Finding it hard to stimulate/challenge my daughter.

[catnipkitty]

Hi All
She is 8.5yrs old and been out of school since March. She's really bright, does alot of her own projects, reads alot, is creative, likes to sew, cook. She said tonight that she is running out of ideas of what to do and is getting bored at home :( I'm struggling with ideas of things to suggest/do with her. I have 2 ither DDs so need to share my time.
Any suggestions gratefully recieved, thank you!
C x

There are all sorts of books of fun activities (there's a great Usborne series of "Things to Make and Do" if she likes crafty and cooking stuff - with books on Mermaids, Fairies, Princesses, Christmas, Pirates...). Do a Charity Shop sweep. Often a good place to find fun things to do for very little money.

Might she like some extra organised activities in her life? Maybe she'd enjoy going to a holiday club? (depends on the reasons why she came out of school of course).

In the end, though, it's really important for her to find out what she wants to do. School takes away that self-directed, self-motivated learning. Of course she'll be feeling all adrift, and wanting you to tell her what to do, because that's what she's been institutionalised into. I have to say, the HE-ed from the start or well-established-HE children I know never ever ever ever ask me what I think they should do next; it is the schooled children, or the ones recently removed from school, who seem to think I should be instructing them on their next activities all the time. Learning to be at a loose end, and to find the next activity from that point oneself - that's a really important life lesson. That doesn't mean you shouldn't join in a conversation about what's next, but I'd mostly be offering compassion and curiosity, I think, and inviting the child to solve her own boredom problem.

^ of course Ommmward's is the best approach....boredom is something very useful.

But you could try some of these, maybe:
Buy a desk or something from a charity shop and spend time stripping it and decorating it- or take some woodwork classes, which would be SO useful. Or decorate a guitar.

Go round skips in your neighbourhood and salvage things which you could glue up into a sculpture

Make a mini village from Fimo or clay

Have her take an electronics course so she can take apart a clock

Nat Geo collages

Make a doll's house- up to you how sophisticated it is

Get her into anatomy- she could make a really neat book of detailed drawings copied from old textbooks

You say she likes to sew- could she work out how to make a wall hanging or rug for her room?

She could try her hand at book-binding or puzzle making (fretwork?), or stamp collecting

She could start a collection- maybe of postcards

Candle making/melting candles into weird shapes

Papier mache- she could make a family of people

Introduce her to art- children would be responsive to the Impressionists I think, they're apparently the most accessible. Or Expressionism. Any kid would be fascinated by Chagall. Have her try to copy Michelangelo's drawings of people.

She could make a multimedia comic book, or an album if you have some photos in hard copy

sounds like some good advice there.

is it arty /craft or sporty activities shes interested in?

does she do any clubs like brownies?

pinterest and bbc website has some fab ideas what to do with kids.

seen recently make your own fuzzy felt sets.

the works does loads of cheap craft sets.

utilise libary as much as you can ours offeres computers , kids crafts, story time, dvds and audio books.
Ours si small keep meaning to try big one in city centre.

maybe get her to source and wrote a kids cookery book making stuff.

get her to start making some xmas pressies

legos always a winner in this house.

this summer set a few projects and once dd had topic she was quite happy to look in book and reserch we chose buttreflies and off to a butterfly farm tommorow.

The museums here are fre

jewellry making
card making

good luck

maybe get her to source and wrote a kids cookery book making stuff.

That sounds really good! She could take pictures of what she's made and glue them in.

My dd often sparks off of other kids, especially HE kids because they have more time and therefore they tend to have lots of hobbies.

She's a bit older (nearly 13) and also does a lot of socialising on the internet where she picks up ideas from other people too. For example, she goes on a message board where people discuss techniques for drawing cartoon characters. Someone there could showcase an animation they've done and how they did a soundtrack for it, and then dd reads up about that.

Or what about other adults - does your dd have a chance to spend time with friends and relatives who have other interests which she might decide she likes?

Does your DD play an instrument? Part of the joy of learning music is that it never ends- you can never complete the challenge, you can only keep learning and keep improving (while happily mastering little pieces on the way!)