Model Hobbies by Peter Jay

Model hobbies are things that children or adults can do which can be educational and have a lasting impact. One model that I had when I was younger was the skeleton of a dinosaur. I had to put the skeleton together myself. I also had model cars and model airplanes. The model cars and planes were not self assembled though, we purchased them already completed. After building my dinosaur, I played with it like a regular toy, making it viciously attack and kill the other toys. Later my dinosaur skeleton sat on the book shelf in my bedroom for many years.

A model toy or build it yourself model kit can be both and exciting toy to play with, along with giving someone a sense of accomplishment. Everyone likes to build things, and when you are done your model hobby makes you feel like you have done something constructive. It makes you feel good to know that you have built something or created something. You have made a difference in the world. You are an inventor, a scientist, whatever you want to be.

There are many different types of models that you can build. I have seen model airplanes, model houses, model cars, model animals and dinosaurs, model helicopters, and model shuttles. Whatever you are interested in there is probably a model for it somewhere. If not, you could design your own model from scratch. That would be a good hobby too. Just get some wood and start carving, get some glue and start pasting everything together. Soon you will have your invention, and feel just like the people who first invented the products you are making a model of.

There are also radio control models that you can purchase at the store. Some of these you have to assemble yourself as well. I received a radio control model airplane for Christmas one year, and had to assemble it myself. It made me feel good to assemble it. I felt intelligent, like I was building my own plane or flying machine. I have had radio control cars that I did not have to assemble. Once, however, I did try to make my own changes to a radio control car. I had just recently seen the movie "Back to the Future," how the car hit the wire at 88 miles and hour when the lightning struck the tower and it sent the car traveling through time. I decided to try it with my radio control car. I plugged the antenna of my control into a plug socket, and drove my car toward the antenna, so that the antenna from the car would hit the controls antenna, just like in "Back to Future," the car's antenna hit the wire across the road. Well, my car did not travel through time. There was a little bit of a shock when the antennas touched, and then my radio control car never really worked the same again. It started doing weird things like turning in the wrong direction from where I was turning it. It was like it got a mind of its own. It became a little stubborn to, and sometimes would only go a little bit and then stop. Like Frankenstein, I made my car come to life with an electrical shock.

The point is that everyone should get a model hobby. It is completely natural and healthy for humans to experiment, try new things, and invent things. Satisfy your curiosity or your children's curiosity with things that are constructive and educational rather than satisfying your curiosity with things that might not be as helpful to one's long term health and happiness.

About the Author
Peter Jay is the Owner/President and CEO of Variety Access - Your online hobby store and more. For more information about hobbies, hobby products, or Variety Access, visit VarietyAccess.com.