List of Hobbies

Archive for the ‘Outdoor Observation’ Category

Having a picnic is a great hobby. It is relaxing and it is a great way to socialize with your friends or hang out with your family. A picnic can be anything from a sandwich in the yard or park to a big feast planned for months in advance with tons of guests involved. Instead of just hanging out with your friends, you can invite them to a picnic spot. Each person can bring one thing to share. A picnic is best on a sunny day but even on a rainy day, there are places that you can stay dry while having fun with your friends.

Themed picnics

You can make your picnics more fun by adding a theme to each picnic you organize. You can have a Halloween picnic where there are Halloween themed plates and decoration. You can have ghoulish snacks and food too. Different themes make things more interesting and keep people interested and entertained so they will keep coming back to your picnics.

Grilling Out

People usually love outdoor cooking at a picnic. When there is outdoor cooking involved, more planning is needed and you want to invite as many people as you can so that it is worth the time and efforts it take to grill out.

Is there a pond around where you live? There are many things you can study there. Lots of people are fascinated by different creatures that they can find in a natural pond. In Spring, it is a great time to visit a pond because plants are flowering and small creatures are hatching. There are many interesting things that live in water but be careful though, some of them may be dangerous. Pond watching is a great hobby for children learning who are often fascinated by different creatures.

Taking Samples

At some ponds, you can take samples of the pond water for scientific analysis. You can also take a clean glass jar and put what you find in it to study. It is best to put plants of animals back into the pond when you are done looking though or you can kill them. A magnifying glass and a binocular can also come in handy if you are going to spend some time at the location. While you are at the pond, look for birds that may be around trying to catch fish from the pond (if there is any!)

Newts

Most people find newts at ponds. These creatures look like small lizards but they can be very small and they are not scaly.

Tadpoles

Tadpoles are also common in Spring. Early in the spring time, frogs lay eggs called frogspawn in ponds. They become tadpoles. Each time you go back to the pond, you can try to see how the tadpoles have changed. After about 12-13 weeks, the tadpoles would have turned into tiny frogs.

The book below is called Pond Life and it is a great read and reference book for anyone looking to do pond watching.

Pond Life: Revised and Updated (A Golden Guide from St. Martin’s Press)

Weather watching is a hobby and it is a challenging one for people who take it seriously. The weather can change quickly without warning. It is a challenge to spot the weather pattern and accurately predict what the weather will be like in the future.  Weather forecasters and Meteorologists use many scientific instruments to help them predict future weather patterns. If you just want to do weather watching as a hobby, there is no need to spend a lot of money on these advance and complex equipment. You can just watch the weather and learn to recognize signs. You can get some basic, low cost equipment if you choose to. With experience, you will learn to look for evidence and signs that will help you forecast the weather.

Wind Speed

The speed of the wind can be a give away of what the weather will be like. You can learn to notice cloud movement as well as other signs around you and equate them to a certain range of wind speed. For example, small waves on lakes and small trees swaying often mean the wind speed is about 19-24 mph. Although, you will not know the wind speed exactly, you will know enough to predict the weather pattern. After all, even Meteorologists with their fancy equipment often make incorrect forecasts.

Cloud Spotting

Clouds are made up of tiny drops of water. Their shapes are constantly changing. If you keep watching them, you will learn to notice the relationship between cloud patterns and the weather. For example, large, fluffy, white cumulus clouds usually indicate fine, sunny days. It is fun to be able to tell what the weather is like or is going to be like by just looking at the clouds. You will not always get it right but you may get it right most of the time.

Weather Watching Book

Here is a good book that provides you with all you need to know to follow the weather.  This user-friendly, authoritative resource includes full-color photographs, easy-to-follow guidance, and diagrams showing you everything you need to follow the weather. As our climate continues to change, more than ever before we need to understand how extreme weather affects the world around us. This practical introductory guide offers all the know-how you need.

Weather Watching (Collins Discover)

Skywatching is fun especially on a clear night when you can see many things in the sky. Without a telescope, you can still see many stars and recognize the patterns they form. You can use a star chart to guide you. Since the Earth is always moving around the Sun, you will see different constellations from month to month. Constellations can be recognized by the lines joining the stars. You may even see a meteor or a shooting star on a good day!

Popular constellations include the:

• Pegasus
• Andromeda
• Cassiopeia, and
• Perseus

Andromeda is a constellation in the northern sky. It is named after Andromeda, the princess of a mythological kingdom Ethiopia in Greek mythology.

Pegasus is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the winged horse Pegasus in Greek mythology. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations.

Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky. In Greek mythology it was considered to represent the vain queen Cassiopeia, who boasted about her unrivaled beauty. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. Cassiopeia is easily recognizable due to its distinctive ‘W’ shape formed by five bright stars.

Using Telescopes or Binoculars

Skywatching is much more fun if you have great equipment to help you see very far away objects. Astronomers use telescopes to see distant stars. You can get cheap telescopes or binoculars but they will not be as powerful as expensive ones. They are still fun to use though. Skywatching can be a very good, educational, yet cheap hobby.

Here is a book that will help you with skywatching even if you do not have a telescope or if you have just a cheap, not-so-powerful telescope.

The Backyard Stargazer: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Skywatching With and Without a Telescope

If you love festivals, carnivals, craft fairs, etc, then you might want to consider going to festivals or special events a hobby. Many festivals have parades, contests, and firework displays so they can be really fun to go to and enjoy with friends or family. Some people love festivals and they are always looking for something to do on weekends. However, they feel like there are never anything on that they could go to. You would be surprised at how many thing are going on in your city each week. There are usually many festivals going on but sometimes they are not well advertised so you might not find information on them.

Where to find festivals?

In your city, there should be event calendars that you can check out. Your city website should have a list of big festivals that are organized by the city or nearby cities. Your local chamber of commerce should also have community event calendar separate from the chamber calendar that should have a list of events for the community. If you do not want to browse event calendar, you can call you city up and they should be able to tell you when the big events are or where to get information for them. The good news is that most festivals, city and community events are free. Most of them are also tailored for the entire family so they will have activities for kids and something for moms and dads too.