What can my grandson do to beat boredom this summer? He is 11 and is driving me crazy! I keep him in the daytime while his parents work. I won't let him play on the computer and he's tired of his Playstation games. (I refuse to buy him any more). Does anyone have any ideas? There aren't many kids his age that live close by for him to play with. Any ideas?
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
Here are several suggestions I can think of:
1. a scavenger hunt (the more difficult, the longer he stays busy!)
2. a nature walk (along a beach, in the woods, or a park are good choices)
3. take him fishing
4. look on the internet for some games they played during different centuries
5. go to the local library (they have more than books!)
6. get him to read to you (Harry Potter books, Eragon or Eldest are some choices, there are lots more)
He will balk at any idea at first. Just be patient and keep trying. If he finds some type of bug or insect, go to the library and look it up. Have him earn "computer bucks".
I would recommend The American Boy's Handy Book or The Dangerous Book for Boys (links below). They have lots of outdoorsy and other really interesting activities. Is he a Boy Scout? Get him working on those merit badges! Also you could think about volunteering somewhere with him. Help him to find ways to use his time productively, not just to pass the time. Help him to learn a new skill or hobby that he can show for his time. Good luck!
www.amazon.com/
www.amazon.com/
There are usually stores around where he can swap his Playstation games. He might try getting new games that way. Sometimes having a friend over is not really more work, but less work as they keep each other entertained. He can then play basketball, baseball, or ride bikes, etc.
It is vitally important in the development of boys to be forced to find their own amusement. My parents did me a great favor by kicking me out of the house, saying it's a crime to sit inside during nice weather, and boredom turned out to be very wonderful in that it made me notice my world. I went for rambles, I found new friends, I made things from the natural materials (I remember a placemat made of grass stems). Boot him out and tell him not to come back for four hours, and give him a watch to come home on time.
Oh to be a kid again and have the whole day to play! What sweetness!
Sure he will be pleased if you want to play something with him and that's fine for some times but of course you have your own things to do too.
I dont recall ever being bored as a kid. If we ever complained Mom would say 'well if youre bored you can always go to the garden and hoe" It didnt take us long to find something that would make us happier.
Of course we lived in the country and I played for so many hours all by myself. Never got lonely. And my Mom just wasnt a lot of fun anyway.
I would think any kid could find a million things to explore.
Even in the city. And at home or at least in the neighborhood. I dont know where you live.
Some activity books like Annaid suggests. Or ask him to go out and study something. You pick or he picks. And ask him to find 20 things he can say about it. Or as many things as he can find.
I could spend hours watching a spider even. Show him how amazing his world is if he begins to look at it. Discovery is such a wonderful thing for humans and especially kids.
This is such a precious time for him, if only he can discover that. Many of us would kill to have the whole day to play just as we choose. All kids are incredibly creative with even the simplest of materials.
Let him find out, expand his mind, his world. What a lucky young man.
Go to the library. Look for books to read or books that show you how to make stuff. I think there are books that show you how to make things with duct tape--he might like that.
Volunteer at an animal shelter or soup kitchen together.
Go to garage sales on Fridays.
Play board games.
Let him have some friends over.
Teach him how to cook a simple meal, then he can make it for his parents later that week.
A lot of learning can happen on a computer, especially with the internet. I don't understand why his parents let him play video games but not use a computer. If it's inappropriate content they're worried about, there are filters available to help avoid that stuff. I used a computer program called Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing to learn to type when I was about that age and that ability served me well through high school, college, and now as a teacher.
Volunteer at local hospital or nursing home, etc.
"Rent" videos, play station games and the like at your local library free of charge
Condition for a sport-swim, run, lift weightd at your local school
find FREE entertainment in your neighborhood
Adopt an area roadway near your home and pick up the trash
Do something nice for a neighbor (walk the dog, weed their flower beds)
READ-I have my children read and write essays, book reports, etc and then "pay" them with spending money for new school cloths, Toss in a few treats too-like movies, icecreams, etc to make it less like school
Lear to cook-select a few dishes he enjoys eating. A woman loves a man who cah cook
Teach him to do laundry and to iron his own clothes
Have him wash your car
Learn a new craft
Have him clean your house-teach him the right way to do things (and then send him over to my house!)
Have fun with it and good luck!
I'm a 24/7 Caregiver, Home School Teacher for my 9 yr. old grandson, for 6 1/2 yrs. now. He has finally met a 11 yr. old boy in the neighborhood with whom he really gets along and is available to be good friends.
