Often, our favourite childhood hobbies give us an insight to the people we turned out to be as adults! We checked in on our favourite entrepreneurs to chat about what they loved as kids, and whether the children of today would try it themselves.
Would the kids of today try our favourite childhood pastimes? Whether it was running around with other kids in the neighbourhood or spending time indoors reading, our childhood hobbies look a lot different from the hobbies kids today enjoy! We reached out to our Launchpad community and got these entrepreneurs to look back on their childhood hobbies and share what they loved about them – plus, whether their own kids enjoy them today!
Reading beloved childhood classics
“As a child, I loved reading and devoured every Enid Blyton book in the library. Today, kids often consume knowledge through social media scrolling, missing out on the joy of transforming written words into creative mental pictures. I believe it’s essential to encourage reading for its imaginative benefits. By fostering a love for books, we can help our children develop well-rounded minds and a deeper appreciation for the beauty of the written word.”
– Louisa Lee, Managing Director of DP Dental
Playing ‘masak-masak’ in nature
“I used to play masak-masak (cooking) as a kid, and would go to the playground with scissors, red rubber bands (my ‘spices’) and find sticks and leaves to cook up a storm. My kids have wooden and felt food toys, and despite this, they pick fallen leaves, flowers, and sticks to bake a ‘cake’ and make ‘ice cream’ in the playground. I never showed them to play like this, so it’s interesting to see their innate creativity and curiosity come out this way! I hope they keep these values and skills as they grow up.”
– Angelica Handover, Co-founder of Opilot
Crafting & making gifts for friends and family
“I have always loved crafting and making gifts for friends and family, enjoying creative projects since I was young. This passion led me to combine teaching literacy with arts for young children. In our Creative Writing through Art programme, students learn to express themselves through visual arts while building confidence in verbal expression.”
– Eileen Tan Yi Ling, Founder & Educator of Spacing SG
Collecting art books & exploring art
“As a creative and passionate seasoned fashion designer, I have collected many artist books even before we had kids. I love the simplicity of a story line, and every book is a small documentary. I think it’s important for children to be exposed to beautiful examples of some struggles in life and overcoming them by staying true to themselves. Some examples are stories about: Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Chanel, Jackson Pollock. And also the board books by Little People Big Dreams are amazing because it’s literally a handful of sentences, yet you get to the root of what they do and stand/stood for.
I’ve always loved these fun facts about how important adding art to children’s life is:
1. When the arts and aesthetics are integrative into education, work, and life, we strengthen our capacity to learn.
2. Arts give children a means of expression when they don’t have words.
3. The arts offer measurable health benefits throughout your life. They provide meaning, beauty, and connection.”
– Biek Speijk, Artist, Wardrobe Curator and Founder of Biekaleidoscope
Thanks for sharing, fellow Launchies!