|
Need indoor activity ideas for 12 y.o. boy
Need ideas.
I work, after school, at a child care center in the school age program. Many of the kids are K-2 grades. Usually, we rotate to different centers for an hour or more each afternoon. Centers often include things like legos, blocks, coloring (I'm suprprised they still enjoy those things are their age, but they do). A 12 y.o. boy started today; he is older than many of the kids, and I expect that he will be bored very quickly. Another thing that we do is play board games, or card games, and he might enjoy that. He might also be able to be a helper, role model with the building kinds of toys for the younger kids. But, does anyone have any suggestions about other ideas for things that he could do, indedpendently, in a center of his own. Or, other center ideas that I could plan that might interest him, as well as the younger school age kids? He's a cool kid, and I don't want him to dislike coming there. ~ Faith |
It would be wonderful if he would read to the younger kids! Does he like to read? Start him on the classics and he will be hooked for life.
|
See if he was a girl I would have all kinds of fun craft ideas for you. I know nothing about boys! (other than they are mean, smell like boys and like to make messes). Decoupage maybe?
My 14 yr old nephew is really into science. He also still loves legos. But most days you can find him in front of a video game or outside playing football. What if he is kind of the ring leader for the smaller kids? Like playing red light green light? He can be the one calling the shots? Or... you know Uno is a wonderful game I don't care how old you are! |
Quote:
Another possible time for him to read would be during the "Teacher Reading" center that I have once a week. We are currently reading Stuart Little. He might be interested in doing that for me. Both of those things would depend on the cooperation and behavior of the other kids. I wouldn't want to stick him with a task that would require him to be a disciplinarian. Thanks for the idea! Someone else suggested that he might like to make his own comic book. Any other ideas out there? ~ Faith |
Quote:
He might have some good lego building ideas that he could share with younger kids. And, I do sometimes do group games during center time, such as Mother May I, Duck Duck Goose, etc. I haven't tried Red Light, Green Light. We don't have a gym, or a very big area of floor space for a running game indoors. That might be something we could do outside, during recess. I don't generally offer anything structured during that time, but, I can see that he might be bored there, too. Indoors (your post has me "thinking out loud" here, using your ideas, and Doydie's: - Your lego idea - Some group games - Reading to kids - Maybe he could also help conduct a science experiment that I plan. I usually have 4 centers going at a time (15 minutes each). with no more than 4 kids per center. When 15 minutes is up, they rotate to the next center. Often, in 3 of the centers, the kids play pretty independently. I try to plan one center, most days, that requires more teacher assistance. I'm not sure if he'd be interested in the helper thing, or not. But, I can do some brainstorming with him, and see what he thinks. Being a helper might also be a good idea for one of my 4th graders, who would probably do well with that too. She sometimes requests to just go to an independent 5th center, and read a book or do homework. Maybe I could think of some independent ideas for him too. ~ Faith |
I like the idea of having the boy helpout with the younger children - I'm sure that would help both you and him and would probably give him a lot of skills for later on in life. I know at one of the Youth Clubs I used to go to here in the UK, they used to pick the older children to help out with re younger children if they were doing something like cooking etc.
I too have lots of ideas for girls seeing as I am one and of a similar age but I don't have that many ideas for boys unfortunately!! I have seen boys play at my school and they tend to like the games consoles etc so that might be something to look into if you haven't already got any!! Do you have any of re paper models that you could build? A lot f the younger boys round here like to build wooden paper airoplanes from kits that they have and they are quite practical also!! A lot of the boys that I know like making cards or something crafty with lots of different things so that might be something to look into also! A lot of the teachers ad child minders here also like to run projects with the older kids so it might be an idea to do a project on drugs and alcohol, relationships, growing up etc. I have done one of those projects before and I really enjoyed it and the teachers made it fun as well as interesting so it didn't feel like school work!! Hope this helps a little and if you need anything, feel free to PM me as I am a teen and might be able to help!! |
He may wish to get his homework done so he is free when he gets home. Also - there will be all the adults there to help him should he get stuck on something.
|
Thanks, Ali and Jaspar.
Ali -- Yeah; we have one computer that 16 kids can take turns on. Sort of a reward for good behavior. But, that gives them, maybe, one 15 minute turn per week. I'm hopeful that the helping with younger children thing can work. I'd need to be careful about who I matched him with, and how many kids, because I don't want him to have to deal with their behavior problems. I've only been working there about a month. I've been told that, in less than 2 years, they've had 5-7 different lead teachers in that classromm; so, not much consistency. They have also not had much structure in that classroom before, and the director put me in there, hoping that I could provide that by using the center idea. The first few weeks were more chaotic, but, as we seem to be getting into a routine, discipline problems seem to be decreasing, and the flow seems to be going better. I've never heard of wooden paper airplanes. Not sure that we have the budget for major craft supplies, or, that it would be fair to purchase something just for him and not others. You could tell me more about "re paper models" (what's that?). And, making cards -- are you talking about greeting cards? We have construction paper available. I don't really know who he'd present a project to. As I said, most kids are K-2. I have one third grader and fourth grader, but he's the only one in his age group. His mom works out of town, in the next county, and is just not comfortable leaving him home alone if something should happen. Ali, it's good to hear from someone a similar age. Thanks for your input. :) Jaspar -- Yeah; doing homework is always an option. Could mean he'd have more time for fun at home. I'd still like to offer some fun things at the after school program too. MY DS17 has a magnet shape construction toy that he used to enjoy when he was younger that he says I could take. I'm considering it, but it has so many small pieces; and sometimes the kids aren't careful about that. Maybe, if I let him play with it together with just one other kid, by themselves, and had to have an older kid playing, because of the small pieces, and because it does not belong to the child care center, that might work. ~ Faith |
My 12 year old son likes Origami. I also like the idea of science stuff because my son really loves science, too.