Their favorite thing to do is swim, make shaved-ice (Targets for under $20, good for parents ot buy him and leave at your house.)Using fruit juice/kool-aid for flavorings.
Rarely we go feed ducks stale bread crumbs, and fish at the local public ponds with worms. We enjoy
this and are very alert to strangers.
I don't encourage bike riding, for safety's sake., but using a small "sidewalk wooden bike ramp" to drive over saves the day.
Once I took them to toss the baseball, but not often.
This is the age when it's VITAL that they have friends, boundaries, a few things other boys have, and are allowed WITH PARENTAL CONTROLS to go to a few Internet sites, IF they are computer literate and competent: The Penquin Club.com
and KOL (Kids on line) are o.k.because they are SAFE.
I am VERY watchful and have not one single incident
to occur to him. I check for "LIVE moderators" and
strict rules before letting him "visit" on their KIDS' chat rooms.
They LOVE mechanical items, water balloons, and
renting videos from the Library. I've discovered a wide range of fun-LEARNING videos as well there.
Next, we go together to the .50 movie once or twice
a month, ONLY if a G or PG rated movie that I accept is playing. Oter times we go to the local skating rink, if his dad gives us money to do these extra things.
We also go to parks in AM or late afternoon. The reason it's so terribly important for them to relate to other boys at this age is because it's a rite of passage, a measuring of how they're doing in life, to them. House rules are expected and must be given
gently but firmly. I say, "In our house we ______, ______, ______, and I'm sure you will remember these things. Be positive and patient. I have a large
sand box, plenty of bird houses to watch, lots of trees to climb and plenty of the best snacks I can
afford/make that he likes as well. I watch for the least sugars/food colorings, most whole grains, a good variety, least junk snacks, NO candy except a small amount of Dark Chocolate, and a weekly trip
to get ice cream/sorbets/yogurt/OR $dollar burgers, all within 2-5 miles of home.
I have used riding toys, rollar blades, Legos, board games, plenty of silly putty(for some reason this age loves it!, and an old large t.v. in his room. He
has pets but doesn't like to take better care of them, since it's daily.
They like to paint on most anything, use small tools, use K'nex, and punch balls. These two aren't sports minded, nor is our family, so we enjoy the Summer without hot sports/grueling practices. They
seem to like exercise equipment and light weight-lifting. I have a good library but encourage this more during the Fall and Winter than Summer.
It's also a time when they like to push boundaries wtih sound effects they make, like whistling, laughing,giggling like older girls, telling/hearing funny jokes, stories, experiences, seeing funny photos, taking pictures(if you have a camera...), and reading magazines, especially for their age and interests. The big thing among them is Spider Man, and SuperMan.
They'd love to explore, but it's so hot and moist here that it seems much hotter. I don't force them to stay outside, but to comply the best they can with what we have, my rules, and to not raid the kitchen
of all I have to eat. I keep tuna, peanut butter/jelly, corny dogs, meatballs, cheap pizzas, and smoked turkey cold cuts for snacks, crackers,
oatmeal cookies, and sale chips/popcorn/occasional
sale fruits. One of my rules is that I need to know why they are in the kitchen, not just leave it open to them, both to budget our food, AND to remind them to keep their little grimey hands washed before handling foods, for their sakes and mine.
Occasionally I will play Monopoly, Battleship, Stratego, or other games, or take turns reading to each other, and praying twice daily.
I trust that God has urged my heart, helped me to raise this child properly while his parents continue to get their lives in order.
One thing I did when I was young was go house to house until I found a playmate each day. This is not only not acceptable in this neighborhood, but not during these dangerous days when even adults are being kidnapped and worse. A child needs only a couple of decent friends/playmates who meet parental and godly standards. If they have that they should consider themselves very lucky.
Good luck and God bless you. : )
I remind them occasionally that I am not only the grandmother in charge, but a teacher, older, wiser, and that God has placed them in my care for a reason. I guide their speech, activities, judgment,
boundaries, discipline, TV/music, and Internet experiences, but without oppressing them. If children have no strong faith/belief system, they will believe ANYTHING and more likely to get into serious trouble. I screen/get to know all friends/acquaintences, set strict time limits on visits, and give guidelines also on clothing/TV programs and content I will allow into my home, and into their heads. My rules are the typical:
If you open it, shut it.
get it out, put it up.
put it down, pick it up.
break it, tell me and offer to help repair it/help
hurt someone's feelings, apologize,
dirty it, clean it,
etc.
