Ideas a Teenage DS 15 can do during summer when not going on hols

[lumyums]

My DS 15 in the past has started to get depressed in the summer holidays.

All his friends go on holiday or begin to drift away after the first two weeks.

We are not going on holiday and don't usually.

Does anyone have any ideas what he could do?

Learn a skill- cooking/ gardening? On line course - lots of free stuff openlearn/ futurelearn etc.
volunteer? Library big read?

Volunteer at local City Farm or similar
Learn an instrument
Be very proactive about meeting friends who are not away, plan days to local places
Help you decorate a room
Create a veg / flower patch
Can you afford to send him on a teen working hol?

It rather depends how much money you have available, and on your location.

Things like water sports classes and theatre workshops (usually lasting a week) can be relatively cheap as a one-off.

A month spent with a host family in France or Spain for language learning would be considerably more expensive.

You are quite late to be thinking about this! Not that children / teens need constant entertainment, but many of the best options are booked up long before the holidays start.

If he owns a mobile phone he could make a film …

In Surrey

Yes I've been trying to plan things way before this but he kept saying he will be doing things with friends.

He has been out with them all day playing football but I can see the usual pattern is happening and his friends are drifting or going on holiday.

I nearly fell over when he just said he will go to the cinema with me!

I could stretch to day out things, but not trips away.

He is doing g daily fitness and has a fitness goal but he says he does not want to do any study type things as he wants to rest his brain!

Find him little jobs to do! Ds 15 is currently sanding the garden table. He also finds holidays long but he is doing odd jobs for us and seeing friends when they are free. He does have a job pot washing which has been good so far. Cinema once a week would be good, bike rides, or just watching a film. It is a difficult age I think.

Any jobs around the house, painting or gardening.
Volunteering somewhere, my son volunteered at a dog shelter one summer.
Join a gym/ swimming
Sometimes we pick a netflix series and watch it together to get him out of his room!
Cooking dinner for family.
Kayaking/ waterworks day out

NCS- be quick and still places available

How much is that Springaround the corner ?

I can't seem to find a price in the website. I've never heard of this - thank you

My ds15 has just got himself two summer jobs - one pot washing in a restaurant a couple of evenings a week and one working in an ice cream shop a couple of days a week. Are there any cafes/restaurants he could work in?

camping for a couple of nights would be cheap - could you maybe do that?

I agree it’s a difficult age and when friends go away they’re at a loose end. And you don’t want them stuck in their rooms all day every day for 6 weeks!

cinema
picnics
skate park
kayaking at local lakes
beach trip
baking
decorating

Any local gyms he could join? There might be pay as you go options?
My 13 year old is going swimming and to the junior gym sessions at my gym.