Anonymous wrote:I'm starting to think ahead about the fall, and I noticed that our DS (age 13) did not have quite enough to do this summer. I noticed he started to get kind of blue. When I found some additional activities for him, he became noticeably happier.

For the fall, I'd like him to have some structure on the weekends -- just some planned activity that he could count on having something to do on Sundays outside of the house.

He has 1 sport that he does for 1.5 hours on Saturday, but he's not otherwise particularly sporty. (He likes outdoor activities and exercise, but does not love athletic competition per se.)

Any ideas of ongoing activities that a 13-year-old son might like to do on weekends? (One idea was a local gym that has fitness classes for teens.)

I welcome any other ideas. Thank you!

I could have written the same post. No ideas, but following. I did look at fitness classes for teens, but it wasn't appealing to DS and frankly only the expensive crossfit gyms seemed to have such classes. I wish we could find more activities for him because otherwise he lies around the house and drives us crazy.

Rock climbing at Earthtreks, bowling league, volunteer opportunity?

I'm starting to think ahead about the fall, and I noticed that our DS (age 13) did not have quite enough to do this summer. I noticed he started to get kind of blue. When I found some additional activities for him, he became noticeably happier.

For the fall, I'd like him to have some structure on the weekends -- just some planned activity that he could count on having something to do on Sundays outside of the house.

He has 1 sport that he does for 1.5 hours on Saturday, but he's not otherwise particularly sporty. (He likes outdoor activities and exercise, but does not love athletic competition per se.)

Any ideas of ongoing activities that a 13-year-old son might like to do on weekends? (One idea was a local gym that has fitness classes for teens.)

I welcome any other ideas. Thank you!

This is an interesting thread to me as a parent of a slightly younger tween who is an introvert. I'd add to the list: plays with our dog/takes him on walks and rides his bike a lot. Generally spends a good chunk of time "chilling out" to music or playing around on the laptop.

Not sure why some people feel the need to chime in to criticize other's choices, though ... Every kid/family is different - what feels over-scheduled to one feels under-scheduled to another.

We always had sports on the weekends. Often friends would stay over on saturday night, or they would stay at friends homes. When the girlfriends came around, they became the main activity, alone or in groups. Mall, movies, bowling, pizza.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My DD 12 has 2 hours of dance on Sat followed by a two hour math class. She rarely gets together with friends (except birthday parties) as most of her downtime is spent on homework, reading or playing with her brother. We very rarely allow TV on weekends though she watches short clips on Youtube and loves her radio.[/quote]

This sounds a bit repressive to me. Four hours of instruction every saturday plus homework? I'm glad I don't live at your house![/quote]

Repressive..really? That's a strange word for her schedule. She loves to dance and I don't control the homework. I'm guessing you just have a problem with the 2 hour math class. She really needs it and it's helping her a lot.


[/quote]

That's fine but since she's getting exercise & being productive/studying for so much of her weekend why not loosen the reigns & allow her to veg for a bit & watch TV, too, if she wants? (NP here, BTW)[/quote]

I'm not the PP, but screen time--TV, video games, etc. is actually stimulating for the brain and the opposite of "vegging" out even though it seems like a passive activity. (Just like alcohol is actually a depressant, which seems counterintuitive.)

Screen time doesn't affect everyone's sleep, but it does effect everyone's brains:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/power-down-better-sleep[/quote]

Okay, so "veg" isn't the right word. Perhaps "relax & watch TV" would be better?

Plays football. Does lots of homework. Skateboards with a neighborhood friend to 7-11 and buys junk food and plays video games, visits grandma for family dinner, sleeps.

My 13 yo DS spends a good bit of time on homework. Other than that, he has soccer in fall and spring and we like to ski in the winter. If his homework is done or well along, he's allowed to have a friend over or have/go to a sleepover. We permit him to play video games on Sat/Sun mornings - before breakfast and then after breakfast until @10am. No TV, except perhaps one show or movie on Friday night. There's occasional yardwork too.