Seeking worthwhile (or not!!) human tricks for summer-bored tweens
June 22, 2020 7:39 AM Subscribe
Got a couple of tweens (11- and 13-years old) hanging around the house this summer. Though we have a basic daily plan, we could use some prompts to inspire self-directed "learning" of a carefree, summery sort.
We've got a sort of loose "curriculum," such that they need to do about 45 minutes daily in each of these categories: movement, math, creativity, community (for us white people, this includes anti-racism and other self-educating and action-oriented things), reading/writing, and the always-popular: "chores!". Never fear, these activities take up only about 3-4 hours and leaves them PLENTY of time for gaming with friends, eating popsicles, bothering the dog, and lolling around.
I wanted to add another (optional) "learn something" category...and here's where all of you come in! My list of fun options is woefully short: learn to whistle with a blade of grass, spin a hula hoop on your ankle, make a slingshot that can knock a can over at 15 feet, make a Rube Goldberg machine.
Any other ideas? They can be very UN-educational, circus-like, non-enriching, or just plain dumb.
We've got a sort of loose "curriculum," such that they need to do about 45 minutes daily in each of these categories: movement, math, creativity, community (for us white people, this includes anti-racism and other self-educating and action-oriented things), reading/writing, and the always-popular: "chores!". Never fear, these activities take up only about 3-4 hours and leaves them PLENTY of time for gaming with friends, eating popsicles, bothering the dog, and lolling around.
I wanted to add another (optional) "learn something" category...and here's where all of you come in! My list of fun options is woefully short: learn to whistle with a blade of grass, spin a hula hoop on your ankle, make a slingshot that can knock a can over at 15 feet, make a Rube Goldberg machine.
Any other ideas? They can be very UN-educational, circus-like, non-enriching, or just plain dumb.
Plenty of fun things in:
The Dangerous Book for Boys
The Daring Book for Girls
Backyard Ballistics
Adafruit's projects for kids
Make Magazine archives
posted by jquinby at 8:02 AM on June 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
The Dangerous Book for Boys
The Daring Book for Girls
Backyard Ballistics
Adafruit's projects for kids
Make Magazine archives
posted by jquinby at 8:02 AM on June 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
I will be watching this space with great interest!
Calligraphy, juggling, origami, knitting, crocheting, needle felting, cross stitch, acroyoga.
posted by sacrifix at 8:04 AM on June 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Calligraphy, juggling, origami, knitting, crocheting, needle felting, cross stitch, acroyoga.
posted by sacrifix at 8:04 AM on June 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Could they learn about community cats and perhaps make some outdoor feral cat enclosures?
posted by janepanic at 8:22 AM on June 22, 2020
posted by janepanic at 8:22 AM on June 22, 2020
So far my kid has taken an online Red Cross CPR course, learned to solve a Rubik's cube, and is now trying to learn how to write with his non-dominant hand. He's also interested in learning how to speed-read and how to read Braille.
posted by mezzanayne at 8:28 AM on June 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by mezzanayne at 8:28 AM on June 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Penny whistles are portable, fairly easy to learn and inexpensive, except for some oddly pricey ones. Maybe they are "concert" penny whistles. They come in several keys but the "D" is standard.
posted by Botanizer at 8:42 AM on June 22, 2020
posted by Botanizer at 8:42 AM on June 22, 2020
One summer, many years ago when I was laid up with a back injury (I was 15) I did what mezzanayne child is doing, learning to write with my non dominant hand. I became ambidextrous that summer. I can write and eat and throw a ball with either hand. It was something to do. I was surprised by how much attention it got from my friends and random strangers. If I am sitting next to a righty at a dinner table I eat with my right hand. If I am sitting next to a lefty, I eat with my left hand so as not to bump into them. Without thinking I switch hands with my fork all the time apparently because I have had several dates where the person asked me about it. Playing softball, depending on whether I am playing 3rd base of 1st, I play with a righty mitt or a lefty mitt.
If your kids can do that, I guarantee their friends and teachers at school will marvel at the ability. It is just practice. I think pretty much anyone can do it. As an aside, and I never reached this level, I had a teacher in college that started a sentence on the blackboard (long time ago) with his left hand and at the same time was writing the rest of the sentence with his right hand. He wrote a complete sentence in line neatly with two hands at once!
I would also learn to juggle, learn to cook, and learn to do a wheelie on a bike.
