A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. Leisure or free time, is a period of Time spent out of work and essential domestic Activity. Recreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's Body or Mind.

Origin of term

A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse (which was sometimes called a "Hobby"). A hobby horse (or hobby-horse) is a child's Toy Horse, particularly popular during the days before cars Wicker is hard woven Fiber formed into a useful object Wicker is usually used for Baskets or Furniture. Horses in the Middle Ages differed in size build and breed to the modern Horse, and From this came the expression "to ride one's hobby-horse", meaning "to follow a favourite pastime", and in turn, hobby in the modern sense of recreation. ^[1]

Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. The Hobby of collecting includes seeking locating acquiring organizing cataloging displaying storing and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector Sport is an Activity that is governed by a set of rules or Customs and often engaged in competitively Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim.

What are hobbies for some people are professions for others: a chef may enjoy cooking as a hobby, while a professional game tester might enjoy playing (and helping to debug) computer games. A chef is a person who cooks professionally In a professional kitchen setting the term is used only for the one person in charge of everyone else in the kitchen the executive Cooking is the process of preparing Food by applying Heat, selecting measuring and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure for producing safe and edible A game tester analyzes Video games to document software defects as part of a Quality control process in Video game development. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun, not remuneration, is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional. An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit study or science without formal training or pay This article is about people called professionals For the Movie, see The Professional or Leon.

An important determinant of what is considered a hobby, as distinct from a profession (beyond the lack of remuneration), is probably how easy it is to make a living at the activity. The term profession is applied to those persons who have specialized and technical skill or knowledge which they apply for a fee to certain tasks that ordinary and unqualified people cannot Almost no one can make a living at cigarette card or stamp collecting, but many people find it enjoyable; so it is commonly regarded as a hobby. Cigarette cards are Trade cards issued by Tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands.

Amateur astronomers often make meaningful contributions to the professionals. Amateur astronomy, a subset of Astronomy, is a Hobby whose participants enjoy studying and observing celestial objects It is not entirely uncommon for a hobbyist to be the first to discover a celestial body or event. s are significant physical entities, associations or structures which current Science has confirmed to exist in Space. A celestial event is an astronomical phenomenon of interest that involves one or more astronomical bodies.

In the UK, the pejorative noun anorak (similar to the Japanese "otaku", meaning a geek or enthusiast) is often applied to people who obsessively pursue a particular hobby that is considered boring, such as train spotting or stamp collecting. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In British Slang an anorak is a person typically a man who has unfathomable interest in arcane detailed information regarded as boring by the rest of the population is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests particularly Anime, Manga, and Video games.

Development of hobbies into other ventures

Whilst some hobbies strike many people as trivial or boring, hobbyists have found something compelling and entertaining about them (see geek). The word geek is a Slang term noting individuals as "a peculiar or otherwise odd person especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things Much early scientific research was, in effect, a hobby of the wealthy; more recently, Linux began as a student's hobby. Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks A hobby may not be as trivial as it appears at a time when it has relatively few followers. Thus a British conservationist recalls that when seen wearing field glasses at a London station in the 1930s he was asked if he was going to the (horse) races. The conservation movement also known as nature conservation is a political social and to some extent scientific movement that seeks to protect natural resources including The anecdote indicates that at the time an interest in nature was not widely perceived as a credible hobby. Practitioners of that hobby went on to become the germs of the conservation movement that flourished in Britain from 1965 onwards and became a global political movement within a generation. The conservation movement also known as nature conservation is a political social and to some extent scientific movement that seeks to protect natural resources including Conversely, the hobby of aircraft spotting probably originated as part of a serious activity designed to detect arriving waves of enemy aircraft entering English airspace during World War II. Aircraft spotting or Plane spotting is the observation and logging registration numbers of Aircraft: Gliders powered aircraft large balloons World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including In peacetime it clearly has no such practical or social purpose.

