What to do with the kids when school is out!?!

Get the little one a bike, wear them out and they'll be too tired to fight. You can run and he can bike with you.

We do all kinds of stuff over the summer.

Camping, museums, the zoo. Movies. Parks.

Your kids 13, ask him what he would like to do.

I have a 13 year old, a 8 year old and a 10 month old.

Bubbles! Bubbles for the 3 year old! I was so surprised yesterday, I made my kids go outside for a bit, and they kept coming up with more things to do outside. They started with bubbles, went to water guns, then played on their scooters/ride on toys. I would say they spent almost 2 hours outside. It was awesome! If your son is up for physical stuff, there are body weight exercise programs you could do together. I have an app on my phone called You Are Your Own Gym (I think it was $2). I started it last week, but had my almost 10 year old son start doing it with me this week. I'm having him do it for shorter time periods, but he seemed to enjoy it by the end. And he's been kind of like my personal trainer when I do my workout. I don't know. Just a suggestion.

you definitely need to take them out every day for supervised activity, otherwise you will have fighting.
is there a pool you can go to? or a beach/lake? hiking/picnics? Does the 13 year old not have friends he can go visit for the day and stuff?
Or can you have his friends to yours? sleepovers etc? anything that gives him somethng to focus on other than the 3 year old?

Check with your local parks department or agricultural center. Our ag center has 4H day camps that don't cost much and keep them busy exploring and doing all kinds of things. Last year my daughter was in an art camp, drama camp, she learned archery, they had a small pet camp. All kinds of things.

I can't wait to hear some ideas, mine are 9 and 11, I've been known to make them go outside and then lock the doors so they can't get back in and pester me....oh wait, that's probably not the best idea!! lol

Ugh my mother used to do that to us! We hated it. :P

They have summer camps for video game design and creation.

Is there a boys and girls club near by? They have a $5 a year enrollment and you can drop him off there. That's what I'm doing with my daughter. I paid $100 for the whole summer camp there and she is really excited! I have to work all day so paying for daycare or camps were about $200 per week and at the boys and girls club it was $100 for the who summer from 8-5 which works out great for me since I work full time. Check out the community centers around your area.

I lock mine in the closet. They are so loud, I hate it when they interrupt my nap!

:-)

We have something planned for most days. Park days, library day, clean up day, stuff like that.

Good luck!!

Is he interested in any team sports? Check with the local school district or the YMCA, sometimes they run week long day camps geared for kids his age for specific sports. Even if he is interested in a couple different ones it will get him off his butt for a couple weeks lol

I went to summer camp most of the time when I was a kid. Although, my mom was a teacher so she had summers off too, so I could stay home if I wanted. I was kinda lucky, when I was in middle school my dad started running his business from home so during the summer we could go on vacations, go to the movies, kinda do whatever...but I INSISTED on going to various summer camps: dance camp, horseback riding camp, cooking camp, Girl Scout camp, you name it.

My son is in a pre-k program right now so he'll be there all summer, but he starts regular school in the fall. Next summer I plan on having him enrolled in various summer camps: baseball camp, soccer camp, Vacation Bible School, etc. It can get expensive, but considering what I've been paying for preschool/pre-k, it's nothing new---plus I'll have the whole school year of not paying tuition to save up!

ETA: I did horseback riding camp and dance camp until I was like 15. I'd gone so many years to the horseback riding camp, they started giving me free riding lessons if I would come and help with the little kids, it was awesome!

I would definitely register them each for a week or more of day camp. Your 13 y.o. is probably old enough to work as a junior counselor. As much as you want to, don't send them the same week - this way they get 2 total weeks away from each other.

The 13 y.o. should try to do some work and start earning spending money this summer. He'll want to start saving up for when he has a car in just a few years. Maybe babysit for some younger kids, mow lawns, weed gardens, whatever. He can make a little flyer on the computer to pass out around the neighborhood. Also, this is a great time to instill the values of volunteering in a child. Your local hospital, library, YMCA, etc. probably have a need for young volunteers.

The age gap creates a few problems (like finding a movie they'd both watch, etc.)

One thing we're planning on doing this summer is geo-caching... it's just cool enough that a young teenager would see the fun in it and a 3yo would enjoy being outside and "hunting" for them!

If you have a local swimming pool, that's always a great option. We take our kids to the pool like three times a week during the summer, taking advantage of all the free swims they offer! Kids of all ages love to swim, and it will wear them out.

We do a lot of random craft activities, even when they sound sort of silly. The other day, we found a huge stick on the side of the road, brought it home, washed it off and painted it white. Then the kids and I painted it with colorful designs. It kept them busy for an hour and now we have a colorful stick on the porch that has my kids' handprints on it. It's fun.

If it weren't so hot here, we would go on lots of nature walks. We would gather rocks and sticks and do fun things with them.

You also can't go wrong with putting a sprinkler outside and letting them run around in it. I also like to have them help me work on the yard... they do a great job clearing rocks and sticks from the lawn and help me put pieces of mulch back in the beds.

If it's an ugly day out, one of our favorite things to do is build elaborate forts in the house. We use bedsheets and blankets, dining room chairs, etc. My oldest (4yo) loves fort building and my youngest (almost 2yo) just loves going in and out. I fill the forts with sleeping bags and pillows, they just absolutely love it.

Your local theater might have matinees... if my kids had a large age gap, we would each take a kid to a movie they wanted around the same time.

When I was 13, I really loved the mall. If I had kids your age, I'd go walk the mall with them and allow the 13yo a little freedom while I pushed the little one around (our mall has car-shaped carts you can rent, my kids love them).

Also, you could look into day camps for the oldest. In 8th grade (I was 12) I did a different day camp once a week every week for an entire summer. I loved it... art class, water skiing, etc.

- Day camp. A whole week of activities for them. Chances are your local YMCA has several, your school or local colleges (college students studying education often run day camps for experience credit) might be aware of some, or if there's a local farm they might have (or be interested in starting) a program or your local 4-H might already have one going.

- Take the last weeks of school to get to know the parents of a few of the other kids. Play dates = good for everyone. You get to hang out with the parents, the kids all go running around in the yard tiring each other out. Plus your kids are developing better relationships with their schoolmates and you're developing a relationship with the parents of the kids your kids hang out with.

- Skip the running if you think you'll get hurt again and concentrate on walking for enjoyment. Do some day hikes in the woods if you have a park with trails. Hills are great, tiring fun, and you get a rewarding view from the top. The more they appreciate the outdoors, the more they'll want to be out there, and an active kid in the outdoors is generally a healthier kid than one who sits in front of a screen a lot.

- For the rainy days, get some puzzles or all take up a hobby together (knitting, reading together). Or get some good raingear and enjoy the outdoors and revel in being wet. There should be some outside time EVERY DAY unless the weather is dangerously bad (which is limited to either beyond the temperature zone of their outdoor gear, hurricane-force winds, hail, thunderstorms, or the Apocalypse).

When I was growing up, my mother taught us how to cross busy streets safely and to be on the lookout for people acting oddly. Then she would feed us a solid breakfast in the summer and throw us out of the house. Lunch was available if we wanted it, and she had a big bell you could hear for several blocks that she'd ring about a half hour before supper, and an neighbor had an airhorn that could be heard for miles. Most of the families on the block had supper at about the same time, so our dinner bell pretty much applied to all my friends, too. My mom would ring the bell, the neighbor would give two long blasts on