Things to do with preteens

[spottymoo]

Dd and dds 12 & nearly 11 are bored at weekends and we don't know what to do with them that isn't going to cost us £££ all the time.

Hobbies are swimming and football which are Saturday evening for an hr and Sunday Monday for 2 hrs.

Their not interested in boards games that much walks out as a family are difficult as dd&dh have mobility problems.

We've done movie afternoons to death arts n craft their no longer interested in.

Dss will quite happily send his time on his xbox and dd on her phone but they've both said they'd like to do more family things.

In the school holidays I always plan a few days out but these are theme parks / safari parks/ harry potter studio type tours which we can't afford to do every weekend.

We had national tryst membership last year but the kids rarely wanted to go as they found it boring.

So I'm totally stumped

Sorry no help but watching with interest. DS1 11 would spend all day on the Xbox if we let him , bar swimming and football. We're stumped too!

The older they get the harder it is with them I love the fact they want us to still do things as family but finding things is hard. I don't mind spending bit of money but don't want to be spending £50 odd a time to do things.

It's difficult. DD (11) still likes it if you read to her, play Lego or wooden blocks. She also enjoys cooking/baking together. She is into magic, so we spent some money on magic kits and she likes learning new tricks on youtube and showing us.

Would they be interested in doing some cooking with you?

Cooking is a good idea. Bake something nice together.

Museums? Google any free museums, the bigs ones are great but don't forget little ones too, perhaps local ones with interesting exhibitions even if it just kills an hour and gets them out.

Going for a long walk/bike ride?

My dd loves going out for the afternoon shopping (even if it's just window shopping) and going to Costa together for a "coffee" (hot choc) - all very grown up!

Odeon and Empire cinemas do £1 tickets Sat mornings. Look online and see what one it is and book tickets online in advance as they sell out and you've got a cinema trip at a silly cheap price!

DD2 (10) bakes on Sundays. I bought a children's baking book and she picks out what she wants to bake in advance and I buy any additional ingredients if necessary. She will do it pretty independently, with me staying close by to answer questions or help complete certain steps (mostly oven related). It still feels like one on one time.

DD1 (11) has no interest in baking. Thought she likes the results. Her idea of fun is going to a coffee shop for hot chocolate and cookies, especially if she can do it alone with me.

But as a family, we don't really do much all together. The girls like to go swimming for fun every so often. Not much swimming involved, mostly just playing around. We are pretty full on with hobbies and homework Mon-Sat, so we don't do this very often.

We bake quite abit and it's not something dss particularly likes apart from the rating part.

Museums both walk round board eager to get to the gift shop.

Country walks aren't that feasible dd would need to be in her wheelchair and dh can't walk far due to medical problems and I'm recovering from ankle surgery and can't walk on uneven ground.

Puzzles?
Would dss enjoy "building" his own pizza?
What board games have you tried?

frugalfun4boys.com/2013/06/30/20-activities-for-tween-age-boys/

Teach them how to read a map and let them navigate to some destination.
Gardening.

Sign up for some community activity you can all join in with. DD and I spent the day planting a wildflower meadow in the park-good time had by all and we came home with a bag of archaeological 'finds' (ok, broken bits of china and old bottles...) Spent the day with grown up and adult friends and made some new ones. No cost involved. (Just tell them you've volunteered their help as some strong young men are needed)

Join the local Panto society as a family? Charity fundraising? Something with a purpose that stretches their comfort zone a bit.
And maybe sign them up for a scout type activity as they may need more exercise than the rest of the family can manage?
Oh and do they play any musical instruments? Forming a band might keep them busy.