Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What do you do with your 10/11 year olds at the weekend?

62 replies

weekendstrife · 08/05/2022 20:09

I want us to leave the house and go somewhere - anywhere!
DD (10) and to a lesser extent DD (8) would rather stay home on roblox and spotify! Or even doing reading, crafts, drawing etc - which, of course is all good too. But I am keen to get out at least one day at the weekend - particularly as her mental health is not good and she has trouble sleeping.

To be fair she is getting (VERY) bored of parks, national trust gardens, trips to the library etc that were our cheap go to when she was younger. So I'd love to hear what you do to entice your DC out of the house at this sort of age both cheap/free and more expensive days out.

She does do dance classes on sat which she loves and would happily go out for dinner/to a show every weekend but sadly our £££s can't stretch to this.

OP posts:
Runworkeatsleeprepeat · 08/05/2022 20:13

Mine are older now but definitely stopped wanting to do NT by that age. We did things like crazy golf/ football golf and bowling although not free but relatively cheap.
They would still be tempted by a really good playground the ones with big climbing frames zip wires etc Look for forestry commission as they sometimes have some really good older kid play areas.

Looneytune253 · 08/05/2022 20:14

We've just started swimming again with the 11 year old and also going to the local ladies football matches.

ChesterDrawsLouLou · 08/05/2022 20:16

Baking, cycling, dog walks, play dates with friends, Lego, swimming all feature in a typical weekend for us

HSKAT · 08/05/2022 20:16

Mine aren't your age but my friends kids are they tend to do;
Trampoline park
Swimming
Cinema
Inflataspace
Crazy golf
Amusements

Offandonagain · 08/05/2022 20:17

My kids are both active. But me and dh are too. The kids have naturally followed what we’re in to.

We’re in to non competitive/team sports/activities.

yesterday we went mountain biking in the local woods for about 2 hours. This can be up to 5 hours on sunny/warm days. It’s also free, besides the initial outlay!

Today we went to the local climbing wall this morning (after an hour browsing round the shop in town). The climbing wall is expensive so I limit it to once a week. But once it’s warmer we will go outdoors to climb, which again is free after the initial outlay. This afternoon we watched some telly then went for a walk up the local hill.

Typical weekends usually include either mountain biking, walking, running or climbing. But we’re soo lots of lounging around the house in between… I’ma crap parent in the house! Much better outside

MyBrilliantFriend · 08/05/2022 20:17

Walks, bike rides & things like that. They don’t always want to come (!) but always enjoy it when we do.

We have to be quite strict about screen time though & turn off times or 10 yo DD would be on it non-stop.

carefullycourageous · 08/05/2022 20:18

At that age (wel every age tbh!) we did walks, bike rides, local markets, museums or art galleries. We also often got the train to nearby places - sometimes a city, sometimes a trip to the countryside. My rule was one day out & one day in at the weekend - not really a rule but that was how I liked the weekend to go so we also had a day for cooking, gardening, prep for the week ahead. They do like a bit of quiet time after a busy week I think.

OutlookStalking · 08/05/2022 20:20

Friend over for a play, visit a different friend, wlk in the park with an ice cream. Sport/orchestra. Home movie night. Mine like a NT but not every week.

Somr of the above paid for thigs would be great as a birthday/holiday treat but we wouldn't do regularly.

Minikievs · 08/05/2022 20:20

Runworkeatsleeprepeat · 08/05/2022 20:13

Mine are older now but definitely stopped wanting to do NT by that age. We did things like crazy golf/ football golf and bowling although not free but relatively cheap.
They would still be tempted by a really good playground the ones with big climbing frames zip wires etc Look for forestry commission as they sometimes have some really good older kid play areas.

I'm really sorry to pick this poster out, but when was the last time you went bowling?! It's HORRENDOUSLY expensive!

I have an 11yo and 8 yo.
We do parks (but only with friends, they're bored just the two of them) with adventure climbing equipment etc. Swimming, which I hate as our local pool is freezing. Play dates. Crazy golf.

Nowhere near as much as we used to. It's a difficult age to cater for and I can't afford it anymore

BreezeofGreen · 08/05/2022 20:20

Bike rides, hikes, crazy golf. Swimming when it's warmer (outdoor pool). Go out to play with the neighbours if it's nice weather. DD does so much doing the week that she does like to potter at home at the weekends, but we do try to get out together even if it's only one day for a short hike or an hours run/walk in the forest.
Bowling and forest playground (rope walkway thingy) is on our list but not done yet due to parental reluctance.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 08/05/2022 20:25

I do Parkrun with 10yo on Saturday morning. 9yo has Rugby on a Sunday morning.

We do stuff like walking to the garden centre (1 mile away, its got ornamental gardens as well as a tea shop and shop), going to the shopping outlet so they can spend their pocket money on crap in The Works or B&M or The Range, grandparents visits, sometimes Scout stuff is on weekends. Yhey go out in the Canoe with their dad or camp out in the garden. We meet up with friends too.

