Ideas for 'screen'-free activities for 10 yr old boys

[Solo2]

DTs, aged 10, spend most of their waking hrs on PCs/TV. One at least does lots of word-processing/ writes books and researches his special interests (Politics, Dr Who etc etc). The other watches less than suitable programmes (Family Guy etc) or does downloaded games.

I accept that this is entirely my fault as I've used PCs as a babysitter for a long time now, as a solo mum wking f/t self-employed from home.

This halfterm week, I'm working at least some of the time. DTs are able to occupy themselves for hrs on screens but without access to screens, are bored, fractitious, fight even more than usual. DT2's PC is currently broken (he's the one who writes books) and he's lost without it. I desperately need to get some work done this week. DT1 has been sick and we can't have children roudn to play. Neither will go in the garden (ice cold slush here).

What can I suggest they do without me needing to be with them?

We don't have gaming gadgets here like Wii, DS, XBox etc as I've never wanted to encourage yet more screen related stuff.

They're rather incompatible (DT2 has Asperger's traits). Neither is into sports. DT1 has trouble focusing on anything other than screens for any length of time and HATES anything remotely academic (they've LOADS of HW to do but I'd need to enforce and supervise this).

Neither likes model-making/ art/crafts/ tidying room/ boxed games/meccano/lego...they have a playroom FULL of unused or broken toys from yrs back but this is an unheated garage anyway, so they don't go in there at this time of year.

So - what do other 10 yr old boys do at this time of yr, if they can't go out and can't have friends round? Do you need to supervise and attend to them constantly?

My preferred strategy is to ration their time & they have to self-entertain otherwise. Not possible with some DC, though (my DS2 case in point).

The DS who can self-entertain: Lots of reading, Hama beads, some crafts, drawing. DS discovered Scouts & is working hard on badges for that.

It may depend on the sport, too. DC who hate, say, Football, might love Judo or swimming.

errr - no idea - I have to supervise/organise my 10 year old if I want him to do anything except screen time. Fortunately he is sporty but like your boys he just loves the TV or computer - like you we don't have any 'extra' screen toys/gadgets and he has to share the family computer but seems to find it impossible to do anything on his own apart from switch the 'on' button.

Erm...(disclaimer I don't have 10 yr old boys yet so this might be completely outlandish), just looking at your comment of 'playroom of unsed/broken' toys comment - could you give them a 'challenge' to sort it out - things to ebay/give to charity/throw away, with the incentive that they can keep any money they make? Might be a good way of getting a job done too....

Judging from the banging from next door (where there are 10 year old boys!) it would seem that jumping off your bed would be a favourite activity!

Clearing the playroom idea is brilliant except that I knwo I'd have to be there ALL the time to supervise. Have tried it before and they fight when left alone. Too cold at present for them to be in there anyway (and one is still under par/ill).

So far, it seems that it's not too unsual for 10 yr olds still to need supervision?

They love horse riding, as a sport, but this involves me driving them there and we can only afford this every few weeks...and of course it's me with them.

Am still looking for things they can do unsupervised for any length of time, indoors. Just gave DT1 a box, 2 cardboard tubes and he was beginning to make a pulley system thing but withint 2 mins had joined his twin in front of TV again....

At their age, obviously I'm also female - I'd spend hrs and hrs reading alone, making up stories in my head, writing and acting play with siblings, drawing alone, crafts done alone, some imaginary play still with toy animals.

Are boys just SO different? Is it just MY sons? Is it addiction to screens? Is it their incompatibility?

Anyone else got 10 yr old boys playing happily alone in the house today, without access to screens?

Yes boys v different. I was happy to entertain myself for hours and needed little supervision, atlhough dsis and I did fight a lot. DD is just the same, happy to colour, draw, read, craft etc, although still partial to the wii and tv.

DS needed lots of nagging to get him away from a screen.

The things he does like are: taking apart and putting back together old electronic stuff; Sea Cadets (they can join the junior rank from 10 - very cheap £10 pcm and lots of variety of activities); did scouts for a bit but it clashed with other stuff so he gave it up; building dens in the woods with friends - sadly meant I needed to supervise from a distance - would sit in car MNing on phone

My 11 year old ds will play with Playmobil for hours. That's what he's doing at the moment! He also likes reading and drawing though, and sometimes making stuff out of old junk.

Wow - love your photos Norman.

Sadly I can't imagine my DS playing with playmobil ........... .

My Ds (10) also seems addicted to TV, DS, PC etc but in front of the TV will often immerse himself in his lego for hours and has also recently discoved a passion for drawing/colouring. Playmobil hasn't been out for a few months but I don't think he has entirely given up on it!! He hates sport and doesn't really enjoy being outside in the winter. Oh - his other favourite occupation - really annoying DD(7)

I have a 9 1/2 yrs old son, and I have noticed that in the last year he's more attracted to being in front of the pc (he loves checking the amount of snow fall all over the world... )

The other activity ds favours the most is playing football, and spending time with his friends. Together they mostly play with Pokemon cards, otherwise they'll sit down to play board games like Monopoli or Labyrinth.
I have noticed though that some of his friends are not very able to play at anything that isn't an electronic game.

I must say that my 9 yr old is also happy to play with Playmobils, dressing up/make believe which he especially does with his sister (7 and a half) and her best friend, the 3 of them play together beautifully.

Sooo my advise is: other children!

DS is nine next week so not quite the same age, but he will spend hours playing with his Lego, reading, listening to story CDs or making things. He will do all this unsupervised quite happily. However, he is an only so we don't have to deal with sibling squabbles. On the other hand, it does mean that we have to play board games with him... But I don't mind that too much.

He is currently reading the Argos catalogue and making a list of what he wants to spend his birthday money on.

