Week 1: no plans/hang out
Week 2: outdoor-type day camp
Week 3: St. Albans day camp
Week 4-7: Sleepaway camp in New England
Weeks 8-9: Sailing day camp on Potomac River
Weeks 10-11: Family vacation
Week 12: More sailing camp
Week 13: no plans/hang out

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does this keep coming up??? There are a million summer activities. I could keep my kids busy for 6 months. Zero in on an activity or two that he likes and check out all the schools, parks, etc. There are a bunch of magazines at the libraries with all the park and local activities and there is a wonderful thing called the internet where you can put in an interest and a location.

Boy this is a condescending response. Umm, IDK, maybe it keeps coming up because other people aren't as perfect as you are? (Not OP but also interested in legitimate answers.)

+1

"Eliminate the negative....." Buh bye.

Anonymous wrote:We're still brainstorming a bit about how to full some open weeks this summer. Has anyone ever tried the following:

(1) Book club for DS and his buddies. The moms of DS's friends are all on board. We just haven't yet mentioned it to the boys. I think that they will think it's uncool, but we still want to try it!

(2) A week where different parents take a group of 3-4 boys on an outing (museum, zoo, movie, etc). It works for working parents too because you can rotate who spends the day with the boys.

(3) Any ideas for what 12-year-old boys can do when they're together? They tend to like to ride bikes or watch TV. Has anyone been able to persuade them to do things like play a board game or cook something?

My 12 yr old son has been having poker games with his friends and often bakes cookies.

We're still brainstorming a bit about how to full some open weeks this summer. Has anyone ever tried the following:

(1) Book club for DS and his buddies. The moms of DS's friends are all on board. We just haven't yet mentioned it to the boys. I think that they will think it's uncool, but we still want to try it!

(2) A week where different parents take a group of 3-4 boys on an outing (museum, zoo, movie, etc). It works for working parents too because you can rotate who spends the day with the boys.

(3) Any ideas for what 12-year-old boys can do when they're together? They tend to like to ride bikes or watch TV. Has anyone been able to persuade them to do things like play a board game or cook something?

Anonymous wrote:DH and I both work so DS is in camps most of the summer --

1 week java programming
1 week baseball
1 week swimming
1 week field trip camp
4 weeks at a general camp at a church (his favorite and he hopes to be a CIT there next summer)
1 week mission trip w/ church youth group
2 weeks family travel

Same in our household. Since DH and I both work, our 12-year-old son has a more programmed summer than I would like. It's summer when I wish so much I could be a SAHM so that I could just hang out with the kids. We have 3 kids, and the babysitter tends to focus on the needs of our younger kids (ages 7 and 9). We could let our DS just hang out all summer, but he now has a "girlfriend" at school and so I want to make sure he's supervised.

Here is DS's schedule:

Week 1: Open
Week 2: Computer camp
Week 3: My mom will visit us from out of town and hang out with my son (or take him to places with his friends).
Week 4: Sports camp
Week 5: Community service project
Week 6: Family vacation (with DH and the siblings)(DH and I vacation at opposite times to minimize camp costs and maximize vacation time for the kids.)
Week 7: Sleep away camp
Week 8: Sleep away camp
Week 9: Family vacation (the kids and me)
Week 10: Family vacation (all 5 of us)

Anonymous wrote:Why does this keep coming up??? There are a million summer activities. I could keep my kids busy for 6 months. Zero in on an activity or two that he likes and check out all the schools, parks, etc. There are a bunch of magazines at the libraries with all the park and local activities and there is a wonderful thing called the internet where you can put in an interest and a location.

Boy this is a condescending response. Umm, IDK, maybe it keeps coming up because other people aren't as perfect as you are? (Not OP but also interested in legitimate answers.)

Anonymous wrote:My 12 year old will be cutting grass for 9 of our neighbors as well as ours. He will be going to the neighborhood pool, staying up late, hanging out with friends and taking his turn cooking dinner with his siblings.

Because he will earn about $200/week, he will be putting half in his saving for a car account, and he will be using the rest for clothes, movies and whatever else he has time for.

He tells me that this year he also has a goal is to save enough money for his own new lawnmower because he is tired of our old one.

To me, this is what 12 year olds should be doing.

You win. Game over.

Well I guess it would be game over if he also volunteered, maybe he can mow a lawn or 2 for somebody with cancer.

My 12 year old will be cutting grass for 9 of our neighbors as well as ours. He will be going to the neighborhood pool, staying up late, hanging out with friends and taking his turn cooking dinner with his siblings.

Because he will earn about $200/week, he will be putting half in his saving for a car account, and he will be using the rest for clothes, movies and whatever else he has time for.

He tells me that this year he also has a goal is to save enough money for his own new lawnmower because he is tired of our old one.

To me, this is what 12 year olds should be doing.

Minecraft all summer long if he could choose

Why does this keep coming up??? There are a million summer activities. I could keep my kids busy for 6 months. Zero in on an activity or two that he likes and check out all the schools, parks, etc. There are a bunch of magazines at the libraries with all the park and local activities and there is a wonderful thing called the internet where you can put in an interest and a location.

DH and I both work so DS is in camps most of the summer --

1 week java programming
1 week baseball
1 week swimming
1 week field trip camp
4 weeks at a general camp at a church (his favorite and he hopes to be a CIT there next summer)
1 week mission trip w/ church youth group
2 weeks family travel

My kid is doing some camps, has picked some books for his reading list, and a visit with cousins is on the list.

I don't think you'll need to keep your kid entertained every day, but if there's someone who can take him places there are a lot of great museums to see while it's hot out.

You might want to think about a home project like cleaning out the garage or having him volunteer some place.

My 12 yr DS is "booked" 6 weeks:
2 weeks sleepaway
1 week best friends home in FL (feel like I hit jackpot!)
2 week family vacation
1 week photography camp

His school will issue a self paced online summer course - still unsure what that entails but a must.

For the rest I'm gonna let him do whatever he wants: sleep, pool, hang at library pretending to be reading but playing video games

week 1: sleep
week 2: sports camp
week 3: science camp
week 4: vacation
week 5/6: camp counselor
week 7/8: sleep away camp
week 9: vacation
week 10: visit grandparents
week 11/12: complain about writing book reports

He's not interested in much camp 1-2 weeks sports camps but that's it. Need ideas!