What do you do after school?

[Debbie7171]

My DS 8 used to go to beavers swimming and gymnastics. He now only wants to do gymnastics which is fine he’s a confident swimmer and I figured he would grow out of beavers at some point. The problem I have is now after school he just wants to come home chill for a bit then he’s bored. I’ve tried doing activities such as baking and arts and crafts but that lasts an hour max. With it getting dark early the nights seem so long and draining. I liked the clubs because it broke the evenings up a bit. Any suggestions?

Mine play outside til it gets dark, then have a snack and watch tv, do a bit of homework, dinner and bed. But we also often just go out and do things: go to playground, go into town to do food shopping, go to library, go for a walk. Having a friend over is an easy win though as they entertain themselves.

Ours have clubs some nights otherwise they have a snack, chill, play in the park, facetime their friends or do homework. They are generally self sufficient, but we also created an 'I'm bored' list which is on the fridge with 50 suggestions/projects such as build a logo alien, design your dream bedroom, draw a picture of your favourite holiday, see how many baskets you can score in 2 mins...etc

Will he read books? He could do a challenge like a chapter a day. Or get a pen pan or write letters to grandparents. Or get a guided journal.

We have activities 3 days a week, and 2 we don’t. On the off days DD does her craft activities, we play a board game, she goes for a fun run with DH, see grandparents, helps me make dinner. We are screen free but she has plenty she can do.