There are many reasons that people will pick up a hobby but all of them circle around one thing, clearing your head from the day to day stress. Being Married for 15 or so years I’ve learned that I can have as many hobbies as I want unless they take away any time from my family. There is something about Dad especially a new dad slipping away playing video games while his wife is cleaning the kitchen. Therefore, below you will find my list of hobbies for dads that even mom will approve of.
What is a good hobby to pick up?
This is a hard question to answer because we are all interested in different things. Some of us love the outdoors while others can spend all day behind a computer. Reading is great for one person while another would rather see the movie.
I rank the list of hobbies for dads that even a mom will approve based on a few different drivers. The first like the title says is will this hobby bring your family closer or drive wedges in your relationship. The second is the cost, will your hobby break the bank or will it not really affect the family accounts. The third is can the hobby be passed on or extended to your kids.
If you are newly married or been married for years like me you learn quickly how to pick a fight with the old lady. You also learn how to….. manipulate is a bad word but how about you learn how to persuade things in your favor. If you haven’t learned these two truths in your marriage well maybe when you start your hobby you will.
Cheap Hobby is a Key for New Fathers
Let’s face it when you are just getting married and having your first child you are likely living on a tight budget. Going out and spending a few hundred dollars every week while the family is trying to pinch pennies to save up for school supplies won’t go over very well. On the other hand, if you are doing something that clears your mind and makes you ready to face the grind tomorrow while not costing the family it’s a win for everyone.
Reading as a Hobby
Before I go into why reading is important and the advantages of reading, let’s see if it passes our three drivers mentioned in the introduction on what is a good hobby to pick. Will this hobby break the bank, drive a wedge between you and the wife, and can it be passed down to your kids?
Depending on where you live the cost of reading great books can be as little as zero. Public Libraries have come a long way since I was a kid. Now with everything being on the internet, you can order just about any book you want and it will arrive at the library ready for you to read. The Library close to my house allows you to have 5 books checked out at a time and everyone including your kids can have their own library card.
The chances of anyone complaining that you read to much is very low. On the other hand, a lot of married couples will use what they read to expand the conversation. They will either just share what they found great about a book or in some cases both husband and wife will read the same book. Then after or during talk about what’s going on and what they think about it. This makes reading a good hobby to bring you closer to your significant other. If you are reading things the other is not interested in….. well talk to her anyway.
I read about this on Google so we know it’s 100% true. It is said that if a parent reads, they are more likely to read to their children at a young age and therefore the kids are more likely to pick up and enjoy reading at a young age. I am not sure how true it is because my son was read to from zero to age 18 and he still hates to read. So I will assume he was put here to balance the scales.
Chess Champion at Home
I remember as a young teen or preteen playing chess with my father. He worked on the railroad so his hours were all over the place and you never knew when you would see him. On the rare occasion that he would come home before I went to bed, he liked to relax with his beer and play a game of chess. I forgot about this until my little girl saw a show and asked me if I knew how to play chess. After I had my little flashback and enjoyed the memory of time spent with my father I went to the store and bought a chessboard. I am not sure what it cost but I remember it being under $20. Every night for a few weeks my daughter and I played chess. Now when we have time and are not distracted the chess board comes out and we will play a game or two.
Chess is cheap and can be shared with your kids. Now with apps on the phone, you can play chess with people across the world and the apps will match you up to players of your skill level. The only warning I will put here is don’t get too wrapped up in your phone and not pay attention to what’s around you, playing with your children can be a great bonding experience.
Writing Blogs Books or Gibberish
There are tons of forms of writing you can get into as a hobby. You can work on the novel or short story you always wanted to write, put out a daily blog on whatever your favorite interest is, or keep a notebook of poetry. It doesn’t matter what you are writing about it is a cheap hobby that will allow you to clear your mind and release stress through a pen.
This is one of my favorite hobbies right now for dad because it’s something I have been doing daily. I used to read every night or try to learn how to code or build an online business, but now I write blogs. It’s a very strange hobby for me because I am not a good writer. What I do enjoy is trying to start businesses from home so I can bring inside money for my family and I enjoy marketing. So creating a blog has been a great hobby for me. It will be a lot better when I make a few dimes off of it so the wife doesn’t give me the look that I am just sitting on the couch. Until then I at least have a hobby that helps clear my mind and makes me feel like I’m building something that will help my family in the future.
If you love to write there are tons of ways that you can enjoy it and make a side hustle out of it. You could develop a social media following or write for hire. You can even just write a journal and one day your kids will read it when you are gone and get to know you on a deeper level. The key to this hobby is to start writing. Once you start and get in the habit it will become a great hobby. If you are interested in writing social media you can read my blog post HERE. I will be writing a blog post on how to write for hire through an online platform I am reviewing, and I will link it HERE once it is complete.
Learn Graphic Design and Coding
If you ever wanted to learn how to program or do graphic design as a hobby, now is the time to learn. There are so many resources you can go a find to get started. Either by using websites like udemy.com or even just looking up tutorials on Youtube. The hardest part about learning to code now is picking which type of programming language you want to learn.
