Ask HN: How to make life magical for children?
When I was a little boy there was magic in life. As an adult the magic is harder to see feel and find.
How to make life magical for children? What can I do to make my kids feel that magic?
How to make life magical for children? What can I do to make my kids feel that magic?
"Daddy, daddy, the washing machine is spinning SUPER FAST [1], come and look!"
"Daddy, I found an EGG in the PLAYHOUSE![2]"
"I'm going to clean the leaves off the bridge with the leaf-blower! Watch me!"
I think the trick is to acknowledge the magic they're finding, encourage them, and share in it if invited (which will be often).
Try to give children as much unstructured play-time as practical. Have a read of http://www.nurtureshock.com/ for the science behind this, but the tl;dr is "kids are hard-wired for learning, try to support them, rather than scheduling every minute of every day".
[1] new 1200RPM front-loader [2] our chickens free-range during the day
I remember quite vividly the moment that my parents identified me as an engineer. I was but three years old when they gave me my first "Erector Set". It was a kit full of 6-32 screws, square nuts and punch sheet metal strips, as well as a small wrench.
Without any prompting from them I opened the box up then built a little skyscraper.
Later, when I was strong enough, my father taught me to pound nails with his hammer. I went on to win an award for my work as the set crew director for my high school theater. I lost my father in 2003, but I still have his hammer.
I often try to remember what was most fun for me, it was usually making treasure maps, looking for pixies and elves, writing letters to santa or building a fort. Even something as simple as going out in the car and getting to choose left or right at each junction and see where we ended up.
As an adult you have to be willing to look silly, not stick to 'the rules' and let kids come up with their own versions.