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

[Anonymous]

Our DS seems so completely bored on the weekends. He is 11 and just started 6th grade middle school. He's got a couple of friends, but doesn't seem to want to hang out with them lately. He is happy to play video games, but we limit that to 1 hour on weekend days. He likes reading mostly at night. We suggest things for him to do, such as going for a bike ride, drawing, playing a game, reading, building robots from a robotics set he has. He usually says no and, if let to his own devices, ends up just laying around the house completely bored. I know boredom is good for kids, but there's too much of it here and not enough motivation to just get up and do stuff. He's not depressed. Just unmotivated. Not at all interested in sports. What are your 11-year boys into and what do they do with free time?

[Anonymous]

Chores, like cutting the grass, or helping with yard work. Walking the dog. Going on bike rides, but we do this as a family. We also go on hikes when it's nice outside. Sometimes the kids come with us on errands (not too much fun, but usually they can be convinced by having ice cream after. We go to the movies, and have a great backyard with a swing and a badminton net that they play with. There are also roaming neighbor kids that they play with, coming and going as they please.

[Anonymous]

He generally hangs out with friends from orchestra. Although he's not sporty, he does a tae kwon do class as well on Saturday. Goofs with a few kids (a year or two younger) from the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

My 11 year old definitely plays too much ipad on the weekends. We try to invite friends over to spend the night or hang out most weekends, and I'll normally take them out to do things. They also like to have water balloon fights and do "science experiments" in the back yard. He has Cub Scouts every other Sunday afternoon. We also go camping about once a month so that he gets more time doing active, outdoorsy things. Occasionally he and DH will take a long bike ride on a Saturday or Sunday.

[Anonymous]

Mine is 10, but we still do a lot of family activities on the weekends. We have at least one "focal" activity every weekend, combined with some downtime.

We go camping, take a family bike ride/picnic (pretty easygoing since we also have a younger kid), go to the library, go downtown and tour a museum, go to a lake and rent paddleboats, take kayaks to Bull Run, set off model rockets, invite neighborhood friends over to play in the backyard, go over to their house, bake and decorate cookies, go geocaching. In the summer, add the swimming pool. In the winter, we'll go skiing a couple of times.

We're also starting to offer DS "jobs" around the house to pick up a few extra dollars. He has his normal chores, but can earn a couple of dollars by mowing the lawn, weeding, washing windows, washing the cars. He always has some new video game or robot that he's saving up for, so this is motivating for him.

[Anonymous]

Screen time - lots and lots of it if we don't have any family plans. Occasionally, he may hang out with friends, but they usually have family plans on weekends.

[Anonymous]

Mine plays in chess tournaments.

[Anonymous]

A mix of things. Always a few chores and always a few errands with me. During the summer we also spend a lot of time at the pool. Now that the pool is closed, he will sometimes spend a few hours with a friend, and I always plan one family activity like hiking or a museum or something. Beyond that, he is probably either drawing or on his iPad.

[Anonymous]

Lego, scooter or bike ride, play at nearby park (he can walk to), Scout activities, board games with family, family hike.

[Anonymous]

videos on his Ipad, video games on the tv, sports practice and a game take up a few hours a weekend, and sometimes playtime with a neighbor friend.

[Anonymous]

Mine does sports, but that ebbs and flows. I've starting trying to be more consistent about limiting screen time (1 hour, not including reading on the Kindle or family movie night). And at the same time, trying to be more insistent that he plan his own "playdates"/activities.

[Anonymous]

Hangs out with his friends on line.

[Anonymous]

too much electronic; sometimes scout activities. I am making him go swimming now for exercise.

[Anonymous]

I am not trying to be mean, but I don't blame your kid for being bored. I would give him a little more leeway on electronics if he has no other planned activities for the weekend (maybe 2 hours/day). You say he's not sporty...but does he do anything physical? How about a swim lesson or a yoga class? Maybe some martial arts? I felt sad for your DS after reading your post.

[Anonymous]

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