Perhaps as a parent, you can set up some kind of treasure hunt with clues that involves being outside looking for different things and when they find the "oak tree next to the clover patch" there is another clue that directs them somewhere else in the yard or neighborhood until they find some sort of treasure. My mom did that for me and my brothers and the last clue was actually a cooler stashed outside that had ice cream and spoons in it.
posted by AugustWest at 9:30 AM on June 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
If your kids can do that, I guarantee their friends and teachers at school will marvel at the ability. It is just practice. I think pretty much anyone can do it. As an aside, and I never reached this level, I had a teacher in college that started a sentence on the blackboard (long time ago) with his left hand and at the same time was writing the rest of the sentence with his right hand. He wrote a complete sentence in line neatly with two hands at once!
I would also learn to juggle, learn to cook, and learn to do a wheelie on a bike.
Perhaps as a parent, you can set up some kind of treasure hunt with clues that involves being outside looking for different things and when they find the "oak tree next to the clover patch" there is another clue that directs them somewhere else in the yard or neighborhood until they find some sort of treasure. My mom did that for me and my brothers and the last clue was actually a cooler stashed outside that had ice cream and spoons in it.
posted by AugustWest at 9:30 AM on June 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
Some neighbors have 4 sons ranging from 8 to 16. They built a treehouse with their dad. One kid learned embroidery. another learned how to crochet. Another learned some basic auto mechanics and helped change the oil. They all have been making lots of art, not surprising as both parents are artists. All of them have been baking and making meals, including dessert, of course, and documenting it with pictures and videos. Your kids are plenty old enough to be responsible for planning and making meals a couple of days a week at least.
posted by mareli at 9:31 AM on June 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by mareli at 9:31 AM on June 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
I would provide or offer to provide, dependent on cost, ukelele, nice reading spots and books, fort building materials - tent if possible , with camping gear, white fabric/ clothing &dyes for tie-dye and shibori, plant dye material like onion and avocado skins and pits, go berry picking and make pie and/or jam. Dance music, weather station and barometer. Build a computer from parts or tree build operating system from scratch. Ham radio is still around; freecycle will find a radio. Learning to sew and making masks. Basic water safety and how to tie knots, row a boat.
Most of all, have a meeting, offer ideas, ask them what projects they think they should do, and how you can help. Assign research on Basic Life Skills then let them choose .
posted by theora55 at 9:45 AM on June 22, 2020
Most of all, have a meeting, offer ideas, ask them what projects they think they should do, and how you can help. Assign research on Basic Life Skills then let them choose .
posted by theora55 at 9:45 AM on June 22, 2020
I was a kid back when boredom was a summer staple. I successfully taught myself to juggle and unsuccessfully tried to teach myself how to ride a unicycle. Yo-yo tricks? Skateboard tricks? Pseudo-scientific experiments? I explored whether cannonballs or can openers produced bigger splash patterns around our pool (on a hot enough summer day the decking dried out extremely fast). Photography projects? Journaling? Cooking? Build an obstacle course?
For me that was also the age people started getting camcorders, so there were bad movies nobody saw. I would assume the modern version of this is "whatever looks cool on TikTok," so now everybody gets to see their creative process, but it's pretty much the same "kids + boredom + video = ???"
posted by fedward at 10:04 AM on June 22, 2020
For me that was also the age people started getting camcorders, so there were bad movies nobody saw. I would assume the modern version of this is "whatever looks cool on TikTok," so now everybody gets to see their creative process, but it's pretty much the same "kids + boredom + video = ???"
posted by fedward at 10:04 AM on June 22, 2020
Ah, one more: the National Weather Service has been running a number of online classes for storm spotters - how thunderstorms work, where tornadoes come from, hurricane awareness, etc. These are usually run by the local weather forecast office - this map will help you locate yours (assuming you're in the US). They're offered at no cost and are usually well done. They've recently been branching out to do even more kid's programs and I usually see them mentioning them via twitter.
posted by jquinby at 10:19 AM on June 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by jquinby at 10:19 AM on June 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
Neat question! Slack-lines, juggling, and unicycles all require some material investment, but can fill a lot of hours. (If I were the kid, I'd probably vote for a new musical instrument or an introduction to electronics kit instead. Most of my friends would have gone for modeling clay or paint. Perhaps those are too educational and long-term.)
Making them invent the list of tasks themselves might be a start.
A Rube Goldberg machine sounds great. Consider adding a random element to it: roll the dice to decide on the goal and the required element. (e.g., fill the cat food bowl, incorporate a clothing iron.) That also makes it easy to repeat in different ways.
With the caveat that this was made by people I consider friends, SF0 has lots of fun ideas, with more if you scroll to the bottom left and click on "retired." Some are not kid-appropriate or CV-19 appropriate. But, some of them would be good: "make a working sundial," "build a sculpture out of stuff found on the street," "go fishing for something that is not fish," etc. Making the first task the creation of new tasks could also be fun.
posted by eotvos at 10:24 AM on June 22, 2020
Making them invent the list of tasks themselves might be a start.
