Parenting is a learning curve and, for many of us, helping our child to engage with their interests and passions is something that we really want to do, but don’t really know where to start with. It’s important that you nurture your child’s interests and passions, as this will not only bring them joy through the interest or passion itself, but it will also ensure that they feel supported by you as a parent too. Here are just a few steps you can take to achieve this goal!

Avoid Vicarious Parenting

Of course, we’d all like our children to have similar interests to us. If we think something’s great, we’re going to want everyone else to think it’s great and to engage in it with us. But this – vicarious parenting – is something that you should generally avoid with your children. If you happen to share a mutual interest, this is great. But if not, you need to make sure that you’re not pushing your own interests and passions on your little one. Instead, make sure that they’re engaging with the things that they enjoy. Sure, it may take a little learning to understand these subjects yourself and to provide your child with the best opportunities within them. But it’s worth the effort to see your child truly happily engage with something they love.

Research the Subject

Start out by researching your child’s interests to ensure you have a good knowledge of the subject yourself. This will help you to recognise things that your child may enjoy, whether that’s spotting a sign for an exhibition revolving around their passion or being able to invest in the right tools or equipment they need to engage with their new hobby seriously. Knowing more on a particular subject can also help you to teach your child about it. Say your kid is interested in Ancient Egypt – knowing about the pharaohs, pyramids, mummies and more can help you to teach your child more on the subject.

Days Out and Trips

There are often days out or trips you can take your child on or fund your child to go on that will nurture their interests. If they like space travel, you could go to a space centre together. If they’re interested in art, you could go to an art gallery. If they like dogs, you could go to dog shows. If they want to learn French, you could consider school trips to Paris. The list goes on. Research days out and trips that will engage them and enhance their knowledge or skills.

Lessons

There are also lessons you can enrol your child for. If they want to learn an instrument, you could find a piano teacher, flute teacher, guitar teacher or drum teacher according to the instrument they want to play, for example. Search for qualified tutors with good reviews who have been officially safety checked.

There are so many steps you can take to support your child in their interests, passions and development. Hopefully, some of the suggestions above will help you to guide your child in the right direction!