Types of hobbies

Collecting

Main article: Collecting

The hobby of collecting consists of acquiring specific items based on a particular interest of the collector. The Hobby of collecting includes seeking locating acquiring organizing cataloging displaying storing and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector These collections of things are often highly organized, carefully cataloged, and attractively displayed. Since collecting depends on the interests of the individual collector, it may deal with almost any subject. The depth and breadth of the collection may also vary. Some collectors choose to focus on a specific subtopic within their area of general interest: for example, 19th Century postage stamps, milk bottle labels from Sussex, or Mongolian harnesses and tack. A postage stamp is an adhesive paper evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Others prefer to keep a more general collection, accumulating Star Trek merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world. Some collections are capable of being completed, at least to the extent of owning one sample of each possible item in the collection (e. g. a copy of every book by Agatha Christie). A Book is a set or collection of written printed illustrated or blank sheets made of Paper, Parchment, or other material usually fastened together Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English Collectors who specifically try to assemble complete collections in this way are sometimes called "completists. " Upon completing a particular collection, they may stop collecting, expand the collection to include related items, or begin an entirely new collection. The most popular fields in collecting have specialized commercial dealers that trade in the items being collected, as well as related accessories. Many of these dealers started as collectors themselves, then turned their hobby into a profession. There are some limitations on collecting, however. Someone who has the financial means to collect stamps might not be able to collect sports-cars, for example. A sports car is a term used to describe a class of Automobile. One alternative to collecting physical objects is collecting experiences of a particular kind. Examples include collecting through observation or photography (especially popular for transportation, e. Photography (fә'tɒgrәfi or fә'tɑːgrәfi (from Greek φωτο and γραφία is the process and Art of recording pictures by means of capturing g. train spotting, aircraft spotting, metrophiles, bus spotting; see also I-Spy), bird-watching, and systematically visiting continents, countries, states, national parks, counties etc. A railfan or rail buff ( American English) railway enthusiast or railway buff ( Australian / British English) or (often Aircraft spotting or Plane spotting is the observation and logging registration numbers of Aircraft: Gliders powered aircraft large balloons A railfan or rail buff ( American English) railway enthusiast or railway buff ( Australian / British English) or (often Bus spotting is a pastime in which one seeks to see all Buses in a particular fleet or those produced by a particular manufacturer The I-SPY books are spotter's guides written for British children and particularly successful in the 1950s and 1960s Birdwatching or birding is the observation and study of Birds with the naked eye or through a visual enhancement device like Binoculars. County collecting is keeping track of the counties and other major Census divisions one has visited in the United States.

Games

Card game, 1895. A card game is any Game using Playing cards either traditional or game-specific Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year

A game is a structured or semi-structured recreational activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment (although sometimes for physical or vocational training). A game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for Enjoyment and sometimes also used as an Educational tool Happiness is an Emotion associated with feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to Bliss and intense Joy. The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge skills and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge A goal that the players try to reach and a set of rules concerning what the players can or cannot do create the challenge and structure in a game, and are thus central to its definition. A player of a Game is a participant therein The term 'player' is used with this same meaning both in Game theory and in ordinary recreational Games Structure is a fundamental and sometimes Intangible notion covering the Recognition, Observation, nature, and Stability of Known to have been played as far back as prehistoric times, games are generally distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration. Stone Age Paleolithic See also Paleolithic, Recent African Origin, Early Homo sapiens, Early human migrations "Paleolithic" Manual labour (or manual labor) is physical work done with the hands especially in an unskilled job such as fruit and vegetable picking road building or any Because a wide variety of activities are enjoyable, numerous types of games have developed. What creates an enjoyable game varies from one individual to the next. Age, understanding (of the game), intelligence level, and (to some extent) personality are factors that determine what games a person enjoys. Depending on these factors, people vary the number and complexity of objectives, rules, challenges, and participants to increase their enjoyment. Games generally involve mental and/or physical stimulation. For this reason, they are beneficial after a large meal or a long and tedious task, but counterproductive if played immediately before sleeping. Sleep is a Natural state of bodily rest observed throughout the animal kingdom Many games help develop practical skills and serve as exercise or perform an educational, simulational or psychological role & also roaming. A skill is the learned capacity or talent to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time energy or both. Education encompasses both the Teaching and Learning of Knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency Simulation is the imitation of some real thing state of affairs or process Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and

