“Don’t go too high!”  

“Slow Down!”  

“I don’t care that he has a helmet on, you may not push your baby brother down the hill in the wagon.”  

Boys.  

I still remember the day my cousin predicted that I would have five sons. She believed the old wive’s tale.

If you tie a ring on a string and hang it over your belly, it will predict whether you are having a boy or a girl.If it swings in a circular motion, you are having a girl, but if it’s swinging side to side, it means you’re having a boy.   She counted my swinging ring and declared that I would have five sons. After I spit out my drink, I replied, “Who in their right mind would have five sons?”  

Me that’s who.  

Apparently, the ring trick worked, because here I am over 26+ years later with five gorgeous sons.

I was unprepared for the LIFE and ENERGY of five sons.

Boys are just loud, Bouncy, and energetic. And did I say LOUD?

They come out of the womb already programmed with sound effects for all those cars, trucks, and sticks they wield.

New Parents: We started out anti-gun, like you, but since boys tend to turn every stick into a weapon, we had to change tactics or lose our minds.

Since we like our sanity, we taught gun/weapon safety from an early age.

Weapon Training For Sons

If it shoots, kids need to learn respect for it.

Nerf guns, water balloon launchers, paintball, and air-soft pistols, bows, rubber band shooters, straws with wadded up pieces of paper, those little-folded football things kids used to play with at restaurants before someone handed them a smartphone, and so on.

Related: Free Raising Sons Cheatsheets for Mom

It’s never too early to teach safety. And with something that shoots, please start today!

6 Hands-on Hobbies for Your Sons That Will Make Your Heart Race

1. Archery
2. Target Shooting
3. Knife Sharpening
4. Tomahawk Throwing
5. Knitting
6. Braiding hair

Wait. What?  

Boys Don’t knit! 

I bet when you think of knitting you think of a little old granny in her rocking chair.   But do you know who dominates the history of the art of knitting?  

Related:We are Knitters

Men. Macho men in fact.

Knitting is a perfect quiet activity during read-aloud time. Your Boys may need some convincing.   One story tells of some Arabian fishermen who were trying to catch fish but had no way to catch more than one fish at once. That is not a fun way to feed a family when there are no grocery stores!

One day, a fisherman was messing around with some yarn. He made a few loops and voila!

The fishing net was born.   The men tried the net in the water and caught a bunch of fish.   That’s right. Manly fishermen made a net out of yarn.  

Craft idea:Have boys make their own fishing nets!    

Soon, they tested other uses for the yarn and created something like a sweater. When these men traded with neighboring lands these sweaters were highly prized. They asked to be taught the craft of knitting.   During the Middle Ages knitting became even more popular and knitting guilds were formed. There was incredible job security in the knitting field. Teenage boys wanted to become apprentices and learn the trade. They would leave their homes to live with master knitters.   After many years, the boy would have to knit something incredibly complicated in order to “pass his test”.  

During World War I and II boys in school began knitting again.

The U.S. And British governments asked everyone to knit socks, bandages, helmet liners and mittens for their troops. Schools even held contests to inspire the young knitters.   A favorite contest for boys was, “Who can make the most noise with their knitting needles?”    

According to my friend, Emily,  at 3:30 knits, the Red Cross even handed out sock knitting machines to help the US ensure our soldiers had warm dry feet!!    

The sock machines came into many homes by way of the Red Cross who distributed the machines with a monthly allotment of yarn.  Everyone on the home-front was knitting and could not keep up with the army’s need for more dry socks, warm vests, muffs, and hats.  The machines greatly increased the ability for those state side to produce socks quickly.  In exchange for their monthly trade of knitting socks for more yarn, families were able to keep the machines after the war was over.

–3:30 Knits

Knitting can be a very rewarding hobby for boys, especially those Kinesthetic learners!

Casting on
Knit Stitch (He is so cute when he tells you WHY he knits!

Can Your Boys Knit? Maybe today’s the day they begin…

Braiding Hair

I stopped out of the car on a hot day and needed to braid my waist length hair, but my shoulder was acting up. I turned to my 20-year old and asked him to do it.

The color drained out of his face and he fumbled like someone who is fumbling. (creative, huh?)

oh, he tried. He had no idea how to part the hair, how hard to tug, or what to do.

I thought it was funny. But then it hit me.

