What does your 11 yr old ds enjoy doing at home that doesn’t involve a screen?

[Tacocatgoatcheesepizza]

We are struggling to find anything that interests ds to do at home that isn’t screen based - either gaming or watching tv.

He enjoys activities out of the house, tennis, bowling, cinema, park etc but at home nothing. He is also not particularly interested in seeing his friends out of school although will happily see my friends children.

He struggles with fine motor skills anyway but things like lego are no longer of interest to him. He does read and is an excellent reader but usually saves that for bedtime. He will play the odd board game (and win) and occasionally do some baking, but I’d also like him to have something that he does on his own!! I have tried directing him towards things like coding and stop motion but also not interested. He is not at all sporty except for racket games and we do tennis, table tennis, badminton and swimming. But like I say, we can’t be out all the time and I wish he could entertain himself at home without a screen!

He does have limits on gaming (max 3hrs a day weekends and holidays)

Is he unusual or is this common for his sort of age? He’s nearly 12 and about to go into yr7.

I should add he does have a younger brother but they are completely unable to play nicely together and just fight 😏

Unfortunately not a lot! Even kicking a ball around my DC wants people to be involved. Unless it’s a screen he’s not very self sufficient & it seems a common complaint with friends boys of that age too.

Mines uses all the spare duvet covers from the linen cupboard to make dens in his bedroom or outside on his trampoline if the weather is good. He helps me with the garden and will cut the grass, pull weeds, plant seeds.

It’s a tricky age I think isn’t it. Not old enough to go out and do the things they’d like by themselves but equally too old for most of the things that have entertained them before!

I compare it to children’s menus in restaurants - not enough food there but the adult portions are still too big!

Lego, drawing, reading, jigsaw (always have a 1000 piece on the go), listening to audiobooks, marble run, Meccano, painting, science kit.
will help with chores - laundry, cleaning and gardening.

Mine has recently started Dog Agility training with our family dog. Other activities are painting, drawing, completing Cubs badges, whittling, making electrical circuits, practising guitar, photography, baking, etc.

Reads
writes both stories & games
listens to audiobooks (& less often podcasts)
plays warhammer (by himself but likes to rope in siblings if possible)
paint warhammer
draw although mostly not alone
archery in the garden
throwing frizbee at a post 😂 (obviously happier if we want to play)
Jumps on the trampoline

sadly the days of Lego seem to be over (although we still have shelves & shelves of it)

Oh gravitrax! Although we have to watch the slowmo videos afterwards 🤣

electronic dart board (we have a decathlon one)

Another one for Warhammer (or a cheaper similar thing!), depending on whether his fine-motor skills are up to fiddly painting. There are a few good solo boardgames out there, too, although they tend to be aimed at slightly older children/adults.

Unfortunately warhammer is out for us, there is no way he’d be able to manage the painting.

What about aqua beads or hamabeads?

also too fiddly for him unfortunately, but to be honest he just isn’t into anything crafty at all! It is definitely not his forte!

How ever did kids survive before screens and gaming. Our kids of today have had their lives and minds ruined.

Scaletrix or similar- build tracks for model cars or trains all over the house

Based on my nephews at that age:

• trampoline
• Nerf guns (shooting targets)
• shooting basketball
• dog walking / training
• making slime
• learning / practicing an instrument
• doing DIY / chores for pocket money (I got all our books catalogued by one nephew into a spreadsheet last summer)
• origami
• choose your own adventure books (Usborne Adventure Gamebooks went down well)
• playing darts / pool / table football (they’ve got a football / pool table like this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9542521?clickPR=plp:11:35 which they use an awful lot)

Not gaming -

Solo:
Painting
Practising lines for drama club
Bouncing a ball around
Following a recipe to make lunches (like avocado and eggs
Watching tv box sets

With people:
Boardgames
Cards
Bouncing a ball around
Shopping
Hanging in a park

fighting fantasy books

In a very similar situation with my 11 year old ds! Gaming and YouTube is all he is interested in. I have a 2 year old too so juggling them both is hard!

I'm just giving up a little bit and not putting too much pressure on myself.

My 11 year old is the same. He's not sporty so not interested in playing sports in the garden. He's not that interested in crafts so he can't be bothered or doesn't know what to do. His younger sister is all about sports and crafts, they're just different. And they won't play together for longer than five minutes without arguing. He will play lego and he will read a bit. I also encourage him to split the day up with a few small chores such as putting on the washing or tidying up his room (not loads) and encouraging him to meet up with friends so he will walk to town/play park to get exercise and they will talk or swap Pokemon cards etc. We live in a place that's easy for him to get around though, I know not everyone is as lucky.

My 11y ds is exactly the same. The only things he does that don’t involve a screen are drumming and listening to music (he has a massive cd collection). No interest in crafts (again fine motor skills aren’t great), good but reluctant reader and mainly at bedtime. Trampoline occasionally. Not sporty. He’d be lost without a screen.

My 10 year old is similar. There is no where he can go out the house by himself as we live rurally. He has dyspraxia so also struggles with things like lego etc and drawing is out of the question.

He will play loads with his younger brother but not really by himself.

He does help with chores and looking after pets.

He has started doing couch to 5k on the treadmil, we have a table football game which he likes to play, he reads, is doing a typing program (to help at school as finds writing difficult), he likes chess, he has warhammer but like your boy hasn't painted them 🙈. He does like doing science experiments, we have a Mel science subscription.

Occasionally plays badminton in the garden with us. Sometimes a dog walk. That's literally it :(

Lego
Planting seeds
Football, football skills, talking about football
Drawing
Building stuff out of stuff he isn't meant to
Using YouTube vids to build cardboard ironman helmets/captain America shield/Thors hammer etc.
Pottery

I have an 11 yr old who would happily rot his brain on youtube all day given the choice.

He games a lot but luckily hes into fitness so is happy doing his own little work outs (we got him some 2nd hand equipment).

Mine actually thrives when given a responsibility, last year I got some ikea book cases for his room and left him to build them. This year a project to do in the garden (he's got to clear an area of the garden and build a plastic bike shed).