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.

Do you have a garden that he could grow things?

Unfortunately that’s another ploy for my DS to get more gaming time in as that’s what he and his friends want to do together. When he wants a sleepover what he’s really after is a marathon gaming session!
It’s getting my DS to voluntarily occupy himself without a screen that’s the problem. So today, I’ve taken him out all day or if we are at home he will play a game /do an activity if someone does it with him. He’s obviously a lot more sociable than me or my other DC who crave being on our own & enjoy solitary activities like reading.

@Tiredalwaystired i remember lying on the sofa in the summer holidays watching those too and also The Red Hand Gang!

I have a dyspraxic Warhammerer. No fan of drawing/ colouring, but his love of the lore, stats and battle strategy means he puts a lot of love into assembling and painting his models. His writing is still fairly gruelling to make sense of and it's a 50% chance that he'll write his name accurately.

He's got sports and activities out of the house, but I'm fairly relaxed with screen time as he uses it to regulate and unwind (ASD in the mix too). The first half of the holidays, I've blocked their screens for a 4hr block in the middle of the day, and suddenly things like playing on scooters or painting a primordial space marine becomes more appealing.

Took mine to Hobbycraft and let them chose some non tech activities.
They liked yo yos, scooby dos, origami, especially themed ones like Star Wars, 3d puzzles, lego in the shape of game characters e.g pacman lego.
One was into anime, so took him to library to find new titles to read, the other preferred tween/teen audio books.

To be fair there was a max time for screens and if they complained about being bored, I would find them some cleaning chores to do. They soon learned not to complain and find something to do.

Reading is the obvious one but sounds like he does that anyway. Would he try write his own stories? I remember doing that for my parents.😗

I think maybe arty things so crafting or painting? But it just may not be his thing.

I know it involves a screen but what about watching sport on TV like the tennis? It’s less close up screen time.

Depending on the age gap between him and his brother they may start to get on and entertain other soon.

Card games - I used to play solitaire on my own or learn card tricks and then show them to my parents.

I think at that age actually my brother liked warhammer so painting things and also the air fix models of planes and boats etc.

My nearly 11yo writes long lists of Pokémon "teams" and pits them against each other à la football tournament 😄 also practices his guitar, listens to music and makes playlists, reads a lot (books and comics), listens to audio books while fiddling with Lego or drawing, throws a ball against the wall and catches it, throws annoying little sticky toys onto the ceiling and watches them until they fall down... 😂 We get "The Week Jr" magazine which has news, articles and puzzles like crossword and sudoku etc which he enjoys. We have a swing set outside and although he's getting a bit big for the swings themselves he likes to do pull ups and flips on the bars.

13 year old - Warhammer, instrumental practice, listen to music, risk board game,
11 year old - Lego, instrumental practice, drawing, scrabble.

Don’t do a lot together as that usually ends in fights so I have their friends over or they go to them.

Would design his own comic strip? You can buy ‘create your own comic books’ on Amazon

Mostly my 11 yo goes out to play but if stuck in hothead house because of rain she will paint warhammer figures, do Lego or cook.

Don't know why autocorrect stuck hothouse in there

Another one with a similar sounding 11 year old ds (although he’s been eating from the adult menu since he was about 5 😂).
He has really poor fine motor skills and has never been interested in Lego or drawing/colouring, I never had any pictures from preschool!
he’s happy kicking a ball about in the garden and we bought him a bouncy ball trampoline thing which you can throw or kick a ball at and it bounces back, reduces the grating noise of the ball bouncing off the garage wall/workshop doors! He will also do swingball on his own.
In his room he will occasionally play with his magnetic dartboard, he has a lot of gaming stickers which he has decorated his bed frame with the other day.
Ive been wfh a lot so he’s had days out at football camp and going out with his older siblings every day but when he gets back I don’t mind him gaming until I’ve finished work.
then when I’m done he likes playing board games with me or card games.
he will get involved in finding a recipe to cook for dinner and shopping for the ingredients. Will play his guitar.
He reads but only at bedtime.
Monday afternoon dh tasked him with weeding the front drive for a bit of money and he was honestly out there for an hour and a half (we don’t have a grand front drive neither was it totally overgrown with weeds, he was just slow 😂) and when he came in he said he’d found it surprisingly relaxing!

Gravitrax- it’s expensive, but very addictive and draws adults in too, which let’s face it is what kids actually want. Rascals!

How about instruments? Mine recently discovered apps for learning piano/guitar etc and spend hours tinkering away.

Both my boys were into gaming at that age but one was also Lego mad and the other loved to read so there was a happy medium. Now they’re older they are mostly out working, university or socialising but when in the house, one still loves gaming and the other doesn’t game at all but he’s still on his screen on you tube etc. Neither of them watch TV in the traditional sense but it’s a generational thing. I really wouldn’t worry he seems completely normal to me!

At 11 can't they want to a park or ride a bike with a friend?

Good preparation for starting secondary. If you can't trust them out by themselves now you've got a problem in 3 weeks time.

Boys that age are meant to be out in the woods with peers, fruitlessly fishing with a stick and a piece of string with a worm tied on tbe bottom, riding bikes etc

My similar aged nephews:

• practice musical instruments
• ride bikes with friends
• go to park with football with friends
• go to cricket net with friends
• cook/bake
• listen to music
• play complicated board games
• read

Can you invite friends over or send them out blackberry picking or something

We are a very low screen family so gaming is not an option.
He plays/listens to music.
Reads
Plays random imaginary games in the garden
Does chores for me- can do the laundry, dishwasher, make some basic breakfast and lunch, tidy his room, hoover. He can also go the shop for me.
Plays board games
Plays Gravitrax and also makes elaborate marble runs
Disappears into his room and plays imaginary games.
Plays chess (with a board). Has various chess books and plots who knows what with it.
Plays with and solves Rubik’s cubes (and I allow him some YouTube time for this)
Cooks/bakes.

Plays in the park with friends
Goes swimming every day or every other day