What structured activities is your young teen dong now?

[Anonymous]

My 13yo DD is a good kid and doing great in school, but she is doing virtually NOTHING outside of that. Prior to COVID, she did sports and plays and a few other small clubs, some charitable work. It has been a year of nothing. We think it may be time to rejoin some activities this spring, like rec soccer or something, to get her ready for the world returning to "normal" and to enter HS next year. She raises concerns about COVID safety, but really I think she has just gotten used to the nothing.

I need both validation that other kids are actually still engaged in things, and some suggestions for activities that will get her interacting with people again and give her some structure.

TIA!

[Anonymous]

We are a Covid cautious family but continued both scouts and soccer. Troop leaders and coaches kept the kids masked and distanced. Weather let scouts meet outside all winter, they would have reverted to zoom if needed.

Talk with the adults who lead the activities, get a sense of their plans and how strict they will be with cdc guidance and see if it fits with your family.

[Anonymous]

8th grade dd has had some sports options since fall. All with modifications/restrictions but it’s helped keep him in a good place mentally I’m sure

[Anonymous]

My teen is slightly older but she's been doing. swimming, softball-playing travel, HS and coaching. Have been doing both since September.

[Anonymous]

You’re not alone Op.

My 14 yr old ds has also done nothing outside of school (and video games) for a year. He was playing a travel sport and another sport before Covid. My plan is to inch back into normal life.

[Anonymous]

Also have a 13 year old dd. She did soccer in the fall and will again this spring. Thankfully she likes the after school activities, so she’s done Book Wars and Newspaper Club.

[Anonymous]

Soccer.

Basketball and flag football just ended.

He turns 13 next month and meets up with friends to bike and go to local park almost every day after school. Soccer practice is 3 nights per week; game on weekend.

The play time after school with friends is a plus from Covid. Nobody had time prior.

[Anonymous]

13 year old, has been doing sports performance training (weight lifting) all winter, now doing softball and will be umpiring games this spring. We have also gone to work at the food pantry on Mondays which has worked out well with the school schedule.

[Anonymous]

If the idea of in-person is a bit much for her, or if you think it's just an excuse to do nothing, start with signing her up for some online extracurriculars, whether it's a weekly art class, online music lesson, bible study/book club. Something that is structured, on the calendar, and not the normal school day.

[Anonymous]

We've been back in lacrosse since June. To be honest if it we're foe the media and masks I wouldn't notice the pandemic. Our kids have also been in school 5 days so it deals like I live on another planet than most.

[Anonymous]

13yo has been playing soccer since the league started back up in August. He played basketball as his league moved outdoors and used portable hoops on the local HS tennis courts.

He just went back to school (hybrid) last week. On days he doesn’t have practice or a game he still gets outside at some point.

[Anonymous]

My child is in full time school and takes ballet classes most days of the week. She has been in the studio since the fall with no issues. They are spaced and masked, and the studio has a filtration system. (My sons do outdoor, contact sports.)

[Anonymous]

The only structured activity my 13 year old DD does is that she goes to CrossFit with me three times a week. She had an injury that led to her stopping her pre-Covid activities. After that, her only activity was school based and it has not restarted. Honestly, if I had any idea that a pandemic was coming and we'd be housebound for so long, I would have tried to find an outside of school activity after her injury instead of only school related.

[Anonymous]

Online yoga classes. That's the only structured activity besides online school.

[Anonymous]

DD will be 13 in May. She'd been doing dance mainly over Zoom but with a few in-person classes also until just a few weeks ago, and started going back to the studio for all in-person classes as of February.

Still doing virtual music lessons also.