I haven’t fully prepared him to be a great hands-on dad someday… I better get busy.

Things to teach sons before they move out. These skills will help them later in life:

• Shampoo & condition hair (properly rinse)

• Use detangler (for knotted hair or in between)

• What kind of comb to use

• Comb out wet hair

• Create a straight part

• Brush hair without tears

• Single ponytail- centered in back of head; not too tight, but tight enough to stay

• Double ponytails; even

• Simple bun

• Single braid

My boys panicked a bit, but are learning.

Archery

I looked out my window to watch my husband shooting bows and arrows with all five of our sons, while I stood there, arms folded on my imaginary white horse.

I was not going to shoot a bow.

And then I saw my future. If I didn’t pick up a bow and learn to shoot, I would be left behind by my person band of archers.

Archery is a fantastic sport. My first real taste came in the form of a 3-D Archery Tournament called the Chamberlain Shoot. It BLEW all my prejudices out the window with my pride.

My family strapped on quivers, threw in some arrows and grabbed our bows and proceeded to spend 2 days hiking through a beautiful ranch taking turns shooting at 3-dimensional targets: everything from the traditional deer, to a 5-foot tall mosquito.

The archers were wonderful, warm and welcoming.

Surprise!

Archery is actually a wonderful family activity.

What do we use to shoot?

• Traditional bows (mine’s a Hoyt and is by far the best bow in the house)
• Carbon Arrows (My husband and the boys also have learned to make their own)
• Finger tabs
• Arm guards- I’m double jointed, so this is a must for me.
• Quivers. I wear a hip quiver, the boys wear a cross over the shoulder type, and my husband loves his pocket quiver
• Targets

Target Shooting

My uncle was murdered when I was about 12 years old.

A HUGE turning point was visiting a friend’s house for dinner.

Safety is everything.

• Heart: if the boys were’ angry or frustrated they were required to step away
• Muzzle Safety: he taught the boys about where to “point” their gun from the time they held their first Nerf pistol
• Face: always off limits. As the boys graduated to paintballs and airsoft, masks were required

As the boys grew, my husband insisted that each of them take a hunter’s safety class. This is the moment I crossed over the line and fully embraced the whole shooting/hunting culture. Because I took the class to help my struggling reader make it through the material.

I never will stalk a deer or chase a mountain goat, but my life will never be the same after that class. It turns out that some of the most loving, compassionate and nature loving/animal protecting fanatics are hunters.

We used hunter safety as one of our homeschooling units and I now recommend this class for kids/teens.

Knife Sharpening

He’s standing in the kitchen sharpening my knives. Taught the skill of how to build an edge to a blade, my 16-year old son wanders into the kitchen and keeps my cooking knives nice and sharp.

It’s actually a family joke now.

“Isaac’s hungry”.

It never fails. Once he begins to get hungry he wanders into the kitchen and begins sharpening.

Our boys are 13-years and older. And they always carry a leatherman with a sharp blade. All I have to do is say, “Does anyone have a knife?” and suddenly 5 multi-tools will be held out to me.

Knife sharpening is a fun and useful hobby.

Again, my husband is the teacher of this handy skill. But each of the boys knows how to keep their knives sharp and is “judged” on the sharpness of his blade.

Homeschooled kids have the ability to carry their knives with them during the day, but we do teach them to be respectful when in public and the knives are NOT toys. If they misuse the tool it is immediately confiscated.

Tomahawk Throwing

Wooden stumps are no match for tomahawks.

My mommy brain short-circuited. “You want to do what?”

My husband grinned from ear to ear.

“I want to build a knife and tomahawk throwing target for the boys!”

I’ve learned that my husband KNOWS what the boys need to develop their manly manhood filled with all things man.

Bows, arrows, bb guns, skeet, mountain biking, sword fighting, kettlebell lifting, and yes, knife and tomahawk throwing are all a part of my sons’ lives.

Girls can absolutely enjoy these sports too. But my boys crave them.

• Archery
• Target Shooting
• Knife Sharpening
• Tomahawk Throwing
• Knitting

Which of the 5 Hands-on Hobbies have your kids tried?

Print this free homeschool mom reminder.

This post comes with a free printable reminder list to help keep your heart focused on the heart of homeschooling. I always have the hardest staying focused. This printable simplifies it!

Here is a sneak preview…

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