Hunt for the wilderpeople.
Red Dog: True Blue

Both movies are about a 12-13 year old boy and involve staying with an older person

Sometimes there are winter sports camps that are half day. Your son might like that just to get out of the house and be active. Look to see if there are any in the town.

Also if you are there at the end of Dec there are often high school basketball games going on. We always go to a few if we visit relatives in a smaller town with not a lot to do. It’s fun to get out in the evening and cheer on the local high school team. If your son likes basketball the watch Hoosiers and then go to a game.

Thanks, all! If anyone has any ideas for things to do within a 60 mile radius of Bascom, Ohio, I'm all ears. We can do a few things out of the house, but the weather in NW Ohio in late December can be dicey and my mom prefers to stay home.

Also any movie recommendations? Everyone enjoyed National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and the original Ghostbusters.

Music concert
Movies
Lego set
Cooking projects
1980s board games

My dcs spend lots of 1:1 time visiting my mom. She likes to have just one at a time. She is in St. Louis so there are a million things to do with 13 yos but even in the suburbs there are climbing walls, hikes/nature walks, skyzone, cooking classes, bike trails, movies, bowling, pickleball, sporting events, shopping, board game cafe, Buffalo Wild Wings, volunteer at the food pantry or animal shelter, etc. they can go shopping for Christmas gifts together. At home he can help her get her Christmas decorations or lights up or make a fire in the fireplace if she has one (my kids always like to do this since we just have gas). Jaipur is a good game for 2 people. Lego sets for 18+ can also be nice to work on together.

What are their interests?

Poker. Seriously. My grandma taught me was 12. Played with my grandma, sister and a couple neighborhood kids with candy!

Card games, board games, checkers, chess

Watching movies together.

Sometimes puzzles, models can be hard if your Mom has poor eyesight or arthritis that limits fine motor skills.

Go out to a movie. Go to a theater performance.

House project for teen to help Grandma with? Garage/attic/basement clean out


Make a project for them:

Does your mom cook?
Have kids type recipes into a family cookbook you can distribute.

Old family photos. Have kids upload and label with Grandmas descriptions. Can email to family.

Does your son like video/tech. Make a little doc of Grandma telling family stories. Edit in photos.

What does your son like to do?
Teach grandma a video game. Teach her something else….

Paint by numbers can be surprisingly fun.

Anonymous wrote:How much does she like to move? Some of these activities were good when my kid was little but not at 13.

My parents still liked to be active and had the room so nerf guns were a hit. Water guns in the summer. My kids went easy on them in middle school.

Cooking and baking.

Now they are 15 and 17 and still cook but it’s a struggle to get all of them off their phones (kids and grandparents). Blackjack and gambling with it works. It doesn’t have to be for real money. It’s one of the few activities I can get all to enjoy.

My parents love puzzles. My kids do not.

Yep poker too. We use real money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does your kid have to have an activity with grandma to fill the whole week? Are you not going to be there?

Seriously, no nearby museums? Bounce house?
Escape Room? Catch a hockey or NBA game (minor league games are fun too).

Where in the Midwest is this? If you tell us we can give you specifics.

Bounce house for teens? Yeah no. Walks in nature yea.

Bounce houses typically have a zipline or climbing wall - so yea. Fine for a tween

Strolling on a cold nature walk with 75 yr old grandma in tow, nope.

Anonymous wrote:Why does your kid have to have an activity with grandma to fill the whole week? Are you not going to be there?

Seriously, no nearby museums? Bounce house?
Escape Room? Catch a hockey or NBA game (minor league games are fun too).

Where in the Midwest is this? If you tell us we can give you specifics.

Bounce house for teens? Yeah no. Walks in nature yea.

Anonymous wrote:Why does your kid have to have an activity with grandma to fill the whole week? Are you not going to be there?

Seriously, no nearby museums? Bounce house?
Escape Room? Catch a hockey or NBA game (minor league games are fun too).

Where in the Midwest is this? If you tell us we can give you specifics.

^^^^;Suggestions to get out of the house otherwise everyone will go stir crazy

Why does your kid have to have an activity with grandma to fill the whole week? Are you not going to be there?

Seriously, no nearby museums? Bounce house?
Escape Room? Catch a hockey or NBA game (minor league games are fun too).

Where in the Midwest is this? If you tell us we can give you specifics.

And adding one more. Thrift stores and flea markets. One kid loves thrifting. The other one loves flea markets. They take them since we don’t have flea markets like that here.

How much does she like to move? Some of these activities were good when my kid was little but not at 13.

My parents still liked to be active and had the room so nerf guns were a hit. Water guns in the summer. My kids went easy on them in middle school.

Cooking and baking.

Now they are 15 and 17 and still cook but it’s a struggle to get all of them off their phones (kids and grandparents). Blackjack and gambling with it works. It doesn’t have to be for real money. It’s one of the few activities I can get all to enjoy.

My parents love puzzles. My kids do not.