Please suggest non-electronic things for 12 year old boy to do alone

[Vacation Lover]

Please help me brainstorm...DS12 friends are on vacation and I'm trying hard to limit TV/Computer/DSi time. He's just about to outgrow his Legos, jumping on the trampoline gets old without friends to do it with, and he has no desire to play dress up with his sisters! Suggestions?

 

[CandyHead09]

Find a puzzle of something he's interested in that has 1,000 pieces.

Sign him up for music or drawing lessons.

 

[CandyHead09]

and tell him that I'm 17 and I still love my legos lol

 

[ksl5f123]

trip to the library for some new books?

any projects around the house he can help with? wash the car?

maybe a kit to build something (model airplane, birdhouse, etc.)?

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Puzzle books, suduko, ride his bike, draw (get him a sketch book), magazines, light cooking.

 

[indimom]

Google activites/crafts for his age bracket. My son and his cousin spent about four hours one day making "paper guns" they found the directions for on (I think) You Tube. They have found other ideas from the internet that gave them a lengthy project. (Obviously if your oppposed to paper guns, I'm sure you could find other projects that might be fun.) Science stuff (like combining vinegar and baking soda) could be fun.
Yeah, he'd have to use the computer, but he'd only be getting the directions there. The rest is all up to him. You could buy one of those birdhouse kits or something similar from a craft store. Let him go to work with hammer and nails and some paint.
Maybe let him redo his room. My son liked changing his room around to suit him. Just replacing/moving posters and photos, clearing out some of the "younger" stuff he didn't use anymore. Setting up his bed in a corner so it looked like a couch. That sort of thing.
Does he like to read?? Maybe a new book or magazine.
Good Luck!!

 

[dfarner]

play solitaire

puzzles

Rubik's Cube

read

do some journaling (if he enjoys writing)

look through old photos of the family

groom or walk the dog (if you have one, of course )

use straws, craft sticks, Qtips, etc... to build something from scratch

write a letter to a relative

go for a bike ride

fly a kite

roll coins

 

[Vacation Lover]

Great suggestions--thanks! Heading to AC Moore tomorrow to get puzzles, a model & craft supplies. He loves science, so we'll look online for some experiments.

 

[StitchFanZ]

Lego Robotics is a great next step for a kid that likes legos

Making videos - where they create the scene, film it, and edit.

Photography

Duct tape - just do a search online of things he can make with duct tape.

 

[nchulka]

At 12 he should find some friends and go out exploring all day. Rent the movie The Sandlot, that should give them plenty of ideas of fun they can have. At 12 let him go and explore the neighborhood/city you live in. Get him a pool pass if there's one in biking distance. Unfortunately our community pool is across an interstate highway. He should be hoping on his bike in the morning and not coming home till dinner, the messier he comes back the better Let him learn how to do things on his own, don't take him to the library, send him up to get his own card and check out his own items and be responsible for returning them. If you have woods near your neighborhood, let him go to the local hardware store and get some wood and nails and go out with his friends and built a clubhouse.

Whoops! Just realized you said his friends were away, oh well he can still go exploring

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Oh I am so glad you posted this! What an age, and they really would prefer to be on electronics every waking minute -- even while eating. I have age 11-13 at home. Uy.
The only thing I have to add is an idea that worked well (one time) for us. I asked them to do a Power Point presentation about our neighborhood. We live in an area with a lot of buildings and parks, so I asked them to do a "review" of the parks in the area. They spent a few hours wandering and taking pictures on the digital and making notes. Granted, then they spent a few hours on the computer doing the presentation. But it was acceptable computer time in my eyes ... They liked having a techie project, I liked getting them out of the house.

GOOD LUCK!!!! To us all!

 

[Pastamom]

My DS and friend have created a marble roller coaster throughout our entire basement. I'm just staying away until they are done because it is messy, but who cares and they are having great time. All you need is some of that foam piping (like for insulating), marbles, and tape.

 

[indimom]

Lego Robotics is a great next step for a kid that likes legos

Making videos - where they create the scene, film it, and edit.

Photography

Duct tape - just do a search online of things he can make with duct tape.

Oh, I agree with this too. My son and nephew spent a day making their own "movie" in the backyard. Granted this might be hard alone. But he could get creative with some action figures (check out some of the home made star wars lego movies on you tube, you'll get the idea). Or star his sisters in a show. If you have a tripod, he could be in the film as well. My guys loved directing their film, cutting it together, then laughing their way through the viewing of the final cut. It was quite an action/adventure/comedy.

 

[kkmcan]

That's tough! I know my 10 yr old boy never wants to do stuff alone. He likes games but that involves me. I have been playing games with my kids a lot this past week as their friends are out of town and the amount of tv watching going on is driving me batty!

The only thing they've really enjoyed lately is making movies. DD got a cheap sort of flip video camera for Christmas so they've been making movies, well, when they get along anyways.

I did tell them they could go up the street and explore near the wash. They loved that! They even ran into some friends riding their bikes from the neighborhood behind us. So they hung out there and chatted for a bit.

You could plan a disney nite and involve your son in preparing. We are making decorated caramel apples this week and the kids are pretty excited about that.

I know my son would never do a puzzle, model kit or anything like that by himself. He's a social butterfly and won't do it if it means he has to do it alone.

I do know it's hard. It's the end of the summer for us (we return Aug 9 to school) and we've run out of stuff to do.

 

[cath32]

Do you have a local tennis club nearby? We have a small one in a local park. They offer inexpensive weekly summer camps for 1 1/2 hours each day. The kids bike over, learn some tennis, get to know other kids.

Also - neighbourhood rec centers often have stuff going on for kids.

 

[YanksWinAgain]

My son is 12. He likes to write "fan fiction" for a TV show he likes. Apparently, you write an episode for the TV show with the characters, etc. It sort of bridges the "no TV" vs "TV" thing....

 

[m3retired]

Radio Shack has some interesting kits--build a radio, or a robot.

You could also make a list of things you want him to find in the neighborhood (red mail box, house with green curtains, dog playing in a sprinkler, etc) and send him out with a digital camera, for a digital scavenger hunt. Pay him a dollar for each item he "finds". Probably cost the same as buying puzzles and kits to occupy him!