NeuroTalk Support Groups - View Single Post - Need indoor activity ideas for 12 y.o. boy

FaithS · 02-14-2009, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dejibo

My husband suggested a book on comic book art, and some simple paper to practice, or...oragami! he said he loved that crap as a kid. A chance to do homework, or lots of positive help from him would be great, as long as HE gets a chance to relax, and just be taken care of too. My husband wants to remind that sometimes the boys are given work to do when girls get a chance to play...pfffft...yea, I giggled at him too. I brought up that girls playing with dolls prepares them for mother hood, and juggling a family. I sometimes just pat him on the head, and let him think he is right.

Clearly video games wins the race if you ask a kid, but video games can be quite addictive, and non productive. Reading, drawing, homework, or puzzles can be fun. get his brain in gear.

Got to talk with him about it today. I told him that I'd been thinking about things for him to do, while he was there, that might be enjoyable for him. He told me that he'd been thinking about it A LOT since yesterday. I said that I wanted to hear his ideas first.

He said that some of the things that he enjoyed doing were reading and drawing. I told him that I remembered that he'd enjoyed those things when he was younger, and, that I wondered if he still did, and had planned to ask him about that. (I don't remember if I mentioned it, but he and his younger sister used to be in my licensed day care home 5 years ago.)

I said that bringing his own choice of book from home would work fine for when he was in the Books and Quiet Games center. And, that, when it was his turn for the Coloring center, he could do his drawings. I suggested creating a comic book. And, he quickly brought out three art books from his backpack, which he said that his dad had purchased for him. One was specifically about comic book art. He also brought out a sketch book and showed me his drawings, which were of characters that he planned to be in his comic book. People, this kid is INCREDIBLE! If I had seen his art work and not known who did it, I could have believed that it was done by a professional adult artist. Other kids saw his work, too, and wanted just to go watch him draw during his coloring center time; they were very impressed.

I didn't remember to suggest homework, but I'll do that when I see him next week.

We also talked about whether he might be interested in doing the reading to other kids during my "teacher reading" center that we do once or twice a week. We're currently reading Stuart Little. He thought he'd be interested in that.

And, I said that when he was scheduled to be in the Block or Lego center, he'd probably have lots of creative ideas of things to build, if he'd be interested in helping other kids. He thought he'd enjoy that. I told him that, for me, it was a real bonus to have an older kid at day care, because he could be such a help.

We discussed other things that we sometimes do, like arts and crafts, playing with goop, playing board games and card games, etc. And, I said he'd also have the option to go to what I sometimes used as a 5th center, where kids, especially the older ones, could work on something independently, if they needed a break from younger kids, or were bored with the planned center activities.

I asked him about Origami, and he thought he'd like that. So, I might ask the day care center about purchasing some Origami paper for us. I'd probably have him do that independently, rather than planning it as a center activity. He seemed real comfortable with some of our plans for him.

When his mom picked him up, she asked if he had behaved. I've hardly ever seen him NOT behave; he's a good kid. She said that he'd thought it might not be fun, because there were so many little kids. I told her about some of our conversation. He must have been more worried than I'd realized about being bored, if he'd thought a lot about possible ideas, and talked with his mom about it.

I'm feeling good about our plans. And, it is SO good to have the two of them back.

And, thank you, so much, everybody, for your ideas and suggestions. They really helped me to plan today's conversation with him.

~ Faith