I have learned to delegate: You may ______, IF you
first have yourself groomed, fed, cleaned, dressed,
and your room straighted, pets fed/cleaned. You must be home by ______ and not leave _____unless you get my permisson. If you ever deliberately hurt someone/break or damage property, you will be punished according to the offense. If you curse or
deliberately do wrong, you will be punished properly,
usually grounding. If you miss the trash
can, or leave food out anywhere, whenever I do find it, you will be punished. If you simply learn to obey me, honor me by using your manners everywhere you go, and learn not to question every statement I make, and not to argue so much, we will get along fine.
I'm a Christian and believe children want and need boundaries, house rules, godly counsel, and less idle time. If they are bored, I find a chore for them to do. If my grandson does something in disobedience, I usually have him to write, "I will not
____." About 25 times the first offense, double should there be a second offense.
My grandson is learning to be a Junior Leader at church, but I do not FORCE him to attend, although I don't allow him to goof off on Sundays if he has
chosen not to go that weekend, like missing school because of some illness.
I don't know if all I've done is correct, but I am trying my best, with the help of God's Word and Holy Spirit.
Hope this helps in some way?
Are you looking for things that you can do with him or things that he can do on his own to keep him busy while you tend to other stuff?
Do not turn him out on his own. We have had two bored neighborhood boys (at different times) who's parents constantly turned them out on their own and they both turned out to be neighborhood terrors. They'd destruct anything they could find (usually neighbor's stuff), torture animals, were always in trouble breaking windows, starting fires, etc. We called the police after we found one on our roof for the third time (we have a three story house). All we could think of was he'd fall, get seriously hurt, and we'd get sued. And neither set of parents believed their child would do such things.
A bored child needs to be directed. Have you checked daytime activities at the library, the city's parks and recreation dept, various church's vacation bible schools, the city pool, art classes, gymnastic classes, practice for school sports (around here, thery are already having football practice), buying a trampoline or basketball hoop for him to use, going on bike rides, taking hikes on the city's walking paths, starting an insect or leaf collection, maybe a stamp or coin collection, gardening, youth golf, teaching him to bake or cook? At twelve, my nephew learned the basics of sewing--mom wanted him to be able to sew on a button when it came off, and he preceeded to mend everyone's socks. My son picked up golf balls at the city golf course daily in exchange for playing free from the time he was 12 yrs old; he was a hard worker and well behaved. A friend's son cut neighbor's lawns for spending money. My niece pet sits (walks a dog) for a neighbor who is a flight attendant and gone a couple days at a time. Can he volunteer at the hospital (candy-stripers aren't just girls any more)? Make time one morning each week for an experiment, the library has lots of fun books that I used when mine was younger. Rent a good movie, then have him write a review about it. The arts centers are always looking for children for productions. Is there a big-brother program where someone could do something with him one afternoon a week? Check out the local bowling center; they usually have a youth bowling league that bowls in mornings. Our old skate center had skating specials on Wednesday mornings during the summer just for kids. Everyday, give him a box with so many odd things in it (a piece of wood, a hammer and nails, tacks, etc.) and ask him to invent something, or better yet, make a bird house. Lots of Lowe's stores have kids programs for free. Buy that fan you've been needing and ask him to put it together. Have him help you clean the closet or wash walls, move the sofa to vacuum behind it, can tomatoes, etc. Teach him a new craft (woodburning or wood carving), have him paint the old rocker on the porch, get him a pen pal, have him write a letter to a serviceman every week. Just keep him busy, because sooner-or-later, he'll find something he loves/wants to do on his own.
Just one more thing, consider buying an interactive video game where he has to run track, dance on a numbered floor pad, or just move in general for exercise.
Not sure if your area has a "freecycler" (yahoo board) but something WONDERFUL I found was someone giving away an old grass motor that didnt work. My son loves tools and seeing how things work....one of the best things I ever did was get him that grass mower and allow him a shady spot to take this apart and then put it back together.
Old clothes is a MUST!!!! But it kept him busy and happy for a few weeks....taking it apart was easy....figuring how to get it back was another story...lol
If he can use the computer try introducing him to RuneScape (SP). My boys are 8 and 11 and they love it. It is an interactive mid-evil type game. They play with others on the internet. They have to hunt, fish and keep track of their money. It is a fun game and teaches them a little. Not a total brain dead game. It does cost about 10 a month to play but it is well worth it. I do kick the boys outside to play hockey and basketball and give them time to play on the computer also.
you refuse to buy more playstation games? Those games are stimulating that boy and keeping him out of trouble.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
