4 Fun and family-friendly hobbies and activities

When my next-door neighbor looked out her window at her beautiful side garden in the cold winter months, she would have seen lots of wonderful birds at her many bird feeders. She also would have seen three small faces pressed up against our window, peering through binoculars, staring right back at her.

My neighbor’s bird feeders inspired a love of birds and bird watching in our family, albeit in a Rear Window sort of way, due to the closeness of our houses. We loved getting out our bird book and trying to identify all the birds that came to her feeder s— which probably looked strange as we were also just staring straight towards her house — pointing and excitedly jumping up and down with delight.

“Dad, look, the Northern Flicker is back!”  “Ok everyone come over to the window, let’s see!” Were the binoculars overkill when the feeders were a few feet from our window? Yes. Did my small children insist on using them every time we looked out the window? Yes.

It was around this point that I realized how lovely it was to share a hobby as a family. We started a long-term game where we identify birds of prey whenever we are out driving in the car. If you see one, you call it, and you get a point.

Bird-loving made our family commitment to taking a weekly hike more enjoyable for some of our members. Even when they disliked the hiking part, they enjoyed the bird-finding part.

Here is some more inspiration for trying a new family hobby this year. You want something low-investment (because it may take a few tries to find something everyone can get behind) but high-yielding when it comes to bonding and togetherness.

My son, who loves crafting, came home with a small, circular knitting loom one day. My husband helped him learn to use it, and then before you know it, we acquired a second loom of a different size, and everyone had matching knit hats. I would come upstairs in the evening to find father and son knitting together and then would join in with a skein and my crochet hook.

Pros: Easy to learn for anyone of any age with zero knitting experience, the finished product is actually hard to mess up, and good-looking (I have a child who loves crafting things and trying out new skills — believe me, there aren’t many crafts that can turn out so well with so little experience.) 

Cons: Yarn can be expensive and addictive! You don’t need much for a hat, so just buy what you need to start.

Spend a minute after dinner reading a chapter of a book together, or looking at a picture book, or sharing a poem. Each person can take turns nightly choosing something to share and then everyone can discuss what they liked about it. This can vary greatly based on age and attention span. Right now, reading a few Shel Silverstein poems after dinner is about what we can handle.

In a similar vein — as a helpful way to practice public speaking skills — one night a week each family member prepares something to share. It might be a song, a report on their favorite part of the week, a joke, an advertisement for a toy or snack that they like, etc. With a range from serious to silly (a heartfelt father-son duet with piano and guitar paired with a three-year-old trying to recount the plot of his favorite movie), this is usually a bright spot in our week.

Get or make a bird feeder and check out some bird books from the library. There are some really beautiful books to look at as well as some very practical ones out there. Bird feeders will bring some birds right to your door (and perhaps delight your neighbors as well!) but then try taking walks to find birds out and about. Our city has many walking trails where we have enjoyed birds in all seasons of the year.

Note: There are also bird identification apps you can download on your phone, but this is one case where old-fashioned research will prove to be more rewarding in the long run.