Hi, I'm just curious really. Other than the usual numbers, letters and book obsessions, how long did your child's first big obsession last? At 20 months old my son saw a book on space and had a strong interest in space from that point. It seems to have become quite an obsession. Is this common at all? It's coming up to 9 months now and I'm just curious as to how long this is likely to last? Thank you.
Depends. My kids tend to hold onto things for a long time. My eldest wore a superman cape daily from age 2 to 4. She was obsessed with flight, real life heroes, ect. That she finally let go of that. She self-studied Egyptians for from age 4 to 8. She fell in love with theatre at 3 and at 16 is considering a double major in history and theatre. Those will likely be like-long obsessions. My youngest had a thing for languages from the time he started talking about 2. He speaks 3 languages now and eager to start a 4th. He wanted to take tae kwon do at 4 and still goes religiously at 13 even though he's been a black belt for years. Oh, and he did a solid year in that same cape too but that obsessions hasn't passed. He doesn't wear the cape but he still has an obsession with comic books and graphic novels.
Some kids cycle through them. Some kids hold onto them.
What the PP said. Some obsessions are lifelong (so he could grow up to be an astronaut, astrophysicist,etc), some fade down but are still present as interests, and some pass entirely. As long as the obsession isn't harmful and your kid is still getting what he needs to do done- which is probably less important now, but as he gets older- I don't think it's a problem.
Space is a really good one to branch out and incorporate into learning, too. Math, physics, chemistry, history, culture (mythology related to planets/constellations in various cultures), English (if he gets into the science aspect- science demands a high level of reading and vocabulary- also, writing science fiction), biology if he's interested in the thought of life on other planets, creativity and fantasy, even Greek and Latin- all of those are relevant to learning about space. I'm not suggest it for now, just something to think about if the obsession continues as he gets older.
Depends. My kids tend to hold onto things for a long time. My eldest wore a superman cape daily from age 2 to 4. She was obsessed with flight, real life heroes, ect. That she finally let go of that. She self-studied Egyptians for from age 4 to 8. She fell in love with theatre at 3 and at 16 is considering a double major in history and theatre. Those will likely be like-long obsessions. My youngest had a thing for languages from the time he started talking about 2. He speaks 3 languages now and eager to start a 4th. He wanted to take tae kwon do at 4 and still goes religiously at 13 even though he's been a black belt for years. Oh, and he did a solid year in that same cape too but that obsessions hasn't passed. He doesn't wear the cape but he still has an obsession with comic books and graphic novels.
Some kids cycle through them. Some kids hold onto them.
What the PP said. Some obsessions are lifelong (so he could grow up to be an astronaut, astrophysicist,etc), some fade down but are still present as interests, and some pass entirely. As long as the obsession isn't harmful and your kid is still getting what he needs to do done- which is probably less important now, but as he gets older- I don't think it's a problem.
Space is a really good one to branch out and incorporate into learning, too. Math, physics, chemistry, history, culture (mythology related to planets/constellations in various cultures), English (if he gets into the science aspect- science demands a high level of reading and vocabulary- also, writing science fiction), biology if he's interested in the thought of life on other planets, creativity and fantasy, even Greek and Latin- all of those are relevant to learning about space. I'm not suggest it for now, just something to think about if the obsession continues as he gets older.
Thanks! It did cross my mind that something may come out of it, but I was mostly thinking that he's 2 years old and will most likely grow out of it. It doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon though. It doesn't usually get in the way of things, sometimes does, but that's not a big problem (he is becoming a little strong willed recently though, so it might be due to that). I do see some of those subjects already as well; chemicals that some space objects are made from, the mythology, loads of reading, drawings, different languages - from the names of different space objects and learning the names of them in different languages (watching foreign documentaries too, but I have no idea how much he's learning from that if at all). He has shown a good interest in other languages in the past (I didn't know that much in different languages to teach him though), so I'm sure that might be a good option for him. He doesn't seem at all interested in space fiction though, it's all facts.
My almost two and a half year old is obsessed with horses. I can't tell you when it first started, but it's been more than 6 months now. She carries horse toys with her everywhere - shopping, the bath tub, wants to eat with them, etc. She has books about horses and she wants us to read them over and over and over. She'll find tiny horses printed on a cereal boxes in the grocery store and demand to see them, etc. I don't know how she finds them everywhere. She'll make up stories and plots about her horses and will beg for you to tell her horse stories. He love for anything horse extends a little into unicorns and giraffes, but mainly just horses.
We have been feeding her obsession - giving her new books to read, toys, taking her for pony rides, etc. but in the back of our heads, we wonder if all this is really normal and okay.
I have no idea how long this will last. Thoughts or suggestions are welcomed for sure.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mothering Forum
16.5M posts
285.1K members
Since 1996
A forum community dedicated to all mothers and inclusive family living enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about nurturing, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!