A Skill/hobby for 8 years from now..

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christianmusing

New member
The usual, I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit, but here goes:

My son is under 2 years old and I know that I want to pass on to him skills/hobbies that will benefit him, be enjoyable for me, and not break the bank in 8 years time. Emphasis on 8 years because I'm picturing me and a strapping young 9+ year old and I'm passing on to him something that challenges his brain, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit. The first 2 are a must and the 3rd is something I want to do because I believe it could take him further than starting to think about that when he's stuck in a j-o-b.

So it's 8 years from now. What do you think the future will hold? 3d printing? Yup. Other crazy things that I can't imagine at the moment? Yup. So what skill/hobby do I pick up?

I've considered purchasing a $100 start soldering kit (/r/zourn shared this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringStudents/comments/2oihvo/decent_soldering_iron_kit_for_beginner
) because this seems like it might be somewhat fun, somewhat useful around the house, and something that I can teach my son and he use in his lifetime.
 
@madakronic Wow! I really never thought about this. But do they really want to have to teach someone how to do everything? Especially if it's stuff that requires foreknowledge? Thanks for your reply!
 
@christianmusing Lego can be a toy, skill and a hobby as it and he grows up.

Aside from that, you could try something like a snap circuits set, though 2 may be a little young for that.

Art can combine all 3 of your objectives, and isn't expensive.

Once he can read, maybe another 2-3 years, depending on where the technology goes something like a Raspberry Pi and get him to understand PLCs and microcontrollers.
 
@lamphuongnghi152 What about me? (Sounds awful to say) I'm looking to get started so that when he's ready we're not learning it together. Perhaps that's a selfish notion. If you were in my shoes what do you think you'd pick? Thanks for your reply!
 
@christianmusing Well, for anyone, Lego is the easiest thing to get into, but with one so young in the house, it's imperative that you keep it off the floor and out of reach, so probably not great. You can get into the bigger bricks, like Duplo, my boys had that from very early ages and had a lot of fun seeing how far they could build something and how they had to change things to reinforce it to keep it from collapsing. It does take up a LOT of space though, so if you're in a small house, maybe not the best choice if you like things tidy.
Lego.com

There are other, sometimes cheaper options:
  • Mega Bloks Has been around for a while, they are mostly compatible with Lego, and actually have some interesting bricks that Lego doesn't, as well as some product line exclusives. It's not always a cheaper option anymore.
  • The Kre-O brand seems to have been euthanized, thankfully as it really wasn't well made. and actually seemed to connect to Lego better than to other Kre-O blocks.
  • There are always import products coming to market that are compatible with Lego, but generally the plastic used is cheaper, and breaks easier as well as having poor connection strength. I have Lego that my kids play with that's over 30 years old and it's still doing fine though.

​


Snap circuits are simple, they take a bit of learning to get the basics of the electrical theory down, but the basics of being able to make a motor spin, or a light turn on is fairly engaging from the get-go and there are a lot of options out there. You could also use it as an introduction to other electronics.

A few links:

Review of a couple electronics kits

Snap Circuits website

Smart Labs Smart Circuits

Raspberry Pi website

​


Art is the simplest, but probably the most challenging to get into as an adult, as you can't just put money into it to make it easier. It takes some personal training to get to a point where you'll be satisfied with what you're doing, but I honestly believe that most people can learn to create art. Check your local art store for supplies, /r/learnart can help with techniques and offers some other resources.

If you're interested in digital art, there are a couple options that are free, like the GIMP for editing images or creating original works, Krita is an amazing program that's free and can allow a wider expression than something like Photoshop or GIMP. Paint.net is a bit simpler than the other two options listed, but still allows a certain degree of digital creativity.
 
@lamphuongnghi152 /r/ecclectic thank you for your in depth reply!

I have it on good authority that Santa got us some mega blocks :)

I really hadn't considered art as a means to challenge him in all ways. Especially digital art. The fact that you mention that confirms my thinking of "you're raising a child in a world you didn't exactly grow up in." which is why I'm asking this question. I want to be not only a learner but a learner that is at least halfway able to propel my child forward other than say, "gosh they make such neat-o things these days!"

bravo on the links you provided by the way.
may i ask for one more? do you know of one that might be more for children as it pertains to digital art?

one last question, i mentioned soldering in my initial question, were there any other ideas that came to mind? i want to be open to all ideas.
 
@christianmusing Well, soldering is mostly used for electronics, but it can also be used for doing stuff like stained-glass.

Of course, welding is another option, though the up-front costs are high and the space required is significant if you have a hacker/maker space near you or a couple friends who have some money to spend to help set something up that can be used communally, it's certainly something to look at. Import inverter based machines are getting cheaper and better, allowing more and more use at the hobby level for welding.
 
@lamphuongnghi152 I'm under the impression that soldering is a prerequisite for some raspberry pi applications. am i right?

And to respond about welding, yea, that doesn't seem like something i'm interested in. could be cool but not what i'm looking for anytime soon.
 
@aelialicinia Coding is an idea that I keep coming back to. I'd prefer to do something more "active".

But. If I were to go the coding route. What language(s) do you recommend I begin with? I have a computer science minor (that's 10 years old) so I've forgotten 90% of C++ and am handy at old school HTML.

And this may be the wrong subreddit for this question but what website do you recommend? I've gotten started on a couple different ones where you piece together code but I didn't learn anything other than how to search through their help section.

Edit: thanks for your reply :)
 
@christianmusing Haha, actually I really don't have much experience with this but it just seems we're going the way of automation.

I can't vouch for it, but Khan Academy's other stuff is great! Maybe start there for coding? Good luck!!
 
@christianmusing Gardening, music, swimming - these are three we've focused on with our daughter. Not sure how well they hit all of your goals.

I think almost any skill can be entrepreneurial, under the right circumstances. Instead you need to teach him not to be scared of failure, and to give him a growth mindset. That can be done via any # of activities.
 
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