Things to do with a 9 year old girl

[Mousey84]

Its just me and DD and things been getting a little strained recently due to some health problems (mine) and her behavior has deteriorated somewhat. (Though it may be hormonal too) Im hoping to get some ideas of things we can do together.

When she was little I got inspiration for things to do online - dltk-kids.com, activity village and the like. Now Im looking for something aimed at older kids so that we can do some fun, and hopefully slightly educational, things together.

Any recommendations?

Ive tried cooking and baking with her, but she doesnt really enjoy it anymore. I do some crafts (knitting, crocheting, cardmaking etc) and she starts making things with me then gets bored and wanders off. Her interests seem to lie in moshi monster and club penguin which arent really things I can join in with. So, we need to find new things we both enjoy, and they need to be home based due to health issues.

If you wanted to you could join in with Club Penguin etc - I reluctantly signed up so DD (same age as yours) would have someone else she knew on there. It's not bad but I don't go on that often!

My DD also likes drawing together (only fun if you're arty I guess) - we do things like designing outfits for different occasions or drawing our top 10 favourite cakes or puddings or whatever.

She also loves playing cards and still enjoys board games although they can get a bit repetitive.

My friend does scrapbooking with her DD which is not my sort of thing but maybe you would both enjoy that?

Origami
jigsaw puzzle
board games
sewing - clothes, or maybe things for her dolls/soft toys (pillows, hats, etc)
beading/jewelry making
birdwatching - get a few introductory birding books, a pair of binoculars, and a bird feeder

Could you make it "real" so cooking-cook the family tea
Growing things - eg vegatable

Science things - make a volcano

Short term - would you both like to knit a square for WubblyBubbly's blanket?

Sudoku - other puzzles

Do you play board games? Cards?

If money isn't too tight, there's a new 'collect the series' thing out, I'm not sure if it's 'whole body' or just skeleton, but apparently it's going to be quite a lot of making & doing - not just collecting. Quite pricey though after the first one (£6).

It is really hard knowing, without knowing either of you :)

• Minature Dolls house- making some of the bits, buying some of them.

• Making a movie (bores me rigid but seems to appeal to that age group).

Thanks for all the ideas!

I've tried some of them - we grew fruit and veg last year, and expanding our fruit selection this year. she cooks dinner twice a week with me. We do board games and she picked up cluedo while out shopping the other day so we are going to try it out. We picked up an origami set the same day actually and taught her a few bits but she wasn't being careful enough with her folding and wouldn't listen so things didn't work out as well as mine so she's given up. A shame cause I love doing it! Guess her attention to detail and her attention span are both in need of some work!

Things like craft ideas I think we could find something mutually fun. I was looking at Tshirt printing but even the thought of the mess makes me feel tired ( tiredness being main symptom of my health issues- I'm about to nap for the second time today despite full nights sleep) so I need to make sure I can follow through.

Club penguin annoys me. I can't quite say why, it just makes me feel really annoyed the minute I set eyes on it!

Don't do something that annoys you. 9 year olds can be quite annoying enough even when you are doing something you enjoy! :)

I wouldn't worry about it being educational - I think if you can just build on your relationship, that's all that really matters. Hopefully her concentration and patience will improve along the way.

I look after my friends 9 year old for her and she loves the fact that we just 'hang out' and I'm not 'too busy' for her (she has 2 younger siblings who get most of the attention at home), sometimes we do something 'worthy' or other times we just play my DS (well, she plays and I help her out when she gets stuck, but I sit with her and she shows me how well she's doing etc) and sometimes we watch crap preteen TV (icarly - sigh). Sometimes we'll read or do her homework. Mostly though, she likes thrashing me on the Wii

This isn't really what you were asking but how about encouraging her to have friends round more and letting them put toppings on pizzas for tea, watch a movie together with popcorn, that sort of thing? If things have been strained then perhaps taking the pressure off and just letting her have a bit of fun would cheer her up and make her feel you want to make her happy. I was an only child of a mum with health problems and felt quite isolated sometimes, I wasn't allowed friends round often due to the effort involved and my mum feeling self-conscious. Do you have family/friends locally who could take her out somewhere for treats and give you time to sleep/rest? You might find that she will be more willing to do things with you after a bit of space and other company too.

Dd invited me to watch icarly the other day. I now understand where she got her hand-on-hip-with-sigh-and-rolled eyes thing from!

I can't bear to watch someone play a videogame either ( I know, selfish mum) but it just seems like such a waste of time to me.

I've chatted to her about the blanket and she wants to have a go at making some squares and we will practice on my scrap wool til we get some of the proper stuff. :) it's such a moving tribute to the lady. I havent come on here much recently and don't remember her, but she has obviously touched many people's lives. we are both thrilled to be taking part.

Good point diyqueen. Thankfully she has a few very good friends close by and we have someone round at least 5 days a week ( or she goes to them) but its building our relationship when we don't seem to connect easily anymore!

Keep having nightmares about her turning into a troublesome teen and wake up in a cold sweat! ( right now she hates me for making her tidy up Hama beads..last night I was ruining her life because I wouldn't let her go out on her bike at 9pm in the rain..)

That's good, she is lucky then and I'm sure it's a phase you'll come through with a bit of patience. It sounds like you're doing a great job, and like she's being a normal 9-year-old . I read a book the other week called 'Playful Parenting' that was all about connecting with your child - I won't claim to know whether or not it works as mine is only 11 months old but there were some interesting ideas in there.

Mousey - doesn't fill me with excitement either but she needs the world to revolve around her a bit (my friends DD, not yours!) as it's always about the little ones when they are around. So she plays, I help her every little while, she tells me how fab she is and I mentally write my shopping list/redecorate the house/have some adult TV on (house renovation type stuff) - although I have a million things I could be doing, I try to see it as being with her, making her feel listened too, understood and 'worth' my time :) Sometimes you just have to chill and do what they want to do...

That's great about the blanket :) Wubbly was a really lovely person, lovely but also ballsy. It's nice to have some children help to make the blanket for another child I think. Her son is only 5 :(

Evil mother you

I have a dd the same age - we play monopoly (the adult normal one, not the kids one), we cook dinner together, put music channels on the tv and chat / sing along to the music, we get into box sets ( prob get shot for this but she loves miranda and lost! Has to be something I can watch too, of course she's very "with it" and knows its not "real" etc) .. We also on occasion get the paints out and have a painting session! :)

Jigsaws, scrabble and Lego were my big things aged 9. Also planted veggies, cooked, made clothes for dolls, had a big dressing up box and would act out films and TV shows (how about running a Britains Got Talent with fancy dress and silly performances?)... Erm, puppets? Yoga? Learn sign language? Make jewellery? Hard to say without knowing her - is she a tomboy or Gorky, for example?

Gorky??? Ruddy iPhone. Girly was what I was aiming for!

How about going horse riding together?