Do your teens have any hobbies? What non-electronic, non-athletic things do your kids do when they are bored?
Hmmmm... I can understand the non-electric, but if my boys are fighting boredom, then the basketball hoop, riding their bikes, throwing a football, using their slingshots- all would kind of be considered athletic, but not really a hobby. I think boredom-fighters and hobbies might be two different things at our house. I have three boys- 16, 14, and 11. One son likes to draw.... everywhere! If he has a scrap of paper the size of a post-it, it will have a drawing on it. One son likes to play Sudoko and listen to music or an audio book. All of them are currently writing their own books, a half a chapter at a time! My 11-yr old is a multi-tasker at fighting boredom. He listens to music, puts together Legos, does a puzzle, molds with clay, uses his Nerf target set in his room, builds forts and has battles- you name it. Two sons play the piano, and will sometimes sit at the piano or their keyboard and play. Oldest DS plays by ear, so will hear a song on the radio, and then you can hear him plunking out the notes until he figures out the melody, and then he adds the chords. Amazing. I've taught my boys how to cross-stitch. Each has made a project for his room, and are currently looking at ideas for Christmas gifts for their grandmothers. Their grandmother introduced them to those scratch-art posters, and those are good for quiet afternoons. If boredom is really a problem then I fall back on my motto- Everything is better with a cookie! We head to the kitchen and whip up a batch of cookies. Sometimes "rock, paper, scissors" becomes the tool to choose what kind. lol Or we will make something different for dinner- browsing through some cookbooks or cooking magazines for a few minutes to get inspiration. HTH, MT3
Hmmm....my ds15 plays bass guitar. He often combines playing it with watching a video on youtube that he plays along with or he is wearing his earbuds or listening to a CD. Even his bass is technically electronic. :lol: He also collects swords and enjoys taking them outside and wielding them around. I love the fact that he takes it very seriously and isn't afraid to "imagine" in front of others. Dd12 draws, writes songs (on the computer), dabbles in piano and loves to swim and play softball. Guess we are an sporty, electronic family. :lol:
My daughter has gotten into making friendship bracelets. Its easy and cheap. Use YOU TUBE to get some "lessons" ..... my sons like putting together little wood projects ..... the kind from the craft store and painting them. (the girls like them too) my daughter loves to bake and also has turned into a little gardener.
Non-electronic? Boy, you want to make it difficult, don't you? Faythe reads and draws, does jig-saw puzzles. Rachael plays music. Phillip...no telling WHAT he might be doing...mostly complaining that there's "nothing to do"!
I am looking for ideas. Ds16 is not much of a complainer but today said that he needed a hobby. I try to limit electronics in the summer to no more than 2 hours (but I'm sure there have been days when it's been more). He doesn't care for sports, but he'll occasionally go for a bike ride, but that's half an hour out of a whole long day. My girls will draw or write, but he's not into either of those things. This son is very talented on the piano, but he's not one to just fool around on the piano like I see some kids do.
That's an interesting question. Yes, for years he was into Legos. But he's 16 now and he doesn't play with them any more. But about 2 months ago I brought the Legos up from the basement, allegedly for my daughter to play with, but I figured he would join in when he saw them, and sure enough, he did. I think part of the problem is that he still doesn't feel like he has friends he can relax with. We moved almost a year ago. He has done one full school year at this new school as a part-time student. Because he only does 2 classes there, he still feels a bit of the outsider, even though he seems to be generally well liked. He's also socially aware enough to question whether some of the things that he likes to do would be thought of as too odd or get him labeled negatively, and he doesn't want to take the chance of asking kids to join in these activities (I'm speculating). He likes Nerf gun fights, Dungeons and Dragons, and battling with foam swords. He has painted Warhammer miniatures in the past, but he's not as meticulous as some guys are...I think he'd prefer to play with them than to paint them. So, I guess I'm just looking for ideas to help him out. I wish he had gotten a job. Next summer.
Does he like collecting things? I think you are right, he's getting to the age where a summer job would be perfect.
I didn't realize he was that old. You might check into the LEGO Mindstorm stuff. It's robotics using LEGOS, but is rather expensive. They have teams for high school kids, where they compete. We've a friend who got a full-ride scholarship based on what he did with it.
He could set up a D&D group. There's still plenty of people who like to play it. Sometimes people put up notes for groups starting at comic book stores. Most of the comic book stores hold games too, Magic, D&D, or other tabletop games. That way he can meet like minded people. If he's into artistic stuff, I find rubber stamp carving for letterboxing entertaining. (www.atlasquest.com) It's always fun to go out as a family and find the letterboxes too. Plus coming up with coded clues might be a fun hobby too.
I guess I forgot that Ds15 mows lawns with Dh in the summer. It's a great gig if your Ds16 is so inclined. If he enjoys/enjoyed Legos and sword stuff, maybe he just needs to take it to the next level. Would he enjoy learning to build things or weld? Maybe he would like to collect swords or learn sword fighting.
I suppose I have my own prejudices against DnD. I'd be okay if he found a group of kids who do it, but I'd rather he got a different hobby. I've always thought geocaching sounded interesting. I like the idea that it would get him outdoors too. I think I'll suggest that to him. I've never heard of letterboxing, but I'll explore the link. It sounds similar to geocaching, but there's art miniatures and codes to go along with it? I'll go check out the link more. I'll let you know how he responds to both of these. Thanks.
Letterboxing is actually cheaper. All you need is a stamp, a compass, and something to stamp into (we use a hard-bound journal you can get cheaply at Half-Price Books). You get on-line, print off the directions, and try to find the letterbox. Like a treasure hunt!
We do geocaching as a family. Oldest two DS's are also mowing lawns this summer with two of their friends. Ask DS what he is interested in- maybe there is an "apprentice" type job he can look into. Woodworking, mechanics, fish and game, taxidermist, bakery, housepainting, etc. A local taxidermist here uses one or two teenagers each fall to help in his busiest times of preparing hides, etc. Another businessman we know hired a college kid home for the summer to help him with his housepainting jobs. Fish and game use volunteers to help re-seed areas, stock ponds, clean waterways, and all sorts of things. Our oldest DS is actually thinking of signing up for some projects later in the fall. Some of these could be considered jobs, and some as volunteer work. Check a local school or local artisans. Is there someone in town who does woodworking or metalwork that DS might learn from? A pottery place? Contact your 4-H office and see if they have robotics groups, or government/speech groups... our local sign-ups are in October I think. (Just make sure you aren't calling the 4-H office during fair week- they won't be in the office!!) MT3
My 14yo boy is doing wood working and carpentry. He use to be a lego fanatic but has out grew the Lego's My 18 plays guitar, piano and all things instrument. He self teaches any instrument we can buy him.
Ha! I saw your post while I'm sitting here listening to my son who is 16 play guitar. That's pretty much all he does these days! But his other hobbies have been, maybe to a degree still are, model rocketry, photography, and art. For his rocketry, we never invested huge amounts of money. He is happiest just designing his own with paper towel rolls, wrapping paper rolls, etc. He paints them with whatever paint we have around and scrounges recyclables for nose cone parts. He's even used old elastic from underwear we were using as rags for parts. Pretty much everything is from something recycled. For his photography and art, he combines these with projects on the computer - I know that's electronic, but he's made some incredible graphic projects, so I haven't really counted that.
