Work/volunteering for teen with awkward schedule?

[Teaching3bears]

My 16-year old son has practices early morning and late afternoon/evening this summer.   His practices are outdoors and he bikes to and from and he comes back and showers and eats.  He is free after between 11 and 3:30.  He is basically watching videos, playing Minecraft and chess online.  He is free some weekends and at competitions for others.  I wish he could fill up at least a couple of his days with some work or volunteer work.  The hours are awkward and most of what I have found is work in camps and he, understandably, does not want to spend more time in the hot sun.  What kind of work/volunteer work/community involvement might be available indoors during these hours?  He is hardworking and responsible but quiet, shy and not a self-starter.  I have thought of dishwasher in a restaurant, or assistant to a house painter (indoor painting) but he has never done that before.  We live in a suburban neighborhood.  Any ideas of how to fill his time?  

[freesia]

Volunteer at the library? Some food pantries distribute mid-day. Babysitting ( maybe a mom with little kids would love to have him come each week for a few hours,)

[Pawz4me]

Our county animal shelter has volunteers who come in to play with the dogs and cats, including taking the dogs outside for walks. Once the volunteer is approved for the program (there's a required training session first) they can come any time the shelter is open.

[catz]

I know homeschool kids that have worked lunch rush at fast food or a restaurant.  If there are potential options like this, I might encourage him to walk in and talk to a manager at a non busy time.   These are typical entry level, I wouldn’t worry about experience.  

[KungFuPanda]

Are there places that distribute free school lunches in the summer? They may take volunteers. I knew someone whose charity organization put together craft kits for hospitalized kids. That would work with an erratic schedule. Any restaurant could probably use lunch help. He could start a small lawn service and maybe mow one lawn a day. 

[lmrich]

coffee shop or little cafe for the lunch rush would be great 

I would start with what is close by and look there. 

[Katy]

I’ll be the dissenter here. He’s still a kid and he’s working hard in those practices. Let him play in his time off. 

[Bambam]

Some options we have locally:
1. Food/clothing pantry. The incoming clothes need sorted and hung up - which is done separately from their distribution days/times.
2. Foster kid items closet - again, incoming donations much be sorted and stored. Usually small groups volunteer at specific times. They are either given keys or someone meets them there to let them in. 

Other ideas (not organized group, individual or small group work)
1. Find someone who needs some yard work (pruning bushes, weeding flower beds, that type stuff) - elderly, financially limited folks.
2. Consider asking if a local nursing home would appreciate him coming in to help residents with tutoring them on how to use their phones, etc. 

[alisoncooks]

I’ll repeat what’s already been said: our local food pantry looks for homeschooled kids to fill 3 hour shifts during the day. May be an option. Or look for a diner/restaurant that wants someone to bus tables/work drive through for the lunch crowd. 

[Kassia]

Two of my kids volunteered at the library and it was a good experience for them.

[Bootsie]

It sounds as if his activity keeps him relatively busy and involved, so I would not be concerned about several hours of mid-day downtime during the summer, especially if he has a fairly busy school-year schedule.  

Some volunteer activities that have flexible hours might be:  shelving books at the library, reading to kids in a summer reading program, playing and bathing animals at the animal shelter, providing assistance for a children's minister, working lunchtime in a soup kitchen, doing odd jobs for a non-profit (stuffing envelopes, assembling packets, making name tags, etc.).  Is there some volunteer activity associated with the activity he is involved with?  

Some possible job activities would be tutoring, one-on-one coaching in his activity, babysitting (there may be a local group with a lunch meeting that needs a sitter), or covering for someone during a lunch break.

[catz]

If you're just looking for something to fill time for the rest of the summer, I would likely let it go too now that we're pushing late July.  Between hiring process and training, very few places would be willing to do that for less than a couple months.   If he were itching for something to do, I might like find him a self programming paced course on Udemy or something like that to work through while he has some down time.   Or I might create a job list at home - like dejunking his room or the basement, pulling weeds, wash the car, etc.

[Catwoman]

2 hours ago, Katy said:

I’ll be the dissenter here. He’s still a kid and he’s working hard in those practices. Let him play in his time off. 

I absolutely agree with this!

Why shouldn't he have some time each day to relax during the summer? It is supposed to be summer vacation, after all, and if his options are either a job or volunteering, it doesn't sound like the family needs him to make extra money right now; it seems more like his parents don't want him to "waste" his time playing some Minecraft and chess online. I have never understood the need to keep kids busy every hour of the day -- it's not like this young man is getting into trouble or hanging out with sketchy friends, so why not let him enjoy his few hours a day of downtime this summer?

[fairfarmhand]

If it's just 4 hours and the screen time bugs you, can't you just give him some parameters?

No screen time till x oclock.

Or you have to do x y and z chores before you play Minecraft? 

It annoys me how much my ds15 gravitates toward video games, but I really think that if your son is working hard at his sports, then having him work at something else midday is no fun. Let him have fun, but maybe figure out other kinds of fun to go along with his video games.

[Clarita]

Not that I think he needs to fill the hours, but elderly homes/convalescent hospitals can be a good fit. Not many people want to do those but they are pretty low key. As a teen volunteer he wouldn't be allowed to do any of the actual heavy lifting, most of the work is just socializing with the elderly. It's not hard work, mostly indoors, and pretty flexible.   

[Teaching3bears]

Teaching tech in a nursing home might interest him and there is a nursing  home near me.  Do I have to worry about Covid there?  
He might be willing to do a bit of babysitting and I think it would be good for him.  I don’t know anyone who needs it.  Is there a way to advertise or respond to advertising?  

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Teaching3bears
Spelling

[Clarita]

3 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

Do I have to worry about Covid there?

I don't have an answer to that question.

3 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

He might be willing to do a bit of babysitting and I think it would be good for him.  I don’t know anyone who needs it.  Is there a way to advertise or respond to advertising?  

I've found teens (especially boys) have an easier time finding babysitting work if they volunteer to so something like Sunday School at church, or be an assistant coach for little kid sports (but of course that's outdoors).  Sometimes parents will connect with teens/or likely ask for their parent information there because their children get along well with them. Also the adults in charge might vouch for them especially if they are responsible and helpful.

[Clemsondana]

10 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

Teaching tech in a nursing home might interest him and there is a nursing  home near me.  Do I have to worry about Covid there?  
He might be willing to do a bit of babysitting and I think it would be good for him.  I don’t know anyone who needs it.  Is there a way to advertise or respond to advertising?  

 

This probably depends on where you are, but our 'violin recital in the retirement home' has been back for a year or more.  

I don't think there's one right answer for this issue. Both of my kids have extracurriculars in the summer with down time.  One tries to spend it all socially.  The other likes to do low-key school and do time-intensive but not difficult credits. Drawing for fine arts, a computing elective with a lot of coding, meandering through part of a probability 1/2 credit, reading books for a 'many books' history class, and this summer, heading into senior year, choosing to knock out a DE credit...would getting a jump start on school for part of that time appeal?  If you are just trying to reduce the game time, maybe kid would like spending part of that time coding for credit?