Share Your Favorites — like Photography!

This is truly MY favorite KIDFUN tip. If you have a hobby or a special interest, share it with the kids — even young ones. It will be fun for you — sincerely, because it’s something you care about, and if they like it, they might share that interest, too. I don’t care what the hobby is — baseball cards, collecting shells, painting. Plus, it is such a compliment to a child to give of yourself that way.

Here’s an example — I just love photography. And Ryan would always wants to play with my camera. At first I bought her a kids’ camera and video toy that really worked. She was about two then. But, I realized mine was much more intriguing so I have her one of our old digitals. It’s magical, you know! Instant gratification to be able to see photos right away. Funny, she’ll never know what film is!! Well, this weekend, she took our her camera. We were in the car, she was sitting in the car in her car seat, with me by her side, while her mother drove and she was shooting away. I was so impressed. She’s 4 1/2 but she “got it.” It’s a challenge taking pictures while in motion but she really looked for things to shoot and she did great. My point for this example is that I had so much fun watching her enjoy what I enjoy and we could really talk about it. She seems sincerely interested herself. And, THAT’s the best. It can always be something we do together. Perfect!