Besides screens, what indoor solo activities does your 12 year old choose?

[Anonymous]

Chin-up bar in a doorframe: various exercises, not normally chin ups
Reading
Baking/cooking (the more creative the knife work, the better!)
Whittling
Pogo stick
Jump ball board (aka pogo ball)
Fitness ball (with or without something to hold it in place)
Hopper ball (basically fitness ball with handle)
Mini trampoline
Floor keyboard (may be VERY discordant until your child figures it out!)
Jump shoes (Heard about them, haven’t used yet)

“I’m bored” results in chores. Screens are to be used by my rules (educational, social/household, physical first) until they can self-regulate.

[Anonymous]

Sewing. She also likes those projects from paint with diamonds and she loves to bake and then use frosting to decorate her baked goods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read, play instrument, cook/bake, shoot baskets, play with the dog, etc.

Do you have a way to shoot baskets indoor?

I'm OP, and my 12 year old's go to activities are all outside. He'll happily ride his bike for hours, play fetch with the dog, or shoot baskets, but as the weather gets colder, and it's dark early, he's finding it harder to amuse himself. Hence my question.

I have two other kids, close in age, one of whom loves to make stuff, whether it's baking or legos, or woodworking. The other would read for hours. But this son doesn't have a go to activity.

There hasn't been a single day this winter where it was too cold to play fetch with the dog or shoot baskets.

NP with a 12 yo boy. Mine would happily do all of this in the cold but it gets dark early. I won’t let him ride bikes in the dark and we don’t live in and play for an outdoor hoop. We have a basement and have converted a part to a workout room. We are slowly adding things and sometimes he goes down there and listens to music while he exercises. I try to go with him when I’m feeling motivated. It’s good for me too and he knows more than me from his coaches. We are slowly adding more but have mats, some basic weights, yoga balls. Sometimes DD uses it too to workout. She’s easy and can find activities. She loves to read, draw and paint.

[Anonymous]

Knee hockey in the basement, air hockey, ping pong, Nerf basketball hoop, foosball, pop-a-shot, mini skee-ball, etc.

[Anonymous]

Indoor solo activities that don’t involve a screen for 12 yr old?

Zero. He reads books off a screen. Does puzzles on a screen. He plays foosball, air hockey, etc but that’s not solo. So zero.

DS12 has lot of friends but his activities solo and with friends usually involve screens one way or another along the way including planning the activity, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Over the door basketball hoop.

+1. My 12 yo son listens to music and shoots hoops in his room for hours

[Anonymous]

Both my son and daughter would read for the most part. My son goes out in the yard and kicks the soccer ball. Daughter is better at keeping herself occupied, does anything from art projects, playing board games alone, baking, cutting up old t-shirts, slime, going outside for a run or bike ride. She always finds something to do.