There are always brain teasers, too. Give him a mystery to solve. When I was in a gifted program in school, they had things like that to work on. Since I don't know his intellectual level, I'm not sure what he could handle, but something like that is appropriate for someone who isn't gifted because he could work through ideas at his own pace and could get help from you. I'm too tired today to figure out where you can get these resources, but I'm sure they are pretty easy to find. Maybe give him a large goal to design an activity for the younger kids where it is all him doing it with you approving it one step at a time. I also wanted to say how lucky he is to have you. Most people in your situation would just expect an older child like that to entertain themself instead of trying to really work with him. |
Hi Faith,
Sorry about my typing today, it's terrible - probably because my RSD arm is hurting more than usual! Here is a link to a picture of a Wooden/Paper Airoplane that I was talking about ... they are usually quite cheap (about $30 - although they can vary in price) and can be lots of fun for teenagers and even lots of children like doing them so that might be something to look into for the younger children also if possible!! http://mahogonymodels.com/pics/c130-20.jpg Yes, I was talking about greeting cards. A lot of the children round here like making their own greeting cards and lots of the Youth Clubs get funding for arts and crafts work as it tries to give the children somethign to do other than sit around on the streets creating trouble!! I make my own greeting cards and I know a lot of other children and boys my age do also ... it can be fun making a card for a special occasion etc!!! I like Holly's idea of Oragami also - I like that so i'm sure other children my age or younger might also! Magazines might be something to look into also as I know myself and other teenagers love reading magazines! I hope you find something to works soon! I think it's a great idea to put the older boy with the younger children as i'm sure it would really help! Let us know what you decide to do!! |
12 yr olds like computer games. I agree he'll more than likely be good at helping and doing his homework. He'll probably be a little shy at first too since he is 12 and most of the children are much younger. I know my boys would have been. Kudos to the mom for not wanting him to be alone and I hope he takes to it well. Good luck in finding things he may like.
My boys didn't do daycare at that age since they were in sports and their dad was home for them. Plus they would have been upset since none of their friends went to daycare that age. lol |
Holly -- My DH suggested Origami, too. DS used to have a box of it that he never used, but, when we looked in his closet, we couldn't find it. So, maybe we got rid of it. Might see if "A" is interested.
Brain teasers? I don't know, either, where to look for that, or even what, exactly, it is, but, maybe I could google it. I wondered about Sudoku puzzles. He didn't seem very interested in crossword puzzles or mazes, though, so I don't know if he'd be into paperwork kinds of activities. Maybe, designing an activity for younger kids. I might try some other things out first, and, get to know him again (he used to be in a licensed day care home that I ran 5 years ago -- he's kinda special to me), Then, see about that. Ali -- I don't expect that the day care would spring for a $30 activity. They got on my case for making too many copies of coloring pages -- I was told that one per day per kid is enough. Sounds like fun, though. Greeting cards might be fun. Valentine's day is just about over, and I don't really have supplies together to plan anything great fot that, but I can keep that in mind for the future. Someone else suggested to me that maybe he could make his own comic book. I might pitch that idea to him. Thanks for the suggestions. Sandy -- We have only one computer in the room, and an hour, 4 days per week, when it's available. With 16 kids, that would only give him about 15 minutes per week. Won't fill a lot of time that way. Hopefully, he can enjoy the being a helper thing. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for your ideas. ~ Faith |
So IO have consulted the expert (my Nephew, yeah he smells like a boy too). He surprised me by saying that some of the best things he has gotten have been from me. Which was sweet. He loves doing origami! Which is cheap and fun to learn. I also like to buy the long balloons and we learned how to make balloon animals which would be fun for even the smaller kids and the older child could help them. I also taught him how to do face painting (we were trying to entertain his little brother) Which led to him designing "tattoos" and later led to the comic book drawing.
He also really enjoyed the card tricks book I got him which he tries to use to swindle me for money whenever I see him. And i also don't recommend the marshmallow shooters. LOL Good luck. :hug: |
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. :hug:
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. :cool: |
Quote:
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 |
You may have such a happy 12 year old boy there that he may invite some of his friends!!!! You sound like a person who really cares and one who got into the profession for all the right reasons.