He loves his DS but can go for days without touching it. He only has TV/computer time if he asks us first, and his computer time has a timer on it - about an hour per day in the week and two hours at the weekend.

He goes to cubs and his swimming lessons each week, and does love cubs.

If they aren't into board games, what about cards, collectable or otherwise? Speed, Top Trumps etc?

But ... mine are only 2 and 4 so I may be completely off beam. Mind you, I used to make show-jumping courses in the back garden at that age ...

ds still loves pokemon cards - he can spend hours rearranging them into categories in his file and woe betide anyone who accidentally steps on the carefully selected piles all over the living room floor. and he loves those lego thingys that have just been rebranded as hero factory. he had a few for a couple of years and they were mostly ignored, but he got a new one for his birthday with over 300 pieces and just loved putting it all together. we do have a number of other completely untouched lego kits though, gathering dust.

but mostly screen time/ screen time. screen time. screen time.

we have recently tried a token economy where he has to earn screen time using poker chips.

also cubs. and he goes to a climbing gym every week as well.

he is also obsessed with monopoly.

he has some as quirks and social stuff/ anxieties, and an adhd dx. he has indoctrinated his little sister to play pokemon and hero factory though, so they spend hours arguing playing. she always cries and he ends up in time out.

it's really lovely how families interact.

(dd1 just ignores everyone and reads)

(actually, i have found the most successful way to get children to play is to give them a huge pile of old toys to tidy up. no kid in the land tidies, they just end up harrumphong for half an hour and then getting distracted by the stuff they are supposed to be tidying. especially if you tell them they aren't allowed to play with it AT ALL. just sort it. )

A few ideas off the top of my head. Not sure if any will appeal / be practical. Good luck!

Can you get them into project(s) which can involve some screen time which can then be the reward? Eg. the mention of Playmobil by someone reminded me about making videos by taking still photos and combining them together. You can setup scenes. Or there are some great videos out there which use Lego to reproduce PacMan or similar games - could they make something like that? If creative and sizeable and techy - could perhaps appeal to both of them so they can use their different skills & interests?

Also on the tidying challenge... can they have separate time in the playroom with a (quite short) timer on - like FlyLady or Pomodoro technique - and come out with ideas of what to get rid of and how, or what to keep and how to store it?

Do you have any systems setup with them where they could earn screen time by doing jobs for you? House/kitchen/garden...

Reading? Take them to the library? Project related to something they are interested in eg. horse riding? Olympics?

Will they cook/bake? Some of this could potentially be done without you? Could you set them a challenge of a new dish for you all for dinner, and you'd only have to get involved at the dangerous bits?

My almost 10 year old is massively into lego, but also into the little finger skateboards-he spends ages making very convoluted courses and ramps for them out of anything he can find then has a paddy when you need to use anything he's made a ramp out of

oh, i forgot tech decks. yy, we have those as well...

he's also obsessed by the indoor remote control helicopter. we have two (don't ask) and they can be set up on the same or different channels. the current target is to get them flying in tandem like an airshow...

i'd prefer it if they could just land the damn things instead of trying ot take my head off or crashing into the lamps.

V interesting to see what other similar aged boys like to do. DTs don't like anythign to do with collectables/Pokemon etc etc, will v v occasionally make stuff from lego but maybe only for 10 mins max. They've never been into Playmobil.

They will do making up and performing plays but only if another child is here. They used to make lots of movies with flipvideos and animations with animation software (but that's screen stuff) but in any case, have gone off that too.

I almost weep if i have to enter their playroom and the floor is completely covered with old toys, broken toys, unused toys, things that have pieces lost so are unusable. DT1 did go in there earlier and get an electronics kit and brought it up near my office but as he couldn't find all the pieces nor the instruction book, he abandoned it. All 3 of us played darts for about 15 mins earlier - but that was only cos I was playing - and then they abandoned it too.

DT2 has basically done NOTHING else but screens today and is desperate for his PC to be fixed - which has been collected today to see if it can be repaired. He's hugely reliant on it. DT1 is the one who's tired a few other things but clearly he's now bored.

I feel SO guilty that if I don't drag them away from screens, they persist all day but I sometimes just HAVE to work.

I do like the idea of presenting them with a box of old toys to sort. However, I know their attention will only last a few mins and then everything will be left scattered all over for me to tidy up later. Might try it though....They've got magnetix, lego kits, model making kits, toy soldiers, hundreds of toy vehicles, dress up clothes, art kits, science kits, snooker set, roullette wheel, crystal making kit, chemistry set, remote control robots, roboraptors, scalectrix...I must have spent thousands on them in the last 10 yrs and yet all they want to do is screens!

When I was a child (sorry, here comes a middle-age moan), I was happy with a book, a sketch pad and a cuddly toy and my endless imagination!

Cross posted with several replies! We have loads and loads of broken remote control vehicles - only DT1 liked those and always wants more at birthdays but they break within a few days.

DT2 reads at least a book a day - he's prolific (he's the one who also is happy if he's writing his latest book on PC) - but he only reads between 4.45am and 6.00am! DT1 will rarely read at all unless he HAS to.

They used to make marble runs but there's so many things now they've grown out of and also they're so incompatible together. DT2 never wants to do anything that most children his age want to do (probably cos of his Asperger's). But DT1 doesn'y do anything alone - ie without me, a friend or DT2, as he dislikes being alone...hence his constant demands on me really.

Wouldn't dare let them alone in the kitchen cooking, as they have no real sense of safety, fight if I'm not there to supervise and most of the time we have a v curious dog in there (he's away at his trainer's this week), preventing anyone doing anything without his interference! Incidentally, neither likes or plays with the dog either!