If you’re over your 50s, you’re at a unique point in life where you’re still fairly young, but you’ve experienced a respectable amount of life, too.
As a result, you might find yourself looking for new things to enhance your life and satisfy your restlessness and curiosity, or to beat depression or boredom back!
Hobbies can fill your days and even become the lifelong passions you’re looking for.
To help you out, here are some classic hobbies for older adults, as well as some fairly unique ones you may not have thought of, below!
1. Brew Your Own Beer
If you’re looking to acquire a new hobby, you can always try brewing your own beer. This is ideal if you’re a frequent beer drinker.
You might enjoy learning more about the technique, as well as the freedom to customize the flavor (especially as you improve your skill). It’s also always fun to serve friends your own homemade brew!
2. Make Homemade Jam and Jelly
You probably already have a garden, right? If not, it’s pretty simple to set up a modest little plot.
Once you’ve got a little harvest of berries (strawberries grow especially fast), you can use a bit of sugar and pectin to turn them into fresh, extra-flavorful homemade jam or jelly.
If your garden is not quite ripe, some store-bought fruit will also do the trick!
3. Set up Your Own Bird Feeder
Have you ever paid attention to the birds around you? At the least, you’re sure to have spotted the occasional pigeon or sparrow. There are actually a far greater number of birds around than you may realize – and all that you need to catch a glimpse of them is your own bird feeder!
With one of these handy contraptions, you can catch sight of scarlet cardinals, canary-yellow Lesser Goldfinches, red-capped Cassin’s Finches… even a Lazuli Bunting (which is an iridescent, light blue color), with a bit of luck!
Make sure to place your bird feeder in a tree, where it’s obscured from view from any hawks or ravens above any cats below.
To prevent bird diseases, clean your feeder with dish soap and bleach at least once a week!
You’ll also want to replace the seeds if they get wet, or they could become moldy. Anyone can run a successful, busy bird feeder – all you need is a little know-how!
4. Make Custom Jewelry
There are a few ways that you can go about making your own jewelry. You can 1) sculpt beads out of clay, 2) purchase beads to string in the designs of your choice, or 3) solder precious metals.
All of these can prove very enjoyable, and you can try to sell your best pieces or keep them to wear!
Learn how to make Jewelry at home here
5. Become the Family Soap Maker
Soap at the store is often full of harsh ingredients and chemicals. These aren’t great for anyone’s skin, and some with skin sensitivity may even have a reaction to it (such as a rash).
For those looking for something better, homemade soap is a lifesaver!
This will eliminate the hassle of having the check the soap for ingredients – you’ll know already because you added them yourself. Cold-pressed soap, for example, is made of skin-loving oils like shea butter, avocado butter, and palm oil.
You’ll also need molds, lye, and your choice of fragrance and color!
6. Learn How to Sculpt
Many folks these days are learning about the joys of becoming a sculptor. There are so many clays out there, and many online courses that make learning easy.
This makes it one of the more popular hobbies for older adults, and worth a look.
With polymer clay, you can create jewelry, miniature food, dolls (fairies, Santa Clause), animals, and other fun stuff. All that you’ll need is an oven, and your creations will cook and harden after about 10-15 minutes at 275 F.
7. Become a Knowledgeable Forager
Almost anyone can become a forager. All that you need is a promising spot to forage, and the proper know-how.
For example, it’s key to know which plants are plentiful enough to pick, and which are endangered.
It’s also important to know which plants are poisonous lookalikes to edible ones, and what distinguishes those that are truly edible (the number of prongs on the leaves of a plant, for example. or whether a mushroom has fins or not).
Finally, you’ll want to guard yourself against ticks with bug spray or long sleeves.
Pick no more than ⅓ of what you find in any one area, so there’s food for the wildlife leftover!
8. Play a Video Game (If You Haven’t Yet)
Arguably, there’s a video game for everyone, whatever their age or gender! There are games where you can explore other planets and life, or where you can serve as a medieval warrior.
Or, perhaps you’d simply like to explore the wilds and harvest plants for alchemy. There are even puzzle games, racing games, farming games, you name it.
All that you need is a little practice, and you can find yourself entertained by little, virtual worlds where you’re (mostly) in control!
More game related hobbies here
9. Read a Book or Listen to an Audiobook
As with video games, there is arguably a book for anyone.
If you’re not a big reader, audiobooks are a great way to listen to a story while doing something else, like tidying, drawing, or playing with a pet.
Books and audiobooks can take you out of the mundane day-to-day and allow you to escape into another life; much like a TV show, only it’s supposed to be healthier!
Even better… Book restoration. This is a great hobby for people with lots of time on their hands.
10. Learn How to Serve Tea in a Ceremony
Do you enjoy a good cup of tea? If not, maybe you should try some of the quality stuff. It’s far and away better than the herbal tinctures that you get at the store here in the West.
It’s all in the aging and the attention to quality. Historically, true tea is aged and carefully picked and blended to create something of wonder!
Just purchase some rice or tea bowls, and, if you’d like to take it a step further, find some simple, peaceful tea ceremonies to follow!
11. Get Some Houseplants to Care For
Houseplants are underrated little friends that can bring a special warmth and life to your home. Not only that, but they’re a beautiful, all-natural form of decor!
Many of us have tried a houseplant or two, only to have them die and then despair. Fortunately, the internet is chock-full of plant care tips as far as sunlight, soil, pH, temperature, humidity, pruning, and water.
These can be immensely helpful in your indoor gardening endeavor!
12. Make Custom Candles Yourself
Do you enjoy candles? There’s something very pleasant about their fragrances and cozy glow!
You can actually make candles at home pretty easily, and it’s a rewarding hobby.
All that you need is a base (such as paraben wax, soy, coconut oil, or a mix), a fragrance, a mold, and a wick!
Read our complete guide to candle-making here.
13. Invest in a Koi Pond or Tank
Taking care of koi fish is a surprisingly fun little hobby, and all it requires is a bit of initial investment and work. First off, you’ll need a suitable, air-filtered pond or tank.
Next, you’ll need some koi fish! These fish come in just beautiful colors, resembling precious stones with their hues of pearl, bronze, snow-white, and black.
They are usually marbled in color, and their movements are peaceful and graceful.
Koi fish are often considered living decorations and they are also quite friendly and intelligent (for fish).
Koi will get excited and splashy around feeding time, and may come to say hi whenever!
14. Watch Your Caterpillars Turn into Butterflies With a Butterfly Kit
This can be a wonderful hobby if it’s the right time of year! Butterflies require a warm environment to hatch into, say, 60+ F. This is usually around March-April (in Northern Climes, anyway).
If you live somewhere more temperature, you may have more leeway.
Anyway, all that you need to hatch butterflies is your own butterfly kit. Make sure to get one with solid reviews, and that it arrives in warm weather!
A solid kit should come with a net, food, and a few caterpillars, and you can sadly usually expect 1 or 2 not to make it.
When cared for as directed, the others should transform into lovely butterflies, however!
Final Thoughts
So, what do you think? Do any of these hobbies for older adults pique your interest? Feel free to let us know.
It could be a sign that it’s a good one to try.
You may be surprised how much a good hobby can improve your overall life and wellbeing, and we certainly wish you the best of luck!