I don't know where you live but I am hooked on the 'Craigs list'. It is a free classified add on the internet. They have mnay sections, one of them is a free section. You can also post on the wanted section but from my experience reading those it's not a section that get a whole lot of traffic. Anyway, post some of your requests in the free section and see what people might have for you so you can augment your budget. There are also grants that you can apply for supplies. |
Here is a website with the type of logical puzzles I was thining of:
http://brainden.com/logic-puzzles.htm You have scroll part way down the page for the whole list of them to come up. |
Long post -- I feel like rambling.
Update -- on my day care job in general, etc.
12 y.o. boy sometimes seems bored, and frustrated with the sometimes annoying behavior of some of the younger kids. But, other times, he enjoys building blocks with younger kids, or spends his time reading books that he brings from home, doing his art work, etc. He enjoyed playing "Mother May I?" one day, which I thought would be too little-kiddish for him. We're doing "Duck, Duck, Goose" later this week (I haven't done that yet, while he's been there). I'll see if he wants to participate in that. Sometimes, it just feels good to be able to act like a little kid again. He seems to vary, though, from day to day. Some days, he enjoys helping and participating with them. Other days, he just feels annoyed by them. A couple of times, I've made homemade stuff to use in one of the centers (homemade silly putty, homemade playdough). He asked for the recipe for the silly putty, and said that he made it at home, and that it turned out well. He might make the playdough at home too; it was a no-cook recipe. I'm glad when he enjoys something enough to take the idea home with home and do it again. He has also enjoyed the magnet construction set that I brought from home. Still waiting on the center to purchase origami supplies. In other day care news, it's good to be working in a child care setting again. That's something that I did years ago (early to mid '80's). In the 90's, I did mostly social work. I left that job to open my own licensed day care home (because I really wanted to get out of administration kinds of things, and back with kids) in 2002-2003, but, had to close, due to my MS. Following that, I'd been working in the school system with kids, as a para, and I enjoyed that. But, not being in an academic setting now, and being the lead teacher (the only teacher) in the school age room gives me lots of flexibility to do stuff that I enjoy with the kids; it's fun to plan center times, teach them board games and card games, play old-time playground games (we play them indoors), teach social skills in getting along with each other (it's only fun when I feel successful), etc. Sometimes, I think that my heart is really with younger kids (infants through preschoolers), but I find that I'm also enjoying the older kids that I currently work with. I've just been working there since the end of December, and it's very part time (2-3 hrs per day, after school). If I wasn't on disability, I would not be able to take such a low paying job, but, the income that I earn from it is adequate to supplement my disability income. I struggle with being "disabled", and needing to be on disability, but, in my head, I know that there are a lot of blessings that come with it. (The income, the flexibility, etc.) I grieve giving up my social work career, because I always expected to return to it, but I also recognize that child care was a field that I loved, prior to getting into social work, and, in the past, I managed to find a job that incorporated the two fields (worked with pregnant women and new moms, and I licensed child care facilities, preschools and day care homes in the county). I just don't think that I could find a social work job that would involve few enough hours to work around my MS fatigue issues. Absences, due to MS flares would be an issue again, as in my past jobs. (I work in a large enough child care center, and few enough hours, that the director feels like she can cover my absences, when necessary.) And, the stress in a social work job would also be higher. Thanks for letting me ramble. ~ Faith |
Thanks for the update. When God closes a door, He opens a window!
|
Quote:
Sounds just like my 12 year old boy! It also sounds like both you and he are doing well. Good job, Faith. He is lucky to have you and it sounds like this job is just what you needed, too. God does indeed open windows!!:cool: |
How about origami? I had a collegue of mine who worked with kids about that age and that was the tool she used. A simple book will have easy and harder designs to make. It will teach him all kinds of skills like self control, progressing in a sequential fashion towards an end, and give him a sense of mastery to build his self-esteem.
Books are easy to come by or find at the library, and all you need is some thin paper. Hope this helps!! Laura G |
Lead the kids in a play with hand puppets.
Study a book on Origami then teach it to the others. You can make some bean bags (split peas in a ziplock bag, then a second ziplock bag to make sure they stay sealed. Practice juggling. Two kids two bags and play catch. Masking tape on the floor to make targets. Find a library book on science experiments. Have him develop art work to show the various kinds of clouds, the stages of an insects life, parts of a plant, the solar system, etc. Draw the set for a scene from a movie or story. Have him set up interviews to get statistics and do charts that show what he learned from the other kids. The topic could be: things you recycle, what you eat for breakfast, TV shows you watch or things that make you smile/laugh/cry or mad. Give him flash cards to help other kids study the basics. Class project to make 2013 calendars for Christmas presents. |
Great suggestions that can always be used!
Just wanted to make you aware that this thread was started in 2009 so don't be surprised if you don't hear back from the original poster. :) |
And the 12 yr old is now 15...LOL!!:eek:
|
Quote:
|
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:24 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin • Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
vBulletin Optimisation provided by
vB Optimise v2.7.1 (Lite) -
vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.