Nerds come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Nerdy parents, like myself, are often blessed with equally nerdy children, but for the parents who may feel at a loss when it comes to the overall nerdiness of a child, there are some easy things you can do to connect.
1. Embrace their interests
Whether you’re a nerd yourself or not, your kid may have different nerdisms and embracing their interests is an important way in connecting with your child. I love Star Wars and my son loves nature and science based things like Wild Kratts and Paw Patrol. While these things are not inherently sci-fi or otherwise, connecting with him and recognizing his interests is incredibly important. Introducing him to Star Wars will come, since he’s such a young age the only way to go about engaging him in this respect is through toys, and lightsabers.
2. Take up combat lessons
If you’re kid is aging out of the toddler years look around town for combat lessons. The two (or three) of you could take up stage combat, fencing, karate, and in some cities even lightsaber fighting. For those in the Phoenix valley, you can go here for legit lightsaber lessons.
3. Help them find like-minded friends
Friendship is important in every child’s life. Attending school functions to identify who may be a good friend for your child, having normal playdates, and asking them about their friends at school is a super easy way to help the seed of friendship grow. Making new friends is even possible by attending events around the valley or your local area that are in relation to the interests of your child.
4. Go to Comicons together
This is one of my favorite activities. Comicons are great as they have something for everyone. Whether your nerdisms are the same or drastically different there are so many activities going on throughout these events and often have kid specific workshops and discussions your child may thoroughly enjoy.
5. Support their need to explore their personalities
As a nerd myself, my desire to explore the world around me has been a huge part of my personality since I was a young child, and I see it in my son now. Fueling their scientific passions with trips to museums, exploring your local area with hikes and trips to the park is a great weekend adventure.
6. Do a weekly science project together
If you’re little one is a science geek, purchase a cool science kit or book that can help you and your child put together science projects that adhere to their specific passions and interests. There are science projects out there for any kind of nerd! Check out Crystalandcomp.com for really cool Magic School Bus experiements.
7. Read Comic Books Together
Comic books have stood the test of time throughout the decades. Whether you read the comic books, collect them, or both, taking the time to visit your local comic book store will not only support the local economy, but could help bring in new friends in to both of your lives with a fun in-life encounter.
8. Use their fandom as teachable moments
Quoting your kids favorite shows, using the lessons learned, or using the characters as examples within your day-to-day lives is a great way to help them understand on their level what is asked of them or something that maybe needs to be understood. From learning to tie their shoes to resolving problems with friends, you can always help a child get the point of “do or do not, there is no try.”
What are some of your favorite ways to interact with your geeky child?
