Hot Lava Mama Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 My ds13 isn't into sports. We tried Boy Scouts. Not his thing. The church activities for the summer are limited to "camps" that have already started. He already swims well, so swim lessons don't work. The swim teams have already started and not accepting anyone else. Bummer. Any ideas? We just moved to a new place, and we don't know anyone here. I feel like we are alone in a new place with nothing to do. Hot Lava Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 My ds finally found his crowd when he started playing D&D. He is playing in a Star Wars RPG now. Music lesson have also been good for both my kids. One plays drums and flute, the other plays guitar and clarinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 My son is also not a sports fan. Boy scouts I didn't even bother with. He takes ballet lessons several times a week. He started when he was 7. Now that he is 12 he is pretty good. He is in a school that has a company so he has opportunity to have very small roles in the performances. He tried soccer and a few other sports, but he says that ballet is much more challenging and he likes it better. This year he joined a youth theater company. He was Oliver this winter and is currently in rehearsals for Oklahoma. He likes that very much and met some very nice kids. He also enjoys D&D and other such games. It helps that daddy plays those games as well. They have a lot of fun on the weekend. His father makes sure it is all geared towards kids, doesn't get too violent etc. We have the Star Wars one also, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Lava Mama Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 What's that? Never heard of it??! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasia Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I also have a ballet dancer. :) He's also not really into sports, but actually likes tennis and golf. He takes tennis lessons once a week throughout the school year and took them three days per week last summer. He's done a few tournaments, but prefers lessons and just playing casual games with friends. He just plays golf occasionally with his dad and brothers, but a lot of the golf courses around here offer junior memberships and lessons for teenagers, so that might be worth checking out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) My kids are both into theatre and performing arts in general. My 14-year-old son takes dance and voice lessons and does community theatre when he can. He also spends lots of time imagining and making costumes. He sings with a choir. He's active in the church youth group and volunteers during the school year at the local science museum. This summer, he's volunteering as a junior counselor for day camps run by a local theatre and participating in extra-long weekly rehearsals as the choir prepares for their tour in August. One other thing he really enjoyed for a while was model rocketry. There's a group here that meets one Saturday morning a month to launch and chat and show off their latest projects. He did it for a couple of years before there got to be too many conflicts with theatre stuff. What's that? Never heard of it??! Dungeons and Dragons. It's a role playing game that's been around in various incarnations for several decades. My son plays occasionally, too. Edited June 21, 2012 by Jenny in Florida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Lava Mama Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Is this an on-line thing? Is it a group meeting type of setting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 My ds13 isn't into sports. We tried Boy Scouts. Not his thing. The church activities for the summer are limited to "camps" that have already started. He already swims well, so swim lessons don't work. The swim teams have already started and not accepting anyone else. Bummer. Any ideas? We just moved to a new place, and we don't know anyone here. I feel like we are alone in a new place with nothing to do. Hot Lava Mama In addition to swimming (summer league and doing volunteer mentoring with the younger swimmers), the two older guys are volunteering with Vacation Bible School (separate staff group from the youth group and summer camp), going to a Christian summer camp (through OCF, a group we've been active in for years), volunteering with the Friends of the Library booksale (set up and sale dates), volunteering at a local historic site (this particular one runs a year long apprentice program, but others take on volunteers at any time), running in the morning to prep for the next 5k race (this son goes out with a couple neighbors, but I've also seen a number of running stores have organized running groups) and just playing in the yard with friends. We're also still up to our eyeballs with school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 FWIW, for us, volunteering with activities or groups has been the shortcut to getting connected. We also do the coffee service at church every couple of months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Is this an on-line thing? Is it a group meeting type of setting? Either or both. In the dark ages when my friends and I started playing, it was all on paper and in our minds. Nowadays, some folks still play that way, but there is also an online multiplayer version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I forgot that many libraries are running their summer reading program. They often have special programming in addition to the standard read and get prizes reading logs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Is this an on-line thing? Is it a group meeting type of setting? Well, my kids play with what my dh has from when he was a teenager. That was a good long time ago, lol. You need a rule book (I think) and some special dice. And you need friends who play, lol. Oh, and papers. I am always finding paper with things scribbled on them and my kids tell me these papers are very important and cannot be tossed. :lol: My boys like playing because you create characters and their whole back story. They like to write stories about them. There is a game leader who creates an adventure for the characters. This can take weeks or even months to play out. It takes a lot of