If you are wanting to make Video games then you should find tutorials and classes on Unity and C# programing. On the other hand, if you are looking at how to automate your day to day task or scrape the web the Python is your programing language of choice. If you are a tech person then this makes one of the top hobbies for dads.
One easy way to make this a cheap hobby is to watch for Udemy to put classes on sale. You can grab a full programming class for $10.00 when they are on discount. The issue you need to watch out for is don’t buy more than you can accomplish. I currently have about 20 classes (I am guessing) and I have finished none of them 100%. I have done a fair amount past the 50% mark but then I jump to the next one. If you are going into this hobby be ready to commit to one class at a time. Go through it all and then move on. Don’t buy everything because it looks interesting and one day you may want to learn it. That’s a good way to have the old lady giving you that look.
As far as if this is something you can pass to your kids question. Out of my four kids well let’s say three teenage kids only one is interested in technology to the point that this hobby can be passed down. The only issue we have is that she is more interested in graphic design than she is in the programming part. It works out in the end because she pushed me to learn graphics and I push her to learn programming.
Free Fantasy Sports Leagues
This is one hobby that wives either don’t mind or hate. I am not sure why but I have had many friends whose wives hate fantasy football. So I guess you have to make sure you don’t let this one affect your home life by keeping it balanced. This is a very good hobby for the cost. You can join multiple leagues on the multiple apps and websites available. Most of them offer leagues you can join even if you don’t know anyone else doing it. So finding people to enjoy this hobby with is easy. You can spend some serious hours on this if you get into it or it can be a few clicks a day on your phone. All in all, it’s fun to be the manager of your own drafted team. Then to see how they do each week in the real games.
Advice from a big Fantasy football loser, don’t pick too many players from your own hometown team. I love the players on the Saints but if I pick them up on my team they will have a hard time. So don’t Jinx your own team. The other thing I find is it messes with my enjoyment of the real game. Most times it’s an improvement because I am watching how good all of my players are doing along with my home team’s score. Sometimes though its hard when I am yelling for my team to win but for them to let the other teams QB do great as well….just lose. Have fun with this one, and if your wife is also a fan then it can be great fun. A Family league could be a good time as well. I have a friend whose family has been playing in a league for many years and it gives them something to keep connected throughout the seasons.
Great Hobbies for Families
The best hobbies for dads will include the family. If you can find something that the entire family gets behind and looks forward to it can be very fulfilling as a father. I could have made this list very long because I try to do as many hobbies as I can with my family but I have limited it to three because they are low cost hobby options.
Geocaching
If you have never heard of geocaching the simplest way to describe it is a game of hide and seek or hidden tressure on a global scale. Basically, you use a GPS to find the location of something another person or group has stashed. There is an app you can download on your phone which gives you the locations of these items. You then go on hikes and adventures to find them. In the Geocache the owner will leave age appropriate things, small toys, puzzles, trading cards etc. This is what makes it fun for the family. This is an activity you can add to your vacation as a low cost activity that everyone will love. Once you have done it for a while you can also set up your own Geocache and let people find it.
Coaching your Childs Team
When people first see this one they think, I don’t know how to coach. That’s how I felt when my daughter came home sad because she was told the volleyball team may not get to play this year. I asked her why and it was because no one volunteered to coach. So of course I said I used to play volleyball how hard could it be to coach 10 year olds on how to play. So I volunteered and it ended up being one of the great things I will cherish from my little girl’s childhood. I had to do a lot of reading and YouTube to learn how to coach but in the end, it was a great experience. We had one of the worst teams at first and ended up making it to one game out of the championship. I remember all the little girls cried when we lost the last game and I almost did with them. They came so far in such a short time I was very glad for them.
On a side note I have two daughters who started on the team. On day 2 of practice, one of them got hit in the nose by the volleyball and quit on me. So it was a very strange situation being the coach and the father of a kid who was quitting. Usually, my stance is always you can try whatever activity you want but once you sign up you are going to finish. I don’t want them to grow up quitting everything and letting their team or commitments down. In this situation, I couldn’t force my kid to play for her evil coach. It was strange and we still joke about it now.
Camping
This is by far my favorite on this entire list of hobbies for dads. We have gone camping at least once per year for the past 10 years. The reason I love it is because it gives you a chance to get the family out of the house, away from their phones and all there hanging out together. In a few months, we will bring my three year old for the first time. I will have to update this on how it goes. She loves to be outside so I am sure she will be great.
As for cost, this one isn’t free to get started. You will need to get a tent, some sleeping bags, and a few other essentials to get started. Every year it seems we have added a new item to our camping list so now we have just about everything you can imagine to make camping fun for everyone. The last thing we added for this year’s trip is a game called Kubb. Check it out Here. If you buy It thanks for supporting our page and affiliate link. This game is by far our favorite thing we have added so far after the blowup beds. Make sure you get the regulation size though because the other set is really small.
