I encourage my children to follow their passion and I support them in as many ways as possible. Take my daughter for instance, she wanted to be a writer so I helped her research colleges to go to, bought her books on writing and as always I am buying her books to read or taking her to the library.

Great topic, although I have to admit I'm a bit leery of the fact that everybody is using the singular word "passion," as though a person can only love one thing in life. It seems to me that some things that really absorb kids are transient -- especially those that reflect the development of different parts of their awareness and ways of interacting with the world -- while others may be more life-long. And there's a difference between nuirturing lifelong passions and wedging a kid into a life path at an early stage; some passions may be great lifelong hobbies (say, gardening, or amateur astonomy, or singing) while others might be something that could suggest a career or other more substantial involvement. I wouldn't assume that one foretells the other. But really, the examples that everybody gives are more down-to-earth -- soccer, say, is a thing many kids love but few direct their lives around. Being open to what engages your kid at any stage, and to any degree, has to be a good thing, in encouraging them to explore, be open to the world, and realize what they do and don't like. Maybe that means they'll "find their way" earlier than some of us did, but maybe it just means that everything they do will enrich them along the longer way . . .

Like Dana, this is one of the main reasons I homeschool. My kids thrive on creative time. They'd spend all day every day making art projects, science projects, any kind of project if they could. I blogged about how I encourage creativity in my home here: http://homespunlight.blogspot.com/2009/06/inspiring-creativity.html I actually feel that one of the main ways to help kids find their passions, is to NOT enroll them in a million activities. I think they need plenty of time to just be kids and explore on their own terms.

I think in order to help your child find and follow their passions, it is important for you as the parent to find and follow your own passions. Your children need to see you going after your dreams. They need to see that everyone, including parents, deserves to do what makes them happy. Once you are perusing something that makes your heart smile, then you begin to encourage your children to find their passions in life. Moanna is only two, so right now we just expose her to as many elements, cultures, foods, music, art, games... you name it... as we possibly can. We watch her reactions to all of these experiences. When we find something that really makes her excited, we find ways to incorporate that into her everyday life. Right now she is into cooking and being outside, so we do our best to spend time outside, and find ways for her to help in the kitchen.

Oh Karen, Karen, Karen. I would never have guessed how much you- of all people- compromised. I would've never guessed it. Thank God for fresh starts. I have been compromising my passions FOR YEARS. It's only the last 2 to 3 that I've genuinely begun to live out loud. I get better at it everyday. Just as you ladies mentioned, I do all I can to foster the things that most appeal to my daughter. The introduction to the posts is funny because my kid only ever desires to be an artist. Even at seven, she takes classes and we go to galleries and museums of all kinds, but we point out what art is everywhere. As a writer I'm totally on board, but as a writer, I'm also concerned about her some day starving to death. My mother and art selves combine to encourage art, as well as its profitability in some areas. Once when the lights went out in the house, she followed me to the basement to check the fuse box. As she held the flashlight to the ceiling she noticed the exposed beams and said, "Making a building or a house is art too isn't it mommy?" I was surprised my sigh of relief didn't spark the lights back on. "Yes! Yes it is! The people who figure out how to do it are engineers and architects!" I told her. I do anything I can to encourage her passions (and MY passion for her self preservation!). However, the main way, and I venture to say the most important way of encouraging my child to follow her passion, is to be sure and follow my own. When my daughter sees me excited about a project, or has to stay at grandma's for a few days if I have to leave town to help make my dreams come true, she learns what it means to be your own person despite the circumstances. She doesn't see the girl who compromised her twenties away- thank goodness she wasn't there for that. Remembering that is also really comforting when I'm away. Encouraging passion for your children is living it.

My 6-year-old daughter has loved art since she could push her food together and make it look juuuuust right (read: very young!). When she was about 3 we enrolled her in short (four-class) art classes so she could try different things (painting, cooking, clay, etc.). And every year, Santa gives her something new to try with a note of encouragement about "exploring her craft." Last year it was a pottery wheel, the year before it was canvases and paint brushes... you get the picture. But we've also had her active in soccer, ballet, etc. just to see what sticks. I realize that sounds BUSY, but we're really not overscheduling her. She does one thing at a time, with gaps here and there when we're busy. She's also very sure of herself. If you ask her what she's going to be when she grows up, she'll say, "I already am what I'll be: an artist." We're still trying to figure out what our 2-year-old son likes. If I had to guess right now, I'd say he'll be a car mechanic because he loves anything with wheels.

Oh Wow! This is a tough one for me. I'm just now discovering what I'm passionate about with the help of my wonderful husband, who is passionate about everything he does. It's inspiring. As far as my daughter goes, she's a very passionate kid. And she knows exactly what she wants to do...Sing. I too love to sing, although neither one of us was blessed with a lovely voice. As a child this squashed my dream and made me very self-conscious. However Ava is unstoppable-one of my favorite things about her. I actually wrote about this specific topic on Being Super (http://su.pr/2zVRaI) a while back. Based off of her awesome performance at her school talent show, she is now taking voice lessons...and loves it.