A Rube Goldberg machine sounds great. Consider adding a random element to it: roll the dice to decide on the goal and the required element. (e.g., fill the cat food bowl, incorporate a clothing iron.) That also makes it easy to repeat in different ways.
With the caveat that this was made by people I consider friends, SF0 has lots of fun ideas, with more if you scroll to the bottom left and click on "retired." Some are not kid-appropriate or CV-19 appropriate. But, some of them would be good: "make a working sundial," "build a sculpture out of stuff found on the street," "go fishing for something that is not fish," etc. Making the first task the creation of new tasks could also be fun.
posted by eotvos at 10:24 AM on June 22, 2020
I know someone whose party trick was splitting an apple in half with her bare hands. Could be fun to impress friends with whenever school or camps get going again!
posted by wsquared at 11:18 AM on June 22, 2020
posted by wsquared at 11:18 AM on June 22, 2020
Avner the Eccentric is the epitome. I've met him and seen several performances over the years, recommend. He pulled a quarter out of my young son's ear, to So Much Awe.
posted by theora55 at 12:11 PM on June 22, 2020
posted by theora55 at 12:11 PM on June 22, 2020
This is more "structured", though still meant not to be "school". If either is interested in Natural History, then this might be an option (paste of blurb below):
Natural History Summer Explorations. For the first time, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is offering FREE summer “camps” that you can experience from home. Join us for a virtual summer program series that allows youth to explore the world of natural history science in a fun and interactive way. Natural History Summer Explorations are recommended for children in grades 3-7, but all are welcome to attend. Each week museum educators will explore a different theme in natural science with a suite of daily live webinars, activities, and projects featuring artists and Smithsonian science experts. July programs will focus on the ocean and paleontology. Register today!
posted by gudrun at 12:22 PM on June 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Natural History Summer Explorations. For the first time, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is offering FREE summer “camps” that you can experience from home. Join us for a virtual summer program series that allows youth to explore the world of natural history science in a fun and interactive way. Natural History Summer Explorations are recommended for children in grades 3-7, but all are welcome to attend. Each week museum educators will explore a different theme in natural science with a suite of daily live webinars, activities, and projects featuring artists and Smithsonian science experts. July programs will focus on the ocean and paleontology. Register today!
posted by gudrun at 12:22 PM on June 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Teaching the dog baroque tricks and putting on a dog circus.
Learning to juggle
Learning to play the harmonica/bongo drum/guitar
Slackline in the backyard and learn to walk across it
Learn to longboard skateboard
Community improvement project: park cleanup, community mural, community planting, built a bench for a park/the sidewalk in front of your house.
Master a very impressive 3-course menu and throw the family a fancy dinner party.
Learn to do a handstand
Nurture a sourdough starter and bake sourdough bread
posted by amaire at 12:31 PM on June 22, 2020
Learning to juggle
Learning to play the harmonica/bongo drum/guitar
Slackline in the backyard and learn to walk across it
Learn to longboard skateboard
Community improvement project: park cleanup, community mural, community planting, built a bench for a park/the sidewalk in front of your house.
Master a very impressive 3-course menu and throw the family a fancy dinner party.
Learn to do a handstand
Nurture a sourdough starter and bake sourdough bread
posted by amaire at 12:31 PM on June 22, 2020
Origami
posted by AugustWest at 12:35 PM on June 22, 2020
posted by AugustWest at 12:35 PM on June 22, 2020
Build and stock a little free library or pantry in the community?
posted by beignet at 9:25 PM on June 22, 2020
posted by beignet at 9:25 PM on June 22, 2020
Response by poster: Love the range of suggestions! Thanks so much all.
posted by dreamphone at 6:45 AM on June 23, 2020
posted by dreamphone at 6:45 AM on June 23, 2020
My daughter suggests sewing and embroidery. Among other simple projects, the kids could learn to make cloth masks (very important right now), monogram easily-lost clothing items, and do some basic mending. Also, great for making homemade presents.
posted by mbrubeck at 12:09 PM on June 28, 2020
posted by mbrubeck at 12:09 PM on June 28, 2020
Coming back to add, if you have a yard, and the kids have any interest in Natural History, you all can build a nocturnal insect trap (youtube link).
posted by gudrun at 7:43 AM on July 6, 2020
posted by gudrun at 7:43 AM on July 6, 2020
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posted by tmdonahue at 7:57 AM on June 22, 2020 [5 favorites]