Summer at home activities for tweens

[DietCokeLover]

What do your tweens do at home during the summer? If left to themselves, mine would stay on their phones or Xbox all summer. Obviously this is not what I want, but really have a tough time finding other things that interest them right now. What other things are your dc into - looking for new ideas.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Get them out of the house is my advice. Have them volunteer at church, the library, parks and rec...
inside the house- puzzles, projects (chores, reorganizing things like the spice cabinet, pantry, their closets/ dressers, bookshelves...) plant and tend a garden, have them plan and cook some meals.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[acmom]

For my kids, the 2 keys are getting outside and playing with friends. When they do those, they get a lot more creative and involved in something - setting up obstacles courses, making up games, swimming/pool games, playing sports, doing stands to sell something, whole driveway chalk drawings etc.

[petesgirl]

Well, I don't have teens but my 7 yr old would be on screens all day too! My goal this summer is just to set a limit on how much he can do each day and the bigger goal is remind myself constantly that it's ok for him to be bored and that it is not my job to entertain him. I will suggest 2 or 3 things for him to do but beyond that he is capable of entertaining himself. I know this is easier said than done.

[mnj77]

Playing outside with neighborhood friends, practicing card tricks, and baking are popular activities when DD gets kicked off the screens.

[mom2binsd]

At that age, mine did swim team which took up a few hours, then time at the pool later (they also played in the creek near the pool). They rode bikes to the park, around the neighborhood, geocashing. Last summer they left the Monopoly game out and played almost everyday (we have quite a few neighborhood friends). DS and his buddies play basketball, baseball, hockey, football, blitzball, they love making videos of themselves too doing trick shots etc. They bike to a pond and fish too.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[StantonHyde]

We have a variety of organizations that do half and whole day summer camps for all ages. For the tween set, my kids have done: Fashion Design, Photography, Urban Design, Story Writing, Glass making, Ukulele, Opera, etc. They have cooking and sewing classes. They each attend a month-long summer theater program. I made sure it was all close to my work/home and I either hired a high school student to drop off/pick up or I took some days too.

This summer they are only doing theater camp and then one week long camp. DS has to get volunteer hours in for his school and can start this summer. He will be volunteering at his old elementary school doing all sorts of things for their summer programs (all paperwork related). I am going to have DD go with him. DD served at a church program that provides lunches for homeless people and she wants to continue that--I will probably make DS do that too. Then, they both have summer reading to get done for school. And DS will have work to do for his AP classes next year. By next year, DS will be able to get a job and DD will be too. This summer, they are going to have to really up their chore game. They will both be in HS next year and they will want a much bigger allowance (right now they get $6 a week) and I will be increasing my work hours. So they have to step it up. And I am going to get them in practice this summer. I plan to finally get them cooking one meal a week. (not hot dogs...)

[mom2binsd]

Honestly, other than on this board I don't know any families who really do anything formal. I bought the summer workbooks from the school a few times and they were pretty useless. My kids are good students (honor role) active kids who are busy, play sports, hang with friends, read a bit, etc. I think you can do those extra programs, but schools are set up for kids to have a few weeks to get into the swing of things. I'm an outlier on this board though so ymmv.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[StantonHyde]

The summer stuff we do is required by the school. You have to turn in the packet on the first day of school. In high school, you better have done the reading--it saves you from having to double up during the school year when you have AP classes. For DS, who has dyslexia, summer math tutoring made it possible for him to stay on track during the school year. The summer camps we do are for fun, not necessarily education. But the Urban Planning class involved a project and a presentation to a panel of professors. DS loved it and might want to be an urban planner. Its all about exposing them to fun, learning opportunities. When I was a kid, we did 4-H. I learned a ton---lots of leadership. Plus cooking and sewing! Kept me very busy.

[bisous]

Ok so we have this dilemma. Long summer and often at home. No pool.

This is my strategy.

First—I’m grateful because this time around we have some vacations/ camps planned for the kids that break up the weeks a bit. Last year they were all either the week after school got out or before it started. That means less weeks on end of being at home!

Second—I do work. I can go in early in the morning while the littlest sleep. My older two will get “tips” for helping out watching the little ones. They are tipped for their ability to help them be productive!

Third—we got a switch for Christmas. I plan on letting my 3 oldest play daily—only one hour each. To do so, they are required to do two categories of things. The first category they must complete each day before playing. It’s mostly cleaning their rooms, showering, taking care of their “zones”, getting dressed for the day. The second set of requirements will take place in the afternoon. I’m working on a point system to allow certain activities (almost all fun) to gain points that permit for the gaming the next day. Reading, khan academy, board game, bike rides, swimming, any outings or service projects, extra chores, sports practices, instrument practices, time petting the cat, working on merit badges etc.

The reason I’m doing it this way is so that the kids have a minimal requirement to be allowed to game each day BUT when the gaming hour is over, they have a whole list of good things to do that will allow them to game the next day. Then they aren’t “bored” and have a list of stuff to do but they don’t blow through all the fun stuff because they just want to game.

I’m excited to try this out!

We will definitely have excursions every day too. But for us they’re usually modest—head to the park, the library, a friends house, etc.