What does your non-sporty 11-year old DS do on weekends?

[Anonymous]

I do have sporty kids, but I second the family activities. That's what we do for any weekends that are free, like in the off season. We go to see university basketball and football games (even though we parents aren't into sports, it's fun to watch live), hit the pumpkin patch, go apple picking, see a show in the city.

Have you taught your son to cook? Maybe he could enjoy watching you for awhile, gradually building up his skills, and then one of his chores could be planning, shopping for and preparing the family dinner on either Saturday or Sunday evenings. I have been so surprised by how much one of my sons loves to cook.

[Anonymous]

Mine plays with toys still. We also don't limit his use of his iPad and computer, so he plays with those too. Mine likes making YouTube videos and he's pretty good at it! We have his friends over or he goes to his friends houses sometimes. We go to the parks if the weather is nice. See a movie or go shopping if we feel like it. We used to play board games, but haven't done that in a while. Why only one hour a day to use the computer or iPad?

[Anonymous]

Mine plays a sport because he would default to electronics if he didn't.

[Anonymous]

Saturdays he goes to his native language school, where he also takes Latin. So he ends up doing a lot of homework for school and those two extra classes.
He's never bored, because he reads and plays video games. Not the social type.

[Anonymous]

He never did team sports but he'd play basketball in the driveway. He'd also spend hours playing the drums, piano, etc. He'd cook. He'd go roller blading.

[Anonymous]

"sporty kids".........wtf

[Anonymous]

my son is not "sporty"but I asked him to try a few sports and he is having a great time. He plays on the lowest tier teams (but so do most of his friends) so it is just for fun. He is 12, a band nerd, never really played anything but socially it has been great for him. I cannot stand for him to be on his ipad all weekend.

[Anonymous]

My son is 12 and he goes to my mom's house every Friday and stays until Saturday evening every week. He is the youngest grandchild and she gets lonely, so she loves to spend time with him. She has a degree in education but is retired, so she tutors him in math, they go to the park, they go hiking in the mountain behind her house, they mow the yard....they keep busy and he comes home tired but extremely happy. We lost my brother a few years ago and he was born the next year, so he is a blessing to her.

[Anonymous]

I think either you have need more family activities or he needs some more outside activities.

My non-sport DS (who is older) still has lots of organized activities on the weekend --- music lessons, practice, religious school, etc. If you don't want more family stuff, he needs to find some organized stuff to do and there are plenty of non-sport options.

Also homework and chores.

But, I agree with others that if he does everything he is supposed to do, then he should get more screen time, at least my teens do as long as everything else is complete.

[Anonymous]

consider finding something for him to do that involves physical activity. It is so sad to think of how many kids spend their weekends on their devices. Get some exercise! As they get older, your son will want to socialize and be around other kids. At least help him find interests, hobbies. You do not want him all alone through the next few years.

[Anonymous]

If it makes you feel better, when I read your post I thought maybe I wrote it and forgot...I also have a non sporty DS who is 11 and weekends can be tough. My DS is a smart, very happy kid, and he has a nice small group of friends, but he's not a kid with a million friends, no kids in the neighborhood to play with for him, etc. He does three weekend activities, religious school, instrument lesson and tennis, but still lots of time left. Sometimes he and his younger sister play well for hours, but she often has more parties and play dates.

We definitely do family outings - hikes, festivals, movies, sporting events, etc...but there are days like today when we really didn't have much on the calendar, DH and I needed some time around the house to get things done and run a few errands and DS was bored, too much electronics, although he did read and play outside some and did a little homework. I'm not sure what the answer is / / I don't want to put him in more organized activities because it makes it hard to do family outings, but DH and I work so not every weekend day can be wall to wall fun activities.