Episode Thirty: Go Fish!

Hey Team! I missed out last week as I was in Australia for a few days and totally forgot all about you. Never mind, I'm back this week with a classic one.

I can't believe I haven't used this idea yet: Fishing! First, a little disclaimer: I'm not a fishing kind of guy. I used to go fishing now and then with my Dad when I would stay at his place. All in all I was pretty crap at it and not very patient. I remember once I caught 13 Herrings off the Kinohaku Bridge and another time I caught 8 Kahawai in a net in the Kawhia Harbour. That is about the extent of my fishing career.

But, now that I have two boys who are old enough to not run off the side of a wharf into the water below, I'm really enjoying the idea of fishing. Luckily for me, my boys seem to enjoy it. Either that or they humour me. I'm happy either way. On sunny Saturdays we try our luck and put our rag-tag collection of fishing tackle in the water to see what happens. 

We don't really have much luck and that affects the enthusiasm of these two guys, but they still stick with it. I find it's a constant struggle for them to keep their lines in the water. Every two minutes they want to check your bait - that might have something to do with our success rate.

There are so many things our children can experience in an afternoon of fishing: The practice of patience, getting their hands dirty/fishy, learning sustainable fishing practices, hand/eye coordination and the practice of patience.

We've combined a lot of our fishing outings with the local kid's fishing competitions that are held in our town. These are great because they're geared around encouraging a new generation of fisherpeople. Not only is there the promise of prizes for heaviest fish etc etc. Often times the kids will get prizes for entering or be eligible for spot prizes. The last two we have been to have had a free sausage sizzle. Good times.

My three tips for you are these:

1. Be prepared to end up doing most of the fishing yourself while your children 'just check out that boat at the other end of the wharf'. Happens every time.
2. If you do end up hooking a fish while you're holding their rod - resist the temptation to reel it in yourself. Ask them to check the bait. They'll wind in the line and voila! They've caught a fish.
3. Always have a contingency plan that involves stopping in at the local fish n chip shop to drown your sorrows. It's almost tradition, right?

Have fun!

Episode Twenty Eight: Use Spray Paint

When I was young my Mother was making resources for one of her childcare centres that she owned. She got milk bottles, filled them with rice, covered them with newsprint, spray painted them and, with brushes, painted weird Aztec patterns all over them. I probably helped with measuring up cups or rice or mixing the wheat paste for the newsprint or something like that - but I don't remember. All I remember is that I got to use spray paint!

Spray paint is one of those perennial favourites with kids (and adults) - like balloons or pizza. Spray paint never stops being fun. I'm in my thirties and I still love mucking around with spray paint. I decided to share the joy and let my kids have some good old supervised fun with aerosols.

The first thing to note about spray paint is that the stuff is pretty fumey and full of crazy chemicals - so if you're not into exposing your kids to that I would suggest masks, gloves and safety glasses. I compromised by letting my children use the spray paint in a well ventilated area and to give them a lesson on which way to aim the nozzle etc. 

What my middle boy learnt was that painting anything precise with spray paint is hard. Really, really hard. I tried to show him some tricks that I picked up during my younger days. We talked about graffiti and tags and we talked about how, although it's naughty to paint on things that aren't yours, some of the graffiti is pretty clever. It takes a lot of practise to make things look cool.

Basically, there wasn't any lesson or point I was trying to get across. This idea was merely just a chance to be out in the sun mucking around with a bit of paint (and give the clothing rack last seen in Episode Seventeen another run). We painted a bit, stood back and admired our work and then went inside to eat lunch. Easy.

What sort of things do you still enjoy doing that you loved doing as a kid? These may be the very things that help you and your children connect. As I've said before, your children will love to see your enthusiasm for a certain activity. It's infectious. Why not dig out that old hobby - the spray cans, the Magic: The Gathering Cards, or chatter rings and show them? You never know, you might have bred the next Cope2 or Tony Hawk.

Bonus: A great video on can control. There's more to it than you think.

Cool Stuff: Sharing Your Hobbies In Motion

A while back I posted the idea Sharing Your Hobbies. One of my hobbies is collecting vinyl or records. Another unofficial hobby is watching things on YouTube, especially documentaries about record collectors.

