What Activities are a Good Fit for Your Kid?

One of the things that has surprised me most about motherhood, is that despite all my children coming from exactly the same gene pool, they are so different! They all share a love for LEGO bricks, Minecraft, going to a Rangers baseball game, and snow skiing.  If you dig for the next favorite things to do, you will get a potluck of answers. Each has strengths not shared by a brother.  Each has interests that occupy his time in ways not favored by a sibling. My oldest is 12 and he is a lover of chess, golf, tennis, basketball, four square, going places and eating new foods. My middle son is 10 and he adores animals, drawing cartoons, drawing dragons, drawing Minecraft, making stop motion video and eats only burgers. My youngest has the most variety to his interests.  He is happy curled up on the couch with me watching TV or outside riding his bike.  He is the one that is always up for helping me create a craft or activity for Kids Activities Blog.  He eats everything BUT burgers. When it comes to making decisions for after-school activities, sports and summer camps, it is a challenge.  With three boys, there is limited time available for these enrichment activities in the family calendar, so we have to choose wisely! I am really excited that Thrively {new Kids Activities Blog sponsor} just rolled out in my area of Dallas-Fort Worth.  Thrively is a website with a kid-interest assessment tool that helped me narrow down the limitless possibilities.  It is geared for children 7-13 years of age.  I have THREE in that range! I chose to try this out with my 8 year old since he has such varied interests, it might help me pinpoint a direction to go with his after-school and summer camps that I hadn’t thought of.

Taking the Kid Activity Assessment

We went to Thrively  and I signed up.  I added Rhett as a child and followed the directions to start the assessment. Because Rhett isn’t completely independent with his reading, we completed it together.  I read the questions and answer options and he thought long and hard about some of his answers!  It was fun to watch the wheels turn as he was asked about things he may never have thought about. The quiz took us about 30 minutes.  It held Rhett’s attention because some of the questions have funny answers and some are little brain games.  Thrively’s Strength Profiler {assessment} was co-developed by two pediatric neuropsychologists, Drs. Kimel and Biesman.  It can help get inside your child’s head to find interests and strengths that can lead to picking a good activity or summer camp fit. Once the assessment was over, Rhett was given his “Thrively Certified Official Strengths”.  It reported that he is creative in thinking with an analytical mind and a distinct moral compass.  Rhett whole-heartedly agreed! I agree too. What surprised me was how most of his interests when he was given the chance to choose were in the creative arts area.  With this insight, I can look back and see how taking him to do pottery or an oil painting class has been much more well-received than suggestions for a basketball league.

Recommended Activities

Based on the strengths profile, Thrively then gave us recommendations.  A few of these were online sources, but the majority were things that Rhett could do close to home.  Some of the ones we liked were:

• Art Classes
• Museum of American Art
• Summer Program at a Local Museum
• Creative Website

Within the activities dashboard, you can narrow choices by dismissing activities or starring them for later.  Clicking through will give you scheduling and additional information.

What I Learned About My Kid

I know the assessment encourages kids to take it independently, but if you have a 6-9 year old that doesn’t mind you helping out, then I say do this together!  It was fascinating to hear some of the answers that Rhett gave.  Many of them were unexpected.  If I had taken the test on his behalf, the results would have been very different. In this day where kids are expected to make sports and activity choices at a young age that will then be their ONLY sport or activity, I adore this assessment.  It could help guide kids to something that they will not only be good at, but love.

Thrively Twitter Party

We are hosting a #Thrively Twitter Party next Wednesday, February 19 at 8:30 pm CT all about Planning for Summer Camps! Go RSVP and join us…and you could win an iPad Mini! See you there! Thanks so much to Thrively for supporting Kids Activities Blog and working with us on the upcoming twitter event.  You can find more out about Thrively on their blog, follow them on twitter as @Thrively, like them on FB and check out their summer camp idea Pinterest board!