What do you do to entertain visiting family with tweens and teens?

[Anonymous]

We aren’t huge museum people.

I feel an obligation to entertain them for the long weekend or at least offer options. How do you fill your days with teen/tween family visitors?

[Anonymous]

It depends. Are they coming to visit you (primarily), or are they coming for another reason and staying at your house?

If coming for you, plan a BBQ and a plan. Ask them before they come what they would like to do (maybe *they* are museum people).

If coming for cousin Larlo's college visit at GW, then just offer to let them shadow your everyday lives (we're going to Larla's soccer game. Want to come?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends. Are they coming to visit you (primarily), or are they coming for another reason and staying at your house?

If coming for you, plan a BBQ and a plan. Ask them before they come what they would like to do (maybe *they* are museum people).

If coming for cousin Larlo's college visit at GW, then just offer to let them shadow your everyday lives (we're going to Larla's soccer game. Want to come?)

Coming to visit us, not for another purpose. Staying at the house. They don’t love museums either; “we” meant all of us.

[Anonymous]

I ask my teen and tween to entertain them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ask my teen and tween to entertain them.

So you just have non-tween family sitting around for days?

[Anonymous]

And just do stuff you like plan barbecues, trips to the pool, Nats game, etc.

[Anonymous]

Depends on what they’re interested in and the weather. This weekend specifically if I had tweens visiting ( I have a tween) we would go down to DC one morning and see the monuments/White House. Lunch in DC , come back and go to the pool.
Tomorrow go for a hike at Great Falls or Patapsco. Go somewhere fun for dinner depending on where they’re from, my kid loves Melting Pot. If they’ve never been ti one I would take them there.

[Anonymous]

Ask the parents. When we visit my relatives in a different area, but a big vacation spot too, they feel the need to plan things when we are there. My teens do not want to get up and go on big outings anywhere. They like sleeping in, having a lazy day eating and hanging out with the relatives, maybe going somewhere quick and local. They have been there before and we’re really happy just to go out to a local place to lunch at our last visit and watch a movie with their grandparents at their place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what they’re interested in and the weather. This weekend specifically if I had tweens visiting ( I have a tween) we would go down to DC one morning and see the monuments/White House. Lunch in DC , come back and go to the pool.
Tomorrow go for a hike at Great Falls or Patapsco. Go somewhere fun for dinner depending on where they’re from, my kid loves Melting Pot. If they’ve never been ti one I would take them there.

+1 definitely depends on the kids and their interests. If my teen nephews were here for a long weekend we'd probably go hiking one day, go to a Nat's game if possible, go to some fun restaurants. And hang out at home watching movies and playing games.

If it's my friend whose teen girls are the same age as DD, they might spend a day exploring thrift shops instead of the Nat's game but otherwise the rest would work too.

[Anonymous]

I would have a few planned activities for each day:

- Nats game, of course
- National Zoo (even our oldest and most jaded teen visitors still enjoy the zoo!)
- walking/shopping through Georgetown & lunch
- dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill
- walk around National Harbor and ride the Ferris Wheel
- tour of the Capital
- tour of the White House
- tour of Arlington Cemetery
- dinner at The Palms
- tour Mount Vernon
- Bush Gardens if there is a full day
- drive to Annapolis and walk around, take a harbor boat ride or fishing in the Bay
- walk a mile or two up and back on the C&O Trail and then lunch
- breakfast at iHOP one morning
- the pool & backyard barbecue

Have a great time with your visitors!

[Anonymous]

When our friends visit, their kids want to do things they don’t have in their rural area. Laser tag, Dave and busters, wizards/caps game… we usually just give them options and ask their 11-13yos to decide.

[Anonymous]

Pool
Fun restaurant for dinner
Maybe shopping

Other than that I let them chill on their phones. They are visiting and deserve time to relax - it’s not a forced sightseeing march

[Anonymous]

Spy museum is a museum that tweens seems to like in my opinion. If they are part of the instagram set they might like the Hirshorn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ask my teen and tween to entertain them.

So you just have non-tween family sitting around for days?

IME, the non-tween members of the family love it when all the teens/tweens go out on the town together and they get to sit at our house drinking wine and eating apps.

[Anonymous]

We love doing activities, so I am always prepared with several suggestions for each day...

- Hiking (Occoquan, Difficult Run, or farther away in Shenandoah with a stop for lunch in Warrenton)
- Escape room, Laser Tag, Minigolf, Monster Golf, Dave & Busters, etc
- National Zoo (we always love going with guests, and they seem to always love it too)
- Biking along the W&OD trail
- Go see a play at one of the community theatres, or maybe a family friendly comedy show if available at the Improv
- Take metro downtown (we live in Fairfax) and wander around National Mall. No need to go to any museums, just wander, people watch, get food from vendors, play frisbee, see some monuments, maybe rent scooters or bikes, etc
- Watch a sporting event (pro leagues or something at GMU, Georgetown, etc)
- Go to the ropes course at Sandy Springs or Go Ape
- Take a trek over to Six Flags or maybe down to Kings Dominion (we like Busch Gardens the best, but we don't want to drive all the way down and back in 1 day)
- Play frisbee golf or foot golf
- Summertime? Go to one of the many waterparks in the area
- Check out the DCist for fun, random happenings during the visit