While watching an episode of the Crate Diggers series on record collectors, I spotted a great moment with legendary DJ Eclipse and his young son. The first scene really shows how much joy children can get out of your hobbies. Check it out below.

Have fun!

Episode Twelve: Share Their Hobby

Two weeks ago we talked about sharing your hobby with your children and how it gives them an insight into you as a person and what you do when the cats away. This week we are looking at sharing their hobby but with a totally different aim.

This week I got my children to share one of their interests with me. I had a bit of a head start with this idea because I already knew what hobby this would be and I knew that this idea would make their day. This week I learnt about a game called 'Minecraft'. A game that my two sons are absolutely obsessed with and that I have tried very hard to avoid.

Just a quick run down: Minecraft is a game my sons have on their iPods played in a world where you need to build structures, or dig holes, fight zombies and try not to get killed. It sounds like my worst nightmare but they love it. They know I'm not a huge gamer so I've managed to avoid playing it and avoid getting involved in any discussions about the finer details of the game. This has suited me. But, it also provided itself with the perfect Idea for Dads.

To begin with, I explained to them that I shared my hobby with one of them and that I would like them to share one of their hobbies with me. This got a lukewarm response. When I said, "I would like you to teach me about Minecraft", they went nuts. So that was that.

The aim is not really to become a Minecraft addict like them, but rather for them to share their passion with their Dad. There was a big focus on explaining the game, giving an overview, teaching me and then letting me have my own go. It turns out the game is a lot harder than I thought it was. I didn't enjoy it but I got a great deal of satisfaction from their teaching me.

I don't know how successful I was, but the aim behind this idea was to teach them how to teach other people; To teach them how to explain something to another person. I have started a new job and have had a lot of days where different people in the business have taught me things. I've noticed that some people are great teachers and some are not. I began to wonder whether this is a natural occurrence or whether it comes with experience. So, why not start that experience early?

While my sons were explaining the game, I gave them prompts, things they could tell me. I asked them the right questions to move the conversation along. At the end of it I learnt a lot and they really revelled in the idea that they were experts and could teach their Dad a thing or two.

If your children aren't game-obsessed you could ask them to explain their favourite TV program. Or get them to tell you about their favourite toy. Or even get them to show you around their kindergarten. The possibilities are endless. The aim remains the same: Teach them to share their knowledge and their wisdom and who knows what you're setting up to do in later life.

Have fun!

Episode Ten: Share Your Hobby

Whether it's fly fishing, portrait painting or stamp collecting most Dads have hobbies that often get attention on their days off or at the end of a long day. Some times these are the things that keep us sane, that little part of our life that gives us a break from being a Dad, an employee, a boyfriend or husband.

What if you were to share that hobby and let your children understand what you do when you're away from it all?

One of my hobbies is making music using samples off records. It's something I started doing well before I was a Dad. My equipment and creative space is well away from little fingers and so, it's almost off limits. I decided to change that for an afternoon.

I tried this as a one-on-one idea with my middle son and brought all the equipment out on to the kitchen table. I gave him and overview of what it was I do and showed him the end product. Then, I explained the individual steps I took to get that finished product.

We chose a record off the record shelf, listened to the record for a part we liked and then recorded it into the sampler. From there we put some drum sounds on top. After a bit of finishing touches, we had our finished product, a beat that he decided to call 'Otto'.

Often we will share our interests and get our children involved in the things we like doing. But these are usually things that we think will benefit them: bush walking, cricket etc. This is fantastic. It gives you the chance to teach your children skills that they can use in the real world. The difference between this idea and those types of activities is that this is a little bit of yourself that you're sharing with your children.

It doesn't mean it's no longer your 'thing', like me, you can still move all the equipment back in to your hideaway. It's just a chance to share a little bit of what makes your tick and give them an understanding of what it is you do once they go to sleep.

If you do do this idea, I'm really interested to see what it is your hobby is and how you shared it with your children so please leave a comment. Also, next week, we're going to reverse it: we're going to encourage our children to share their idea with us.

Have fun!

Bonus: