Finding time for your individual interests is important as engaging in activities that you enjoy can help to relieve stress, and can help children and young people relax and seek pleasure in activities that aren’t responsibilities like school, homework and chores. They can be a good way to meet new people, learn new skills and become more confident in new situations.
Strategies for schools and families
For younger children, you can find their individual interests by observing how they play, watching what toys and activities they gravitate toward, and providing them with more opportunities to explore the interests you have identified; for example, if they like to draw and colour, you could set up a painting space, or craft table. Let this be an exploration rather than a requirement. For younger children some questions you can ask are:
- What makes your child laugh or smile?
- What do they get excited about?
- What do they spend the most time doing?
It is helpful to provide them with opportunities to extend and expand their play in the areas they are showing an interest in.
The following resource can help staff at school to understand children's personal interests:
Derby council have a toolkit with cut out activities' children can choose from and stick on the ‘what is important to me' page
The following resource is a lesson plan from the Princes Trust, for teachers to explore skill and strengths with Key stage 4 children.