awaken in us any desire to even try. It is essential to present our children with activities as an affordable challenge and from which they can win. That "victory" will be the motivation to repeat and gradually create the hobby.

Equally important is the role played by FEELINGS in the development of a hobby. For example, in a family with several brothers, being the musician, the artist, the actor or the one who understands plants can be a very healthy and productive way for our adolescent to recognize himself in family life, when all the rest of his life Identity seems to make waters. Also a hobby shared with one of the parents can be the bond of union in moments where other channels of communication seem broken.

The educational value of hobbies

A hobby has in principle the purpose of entertaining us. However, the educational opportunities that surround the cultivation of a hobby are innumerable. Let's look at three of them, which are very necessary in the education of adolescents.

- The true fan is constant. Once discovered the interest in this activity with the affordable challenge that we mentioned before, our own son will be raising higher challenges that will require patience, perseverance and overcoming small frustrations to go covering new goals, which in turn will awaken the concern of consider new challenges to solve.

- The ability to develop strategies and solve unexpected problems they are skills that are acquired as one acquires mastery in their hobby. For example, the gardening enthusiast is taking care of his seasonal plants and is already planning what to plant, where and how to keep his garden nice all year round. A speleologist enthusiastically plans his exits, the material he needs and has alternative plans in place before the possibility of unforeseen events.

- A good hobby contributes a lot to the construction of self-esteemto adequate and realistic.

And at this age, what can my teenager love?

To many activities of very varied fields. What guidelines must be taken into account when proposing them. We may already know where the tastes of our son are going and it is also possible that we have not facilitated the development of this activity so far, for the simple reason that we do not like it, because we do not think it is important to spend time with these children. , because total is nothing that will report a benefit.

As we have indicated above to encourage a hobby, it is so important that our son is able to carry it out successfully, that he has qualities for it, and that he feels safe, supported and recognized. Let's not lose sight, as Professor Polo points out, that "what is interesting can become boring, disappointing, something that does not appeal to you if it is not affordable". It would be a mistake to want to share the hobby with our son by chess, pretending that he plays professionally from the beginning, or that he takes a liking to classical music, taking him for the first time to listen to a Hyden concert.

Thus, sometimes the taste for a particular activity will be manifested by our own child, but it can also happen that there are disciplines very much in tune with their abilities and they can not be fond of them, simply because they do not know them.

- Any time is good and appropriate to start the cultivation of a new hobby. The human being, however boring, can discover new interests that return it to action.

- Take time to analyze if our son knows how to organize his free time, if you cultivate a healthy hobby and share it with your friends.

- Try to discover new interests, to expand the horizons of our teenagers and show them how many things they are capable of and how much they can get to have fun simply by sharing a basketball game, rehearsing a piece of music, planning a trip, designing a garden or building a magnificent model.

- Disciplines related to nature or with the models, for example, they can be hobbies to discover parents and children hand in hand.

Respecting the tastes and qualities of our son, it will always be very positive for our relationship to be able to find a common hobby.It may be we who have to learn and be interested in something new, but it's worth it.

Mª Jesús Sancho. Psychologist Master in Marriage and Family.