What do you and your DD age 7/8 enjoy doing together?

[Traintothebeach]

DD is 7 and I want to start doing some activities with her we both enjoy and hope we can bond a bit more.

She’s quite immature for her age and at the moment she likes going to the playground (which I detest but try not to show it) or going to soft play type places (even worse).

At home she just wants screen time which I obviously limit, then she just likes imaginary play games that I hate e.g. pretend you’re the baby mummy, or pretend we’re at school etc.

We occasionally do baking but she’s not that interested and in any case I want to limit cake & biscuit consumption, the same goes for going out for ice cream / hot chocolate and cake, fine occasionally for a treat but not an every day thing.

She will draw etc a bit but short attention span so we aren’t into jewellery making or anything yet. (I tried modelling clay but she quickly made something vaguely resembling a cat then was done within 20 minutes)

If you have a dd aged 7-9 what do you enjoy together?

We are both fit and active and money is not an issue (within reason!)

thanks

I'm taking mine to the cinema and for lunch tomorrow.
What hobbies does your daughter have? Does she go to any clubs?
What about going to your local woods? Joining the wildlife trust?

@pecanpie101 she’s not really interested in eating out, except for the dessert.

She does gymnastics class twice a week, and swimming lessons. These both involve me sitting in stuffy waiting rooms with other parents so while I’m happy to take her I’d be lying if I said either was enjoyable for me or a good way to bond!

My DD8 and I enjoy ice skating together (she uses an aid), bowling (she uses the bumpers and ramp - a theme emerging here!), laser tag, charity shop browsing for books, having drawing competitions where she picks a theme and we both draw in secret then reveal, we go swimming maybe once a week or so… we are also lucky to live near countryside so sometimes we just go walking and for a paddle in the river if the weather permits! Also we have a Wii so play just dance or whatever it’s called sometimes. I’ve also taught her a couple of card games that can while away an hour without screens!!

Can she ride a bike? Can you? We have lots of off-road bike trails near us and they are very popular with families, and it’s something you can do quite regularly that’s fun, cheap and healthy.

My daughter loved “teaching” me dances, which we then performed.

Also, swimming somewhere with a wave or slide or otherwise different to where she did swimming lessons. (For swimming read jumping off and on my shoulders and practicing handstands).

20 minutes is good going! Better a proper focussed short time than forcing it.

However - what about cooking instead of baking? Get her to pick something to make together - healthier than baking. I’m not able for most physical things but I have friends who do climbing, park run and ninja warrior type stuff with their kids.

My daughter was artsy at that age so we did crafts a lot, could try more stuff to see if anything sparks an interest. That was when my son started getting into board games so you could try some. Sushi Go is easy and fun but there are plenty.

Dd (7) and I enjoy drawing, painting and reading together. I'm currently teaching her to sew. We also like walks, climbing things (hills, rocks, climbing walls), building sandcastles and then watching the sea destroy them, playing board games and going to the "treasure" (charity) shops.

She also likes to play multi player games, including Just Dance.

It does involve a screen, but my ds7 loves playing Pokémon go with me on my phone- and it means I can encourage us to go for walks (beach/woods etc) as he can use my phone to search for different Pokémon. I think geocaching is supposed to be in a similar vein but we haven’t tried it yet.

he also loves bike rides (we take a picnic etc) and he still likes Playdoh/kinetic sand that we play with together when I get it out on a rainy afternoon.

Bike rides with a picnic she’s helped prepare, cooking (she loves helping make dinners), we make scrap books, Hama beads together just chatting at the table whilst doing it, board games and jigsaws together. She is also enjoying learning to crochet and kayak with me.

Oo he also loves card games and we’re learning how to play chess together 🫣

We go for walks, train into the city for shopping, cinema and we also play lots of uno, Dobble and board games and sit & watch films! Bit of everything really. I also make sure she plays out with her friends most days too.

We go swimming or the cinema and then lunch afterwards.

Mine is a smidge younger but very mature. She likes:

Science experiments
Sewing
Growing things - so trip to the garden centre then planting etc
Aquabeads
Air clay
Painting
Puppet shows, she devises scripts, characters etc
Treasure hunts in the woods
Bike rides
Board games
Card games
Magic tricks
Jokes
Writing her own books and illustrating them

Edited to add - museums! We go to all the museums all the time. She can’t get enough. Slightly tedious for me although I love a new one!

I bought sticker books or very tidy craft kits for both of us and took her to cafes. She’d do a sticker book whilst I did cross stitch, or we’d both put together a craft kit and we chatted. Our favourite cafe was in a Waterstones so we could choose our activity on the way.

I did/do it with both kids, but you do need to choose your cafe according to your child! DD likes very quiet posh places with fancy froufrou cakes but DS is happier in a Costa where he doesn’t have to remember to keep his voice down!

Cinema, a walk, tennis (badly I may add) draw, go shopping, crafting, swimming, she likes reading still ask her about her books she's reading, watch tv together, just generally being 1-1 together helps, just doing whatever but letting them have all your attention

Thanks all . Definitely need to make more effort to be present when we’re at home together

If she likes playing pretend what about working on a doll's house together? You could get a simple one and decorate it?