Holiday "care" for teenagers

[TheoriginalLEM]

So the long summer holidays are looming. Dd will be 14 so beyond the scope of most holiday/activity clubs.

She is a bit of a loner and her school friends live a significant distance which makes meeting up an occasional thing rather than the norm.

She WILL stay home alone but isnt really happy doing so. She is very young for her age. School friends in lower years.

What do you guys find to keep teens occupied in the summer? School holidays?
Dp has been taking the holidays off (self employed) but it is difficult financially and quite frankly hes boring! I want dd actively occupied rather than vegging in front of screens all day.

Im in the south east. Willing to pay a reasonable amount (but money IS an issue) to keep her occupied. She doesn't need looking after iyswim.

Following.... not for this year, but ideas needed for the near future.

Does she have anything she’s particularly interested in (sports? drama? dance?). If she is in guides/scouts/rangers/explorers there will be camps and jamborees and all that, but I guess she isn’t or you’d have mentioned it. Would she be up for staying away from home for a week or two?

Thinking about it from the other perspective, I’d have been working all summer at that age (so much harder now I know). It sounds like having sole charge of anyone’s kids wouldn’t be right yet, but do you have any friends with younger kids who might appreciate a “big sister” type teenager to take them to the park for an hour or so most days to give her some structure and responsibility?

There is a real dearth of activities for teens to do over summer. In my large city there is lots of children who are into musical theatre or sport, precious little for anyone else.

What about some voluntary work? At 14 she's old enough to volunteer for some of the big charity shops. The chain I help out in loves summer holiday volunteers as it helps cover other helpers who are off. And she'd be getting experience and meeting new people. Or those environmental "clean up" projects.

My 16 year old is pretty self sufficient now but my 13 year old is a problem. We live semi rurally, no family in the county. Luckily I work pt but tend to take half days annual leave for the other days or DH will work from home or take leave. When they were younger we just took opposite holidays, at least they can be left alone for some time now, although it still means a lot of screen time/ lounging about.

Does she know what she wants to study post school? What are her interests? There are many activities for teenagers that allow them to explore their interests. One of my DC goes to art school for a week every summer, there are similar opportunities for music, drama. Many science/coding summer schools.

What about some voluntary work? At 14 she's old enough to volunteer for some of the big charity shops

This is a great idea

For other volunteering opportunities look at your local C.V.S. They might have a list of different opportunities that would suit.

I was going to suggest some voluntary work too, it will be great for her cv when she's looking for paid work/going to uni. If transport is an issue is there anywhere on your route to work/close to work where she could ask about volunteering?

Volunteering is a great idea as she is doing her DOfE so will definitely look into that. Charity shops are a bit dull but maybe she'll like that

She loves animals and i work with them, however we don't accomodate young volunteers and also theres a no family policy so cant offer her anything there.

She is a science nerd so a science club type thing also good.

PGL? They do 3,4 and 7 night trips for 13-17 year olds. I’ve just picked up the brochure and they do creative /arty breaks now not just the activity ones.

Voluntary work is a great idea. If you wanted to break up the holidays more you could mix it in with a residential trip. There are UK based pgl type breaks where youbg teenagers learn to drive for example, or academic ones for kids interested in specific things. Obviously expensive and not an option for the entire holiday but might be good for one week in the middle.

I agree with looking for volunteering opportunities. I used to volunteer for my small local museum for most of my summer. I’d help out with their kids workshops.

She loves animals and i work with them

Do you know anyone who would want her dog walking/pet care services? I would happily employ a sensible 14 year old to take the dog out, feed the cat if I’m away etc etc.

My local leisure centre does sports days which I enrol my dd in. She’ll do either a morning, or an afternoon doing gymnastics or trampolining. Sometime they land on the same day, so long as dd has a packed lunch she can do both and be there between 9 and 3. They also do sports days between 9 and 3.

Another thing she sometimes does is pony days at our local stables. £35 for the day, send her off on scruffy clothes and a packed lunch. She gets 2 lessons and does horse grooming, mucking out etc. She loves it and was a complete novice when she first started. She’s there from 9 to 4. Comes home filthy and knackered, but having a lovely day.

Namechange - i wouldn't realy want her doing that even though dhe would love it. She is painfully shy and i would worry if there were issues with other dogs etc. Maybe when shes a bit older.

I had forgotten about het DOfE of am going to look into volunteering via that i think. Be good to find her something with a social aspect

When she's 15 she can do NCS. Ds did it last year and DD will be doing it this year. They do two 1 week residentials and then another two weeks' of community service-type stuff. Only costs £50.

Arty PGL sounds good - is it £££?

Another good volunteering thing is Parkrun - weekends rather than through the week but she could get involved as either a runner or a volunteer marshall.

Could she get started with her d of e skill too? My dd is doing an e-mail photography course called ‘ A year with my camera’ (you can just do certain modules for d of e bronze, and skip the first 6 weeks if your camera is basic). There’s another online photography course that is a bit more expensive but is properly d of e affiliated so they can be your assessor too, and can rent you a dslr camera.

(Not sure if you can backdate to the summer holidays though, so she might need to fudge the dates!)

Volunteering could help with her shyness.

You are in the sticks a bit. Is there anyone interested in helping out with their horses. Maybe a riding school.

Does your local library run the summer reading challenge? They usually look for volunteers and I think you can take part from 14.

Namechange - i wouldn't realy want her doing that even though dhe would love it. She is painfully shy and i would worry if there were issues with other dogs etc. Maybe when shes a bit older

Fair enough- it’s a tricky balance between encouraging confidence and shoving them into a situation where they’re out of their depth. Maybe when she’s more sixth form age.

Our nearest Safari park does 'safari school's where you go for the week and learn how to look after the animals, conservation etc, it's aimed at 12-17yr olds. The zoo also does zoo school, not sure on the age. Would she be interested in something like that?

We also have things like coding club at the library aimed at secondary age.

At 14 my mum left me a list of jobs needing done and I'd get the bus into town or swimming etc. I also had a weekend job.

Outward Bound do courses tailored to for 13-15 year olds. Would she enjoy that sort of multi-activity holiday, away from parents?
Outward Bound offer funding and fund-raising packs to help pay if the cost is an issue.