It is Mrs ERJ's expert opinion that kids need to try strange foods 8 times before you can trust their opinion that they "hate" it.
Most kids are naturally cautious when confronted with experiences that are outside of what they have experienced in the past. Even if they saw the experience in a video it does not capture the sun, insects, smells, mud and slime.
Short, little bits
Consider introducing a child to Brussel's Sprouts.
You might cook them for one meal and only the "big people" eat them. You might even do that twice because the smell of cooking B.S. is distinctive.
Then you might put a half or a quarter of a "monkey-brain" on the child's plate after dipping it in butter or cheesy-sauce. Two points: Very low exposure and you sweetened the deal. The first time you might not even require Junior to taste the monkey-brain. The second time you might make dessert contingent on one bite.
And so on and so forth.
Introducing a child to fishing is the same sort of thing. Start them when the bluegills (bream) are spawning (that is, start then on a "sure thing"). Give them very simple equipment (cane poles with lines 1/2 to 3/4 as long as the pole) let them bring their bestie (friend) and outfit him/her as well. You keep the hooks baited and take the fish off the hooks. Keep all the fish to show Mom (you can freeze the little ones and use them to bait raccoon traps).
The first session you might only have a line in the water for five minutes. Then next time for ten minutes. The next time you might fish for ten minutes, take a short break for a snack and then fish for another ten minutes. Remember, a five-year-old's perspective of time is different than ours. Five minutes is nothing to you but (roughly) the equivalent of 30 minutes to a five-year-old.
Eventually, your student will want to put the bait on the hook. Eventually, after you coach them how to not get stabbed by the fins, they will want to take the fish off the hook (consider barbless hooks when they graduate to that point).
Any tips from my readers will be greatly appreciated.
I always bait the fishing hole with a tin of cat food with some punctures.
ReplyDeleteYou can drop a bare hook in there and get a strike.
Kids like Catching, Not Fishing at least at first.
Also watch for sunburn, keep plenty of kid friendly hydration and ice cream afterwards is GREAT.
Correction bait it a WEEK before the Kid's fishing party.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was teaching kids to fish, I used to fish alongside them and hand the rod to the nearest/littlest kid to fight the fish after I'd hooked one.
ReplyDeleteI'm also sort of ambidextrous and didn't realize I was using a fishing rod differently than someone that was right-handed until I spent a frustrating afternoon trying to teach my nephews how to use a spinning reel. It seems obvious, but figure out if you or your student might be the same way before you or they get frustrated trying to learn how a fishing rod.