creativity and thought to pull it off. The game was inspired by Tolkien's world. You can be a wizard, a 'halfling' an elf, a dwarf etc, etc. You have magic powers and fight with swords. It's all done on paper and there are points to be gained and lost. my 7 year old is an addition wiz thanks to the dice. I don't play so all I know is gleaned from their conversations. It isn't for everyone. It's not for me! But, for my dh and my boys it has been a really fun way to pass cold winter afternoons. They really enjoy each others company and get to be creative. My dh works in a few moral lessons and non-violent conflict resolution as well. He has had run some fun dad/kid D&D afternoons at the church as well. For boys who are not really into sports (and some who are) and their dads it has been a big hit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoot Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 DS13 is a baseball fanatic. He plays spring and fall ball every year and has since he was 5. He's also a black belt and student teacher in Korean Martial Arts and has been involved in this for 8 yrs. In the fall this year he will be testing for his 2nd degree. Outside of sports, he's REALLY into film-making and acting. He used his iPod to film a recreation of Harry Potter using Lego sets. In July he is going to a film-making camp at a local community college and if we can swing it financially, we're contemplating sending him to an acting camp that focuses on auditions, portfolios, monologues etc. He's also into music but doesn't take lessons or anything right now. He's done drum lessons in the past when he was in public school but we just haven't found a good private teacher yet. Together we volunteer at a local zoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Civil Air Patrol? FIRST Robotics team? Volunteering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joani Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 If your son likes swimming and doesn't hate running, maybe he'd be interested in training for and competing in triathlons? That's my 13 year old's current obsession. Depending on your area, there should be other camps besides church camps that he can either attend or volunteer as a counselor-in-training with. Maybe there's a swim camp nearby? Check with universities or ask at the swim club. My kids are into everything. Swimming, diving, cross-country, track, biking, soccer, baseball, gymnastics, cheerleading, music, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 My girls aren't teens yet... but a friend of mine with teens shared this on facebook -- perhaps it'll inspire (or perhaps offend) your kids: Northland College (NZ) principal John Tapene has offered the following words from a judge who regularly deals with youth. “Always we hear the cry from teenagers ‘What can we do, where can we go?’… My answer is, “Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons, and after you’ve finished, read a book.†“Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun. The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something. You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in poverty or sick and lonely again.†“In other words, grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone. Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and you are needed. It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday. Someday is now and that somebody is you…â€â€œ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmamainva Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 My 12yo plays a lot of music in his spare time (piano & drums mostly). He enjoys playing video and computer games. He volunteers for the Special Olympics every Saturday and he participates in Tae Kwon Do (he's a 1st degree Black belt) 3 times a week. For summer fun, we have season passes to Busch Gardens and we try to get there at least every other week for a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Calvin is teaching himself to play the bass guitar. He also sings in an (intermittent) band and in his school choir. He plays games online with his friends and has the same friends over to play. He listens to music and talks about it online. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 My ds isn't a teen yet. He will be 12 in a couple of weeks, though. He is into: Baseball Juggling Wrestling Acting Film making Aviation (hoping to start Civil Air Patrol this year) Any thing with a screen and/or buttons Really, he could easily fall into the habit of just doing the last thing on the list. So, keeping him busy is good. He would like a job, but where does a 12 get a job these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Is this an on-line thing? Is it a group meeting type of setting? I guess you can play about anything online, but D&D is classically played in a group, that is what we love about it. Redsquirrel gave you a good overview. My ds is also creative and likes writing, so he likes the story and character development aspects. He also likes the interaction. They get to go and take on the role of someone else for a couple of hours, lots of creativity! There is also a lot of team work and problems solving. You are on a quest to do something. Various things will come in your way, monsters, puzzles, whatever. Your team has to work together to get through. No one player can do it on their own. Each has their own abilities and strengths. One might be great with weapons, another with magic for fighting another with dexterous so they can disarm traps, pick locks, get through difficult places. However, all of them will probably die if they don't have along a character that can perform some healing spells :). Ds does a lot of loner activities. He likes video games, writes profusely and reads everything he can find. I love that D&D brings him out of that shell and into a group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 TONS of ideas in this past thread -- What extracurricular activities for the high school years? -- and MANY of the ideas are for middle school aged students, too, so read through the whole thing to see what strikes a chord! :) Congratulations on the move, and may you all quickly feel at home! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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