Perfect Indoor Hobbies
Cooking and Grilling (I know the grill is outside)
I put grilling and cooking in the same category even though I know grilling should be on the list of outside hobbies. This hobby is by far my wife’s favorite one on my list. She makes a request at least once a week for me to pursue this hobby and grill something up for the family. I don’t mind I get to play with fire and make food while drinking a non-soda beverage. In the end, I get to eat meat off of a grill. So all in all it is a great hobby but does cost a little to get started. You can get a cheap grill when you first start and then move up from there. I seem to buy a new grill or new outdoor cooking device every few years. Either they just rust away or get worn out from use. If you can afford it I recommend getting a very good grill and keeping it out of the weather…. even though I still miss my old charcoal round grill I bought for like $40 bucks. Once you get going I recommend also getting a great thermometer which will help you look like a grill master and stop telling your kids that is just how hamburgers come off the grill 😊
Guitar
If you are like me the idea of being able to play a guitar or drums has seemed great but the actual doing it has been hard to grasp. Well, this is a good hobby as it will help you clear your brain and relax. Once you get past the first week and your fingers stop feeling like they are about to split open or just plain hurting. Then you can start learning how to play. Now with Youtube and Xbox games that teach you, it is more available to you than it ever was before. The cost can be reduced by going grab a second hand guitar from a pawn shop and then it is just on you to learn. This is one that can be passed down to your kids and if they see you playing it’s likely they will want to learn as well. As for the wife she will like it a lot more if you balance your time and don’t go buy the $2,000 dollar guitar right out of the gate.
Electronic Models robots
Growing up robots were like this future based concept or the things that put cars together. If someone would have said something about drones, I would have had no clue what they were talking about. There were movies out with a robot talking to the people based 20 years from the timeframe, but it wasn’t something you could do at home. Fast forward to now and wow have times changed. You can build robots very cheaply from things in your home. I remember getting a book a few years ago and building three different robots with my daughter. Now we have moved up to Lego Mindstorms which takes the easiness of Legos and gives you the ability to program it to do so many things. It’s a very good system to learn robotics with your kids. I hope you try it and see how fun building robots can be.
Fun Hobbies for Outdoors
Fishing
There is nothing else on the list I can think of that can relax you as well as sitting there with a pole waiting for a fish to bite. Ok maybe that’s not true but for some people, fishing is one of the greatest pastimes there is. I can remember as a kid my dad would get home at 3pm sometimes and have his boat ready to go. We would jump in and go fishing for a few hours before it got dark on us. At the time I think he was on a black bass mission to beat his friend on who got the biggest fish. I don’t know if he ever won but for him, fishing should be on the top of the best hobbies for dads list.
Cost can be as little as a license and a low cost fishing pole but can go up drastically as you get into it. A boat, a truck and everything to upkeep it starts to cost. The good thing is if you have a spot to fish off of the bank you can slowly add items to your fishing hobby. This plus by you grilling fish for the family it should keep it as a good hobby in your wife’s eyes as well. Hopefully, your kids will be interested, and you can pass this one down to them.
Gardening and Landscaping
Landscaping is by far my wife’s favorite hobby that she wished I was into. It would be very low on my best hobbies for dads list. Not because I don’t think it is a great hobby just because I have a lawn care business as one of my side hustles and when I get home it’s nothing something I want to do for relaxation. For the people who do love being outside and working on landscaping, it is a great hobby that will make your wife happy. The cost can get expensive depending on what you want to do but just like everything else add a little bit at a time.
Gardening on the other hand I can understand the appeal. You plant stuff and then you get to eat it. I remember as a kid when I realized under the leaves were baby carrots……well my dad never got many carrots full grown out of his garden. In order to make this a cheaper hobby, you can now buy above ground kits to build a small garden. Add some soil and some seeds and in a matter of weeks, you will have something. For a family, this can be a fun hobby just picking the food and seeing it grow from start to finish. Getting them to weed the garden well that’s a little harder.
Riding a Bike for Health and Hobby
Health is obviously something you should be focused on but it’s hard to fit it into your normal routine. It feels like work and you feel like you worked hard enough today. When you go into my garage you will see 5 bikes hanging on the wall. This shows how biking can be a great family hobby. I guess it would have sounded better if I said 5 bikes on the floor ready to ride. We go through spurts on this hobby depending on the weather.
The one thing I will say about this hobby that is a need, a good seat. If you don’t get a good seat you will pay for it in places you won’t want to pay for it. Even with a good seat, it may take you a little while to get your body used to the ride but without a good seat well it’s not good. Spend a few bucks and replace the factory seat, you won’t regret it.
Conclusion
As dads, your time sometimes feels like it isn’t controlled by you. So many people are pulling you to help them or deal with issues it gets hard to clear your mind. Instead of getting stressed find a hobby. Work out the time frame with your wife so there are not issues and do something to find peace. On this list of best hobbies for dads, I have tried to put together a good list that will fit into your life. When your family supports your hobby and your hobby includes your family it makes everyone happy. Whatever you pick make sure it is helping you be a better father and husband, not something that just takes you away from them. It makes it better for everyone.