Outdoor recreation

Outdoor pursuits can be loosely considered to be the group of sports and activities which are dependent on the great outdoors, incorporating such things as hill walking, trekking, canoeing, kayaking, climbing, caving, and arguably broader groups such as watersports and snowsport. Outdoor activities usually mean activities done in nature away from civilization such as Hill walking, Trekking, Canoeing, Running Sport is an Activity that is governed by a set of rules or Customs and often engaged in competitively In Philosophy, action has developed into a sub-field called Philosophy of action. Wilderness is generally defined as a Natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by Human activity In Britain, the term hillwalking or fellwalking is normally used to describe the recreational practice of walking in hilly or Mountainous terrain generally The word 'hiking' is understood in all English-speaking countries but there are differences in usage Canoeing is the activity of paddling a Canoe for the purpose of recreation (also called a float trip Sport, or transportation. Kayaking is the use of a Kayak for moving across water Kayaking is generally differentiated from Canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of UserStan Shebs for a timetable --> Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet (or Caving or spelunking is the recreational Sport of exploring Caves In contrast Speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave A winter sport is a Sport commonly played during Winter. As a formal term it refers to a sport played on Snow or Ice, but informally can refer Outdoor sports most often include nature in the "sport".

While obviously enjoyed by many as a bit of fun, an adrenaline rush, or an escape from reality, outdoor sport is also frequently used as an extremely effective medium in education and teambuilding. The term team building generally refers to the selection development and collective motivation of result-oriented Teams Team building is pursued via a variety of practices It is this ethos that has given rise to links with young people, such as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and PGL, and large numbers of outdoor education centres being established, as the stress on the importance of a balanced and widespread education continues to grow. The DofE (or The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a programme of activities that can be undertaken by anyone aged from 14 to 25 regardless of personal ability Depending on the persons' desired level of adrenaline, outdoors can be considered a type of hobby.

As interest increases, so has the rise of commercial outdoor pursuits, with outdoor kit stores opening up in large numbers and thriving, as well as outdoor pursuits journalism and magazines, both on paper and online. Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating formally employed by publications and broadcasters for the benefit of a particular Community of people

The increased accessibility of outdoor pursuits resources has been the source of some negative publicity over the years also, with complaints of destroying the landscape. Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land including physical elements such as Landforms living elements of flora and fauna abstract elements such as lighting A widely-seen example is the destruction of hillsides as footpaths are eroded by excessive numbers of visitors. A trail is a Path or Road used for Walking, Cycling, Cross-country skiing, or other activities

Performing arts

An amateur magician performing. An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit study or science without formal training or pay

Many hobbies involve performing by the hobbyist, such as acting, juggling, magic, dancing and other performing arts. Acting is the work of an Actor or Actress, which is a person in Theatre, Television, Film, or any other Storytelling Juggling is a physical human skill involving the movement of objects usually through the air for entertainment (see Object manipulation) Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic The performing arts are those forms of Art which differ from the Plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own Body, Face and presence

Creative Hobbies

Some hobbies result in an end product of sorts. Examples of this would be woodworking, jewelry making, playing an instrument, software projects, artistic projects, creating models out of card or paper called papercraft up to higher end projects like building or restoring a car, or building a computer from scratch. Handmade jewelry is Jewelry which has been assembled and formed by hand rather than through the use of machines Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual While some of these may just be for the enjoyment of the hobbyist, there have been instances where it has come into demand at the request of friends or passersby observing said project. At this point it has the potential to become a small business.