Then at home its Lego, board games craft, film nights etc.

BewareTheBeardedDragon · 08/05/2022 20:28

We often do trampoline park, cinema, walk to local hill with a massive very flat slope with huge play potential, swimming, in summer inflatable water park, sometimes fair when it's in town.
My 10yos still like the playground and bike rides as well.

BewareTheBeardedDragon · 08/05/2022 20:28

Weirdly they also really liked visiting a model village Confused

steff13 · 08/05/2022 20:38

Letterboxing or geocaching, we go to the park, to baseball games, the library. I'm teaching her to play chess.

springsmiles · 08/05/2022 20:38

I always found at that age they might moan but dont give them a choice and agree with one day out one day home

We still do national trust/ Forest walks/ swimming with 14yr DS. My 'rule' is we need to spend some time as a family and we all go and join in.

Wrecked123 · 08/05/2022 20:43

Mine are quite tired at weekends and will come for a dog walk but otherwise very happy to chill at home. I don’t let them have much screen time though.

we just did tie dye this weekend and they all loved that.

I know you want to get out and exercise is crucial, but I do think the weekend is important for recharging the batteries after a hard week.

ChuckMater · 08/05/2022 20:44

Are you near a beach OP? Or a stream / river/ lake?

JourneyToThePlacentaOfTheEarth · 08/05/2022 20:53

As your daughter enjoys her dance classes, look out for local or regional dance competitions/festivals. Children are often free of charge to spectate and you can see so many young people competing in all styles of dance. My dd11 and I spend alot of time at the weekend competing or watching dance

pleasegetreadyforbed · 08/05/2022 21:16

My DD is the same age. We mainly do lots of walks but to make them more interesting we've started letting her choose the walk and then navigate us around it. We've got lots of walking books/guides and DD really likes being the one in charge. It also stops me and DH from falling out about which way we're supposed to go. We live in the dales though so lots of very good walks near us which keeps it interesting.

We also do geochaching on walks. We also still play lots of little games while on walks - the prime ministers cat and many variations on this, humming game, guess the song from the lyrics game etc.

We have membership to national trust, rhs and English heritage so go to these type of places a lot, especially if they have special events on.

I also think it's important to remember that not ever weekend should be amazingly exciting with trips to theme park, cinema, bowling etc. It's good just to spend time together.

Iputthetrampintrampoline · 08/05/2022 22:17

My dd is 10 our weekends are a mixture of
clothes shopping followed by lunch out
starbucks for lazy breakfasts
cinema trips especially our local drive in one
hairdressers
swimming
catching up with granny for an hour or so or other friends and relatives
evening dinner out at a pub or restaurant
day trips to the coast
Theme parks

Admitted she is the only young child at home but thats what we do.She has always done more adult things with us so if we go out for dinner she comes too.as we have never left her.We go to alot of gigs and outdoor festivals and she has always come,if ever she couldnt then we didnt go. My mindset has always been kids fit in with us not the other way round so we do have a lot of fun together and to be fair she can be taken anywhere we want to go really theres not many places where she wouldnt be allowed in.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 08/05/2022 22:20

not my kids, but my niece likes indoor climbing- swimming goes down well too.

Afterfire · 08/05/2022 22:28

Ds is 10 and he enjoys swimming, riding his bike at the park, zoos (although he’s got autism and is absolutely obsessed with animals so that may not be for everyone!), he’ll come to the shops with me and enjoy lunch out somewhere etc. He does love playing on his iPad etc but he’d be really bored without some sort of outing / activity each day. I guess they’re all different!

XmasElf10 · 08/05/2022 22:34

My DD is 11 and likes; trampoline park, swimming, camping (we have a campervan), beach, picnic and river, pottery painting, shopping and lunch, walk and an ice cream. NT grounds for a walk and cake. Museum, techniquest less often as we are rural and these are a good distance away.

We are out at least 1 day each weekend but parks and soft play are out now as she’s a bit big. She does love a rattle around outside with her cousins - preferably at the beach or river!

FixItUpChappie · 08/05/2022 22:40

We go biking, use their scooters, go to farmers market, go for picnics/hikes, playgrounds, shopping, out for brunch, swimming, camping and right now mine have lots of football so that is time consuming. We have never put playing with tablets or video games on the table as an option which has helped.

LisaSimpson73 · 08/05/2022 22:45

My ds is almost 10 and an only child so I focus a lot on activities where he'll have company or make friends. We get invited to quite a few parties, invite friends over (I'd generally take both kids somewhere active like a large playground or inflatanation type place.) or join up with another single parent/single child for NT trips, walks or climbing.
He'd spend all weekend on devices if allowed but is fairly easy going and will come on a walk with me quite happily once I put my foot down.

Swipe left for the next trending thread