Cooking

Cooking is an act of preparing food for eating. Cooking is the process of preparing Food by applying Heat, selecting measuring and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure for producing safe and edible Food is any substance usually composed primarily of Carbohydrates Fats water and/or Proteins that can be eaten or drunk by an In general terms eating (formally ingestion) is the process of consuming Food to provide for the Nutritional needs of an Animal, particularly It encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavour or digestibility of food. This article is about ingredients in general There is also an American soul and R&B group called The Main Ingredient. Flavor or flavour is the sensory impression of a Food or other substance, and is determined Digestion is the breaking down of chemicals in the body into a form that can be absorbed It generally requires the selection, measurement and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure in an effort to achieve the desired result. Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools and the skill of the individual cooking. A broader definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the myriad nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, cultural and religious considerations that impact upon it. Cooking requires applying heat to a food which usually, though not always, chemically transforms it, thus changing its flavor, texture, appearance, and nutritional properties. Cooking proper, as opposed to roasting, requires the boiling of water in a receptacle, and was practiced at least since the 10th millennium BC with the introduction of pottery. Pottery is the Ceramic ware made by potters It also refers to a group of materials that includes Earthenware, Stoneware There is archaeological evidence of roasted foodstuffs, both animal and vegetable, in human (Homo erectus) campsites dating from the earliest known use of fire some 800,000 years ago. Homo erectus ( Latin: "upright man" is an extinct species of the genus Homo, believed to have been the first hominin Fire is the heat and light energy released during a Chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction.

Gardening

Gardening is the art of growing plants with the goal of crafting a purposeful landscape. Gardening is the practice of growing Plants for their attractive flowers or foliage and Vegetables or Fruits for consumption Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Residential gardening most often takes place in or about a residence, in a space referred to as the garden. A residential garden, or domestic garden, is the most common form of Garden and is generally found in proximity to a residence A garden is a planned space usually outdoors set aside for the display cultivation and enjoyment of Plants and other forms of Nature. Although a garden typically is located on the land near a residence, it may also be located in a roof, in an atrium, on a balcony, in a windowbox, or on a patio or vivarium. A roof garden is any Garden on the Roof of a Building. Humans have grown Plants atop structures since antiquity. In modern Architecture, an atrium (plural atria is a large open space often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows often situated within an Balcony (from Italian balcone, scaffold cf High German balcho, beam balk probably cognate with Persian term بالكانه Windowbox may also refer to Windowbox (film A windowbox or window box is a container for growing Plants usually positioned outside A patio (from the Spanish patio meaning 'back garden' or 'backyard' is an outdoor space generally used for dining or Recreation that often adjoins a A vivarium (Latin literally for "place of life" plural vivaria or vivariums) is an area usually enclosed for keeping and raising animals or

A gardener

Gardening also takes place in non-residential green areas, such as parks, public or semi-public gardens (botanical gardens or zoological gardens), amusement and theme parks, along transportation corridors, and around tourist attractions and hotels. A park is a protected area of Land and Water, usually in its natural or semi-natural (landscaped state and set aside for some purpose often to do with human Botanical gardens grow a wide variety of Plants primarily to categorize and document for scientific purposes A zoological garden, shortened to zoo, is an institution in which living animals are exhibited in captivity Theme park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other Entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group Theme park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other Entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Many hotels converted from large private residences have gardens designed by famous garden designers or are particularly notable for their gardens In these situations, a staff of gardeners or groundskeepers maintains the gardens. A gardener is any person involved in the growing and maintenance of plants notably in a Garden. A groundskeeper is a person who maintains landscaping gardens or sporting venues (and their vegetation where appropriate for appearance and functionality

Indoor gardening is concerned with the growing of houseplants within a residence or building, in a conservatory, or in a greenhouse. House generally refers to a Shelter or Building that is a Dwelling or place for Habitation by Human beings. A conservatory is a Glass and Metal structure traditionally found in the Garden of a large house A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse or hothouse) is a building where plants are cultivated Indoor gardens are sometimes incorporated as part of air conditioning or heating systems. A garden is a planned space usually outdoors set aside for the display cultivation and enjoyment of Plants and other forms of Nature. The term air conditioning refers to the cooling and dehumidification of indoor air for Thermal comfort.

Water gardening is concerned with growing plants adapted to pools and ponds. Bog gardens are also considered a type of water garden. A bog or mire is a Wetland type that accumulates Acidic Peat, a deposit of dead plant material &ndash usually Mosses but also These all require special conditions and considerations. A simple water garden may consist solely of a tub containing the water and plant(s).

See also

• List of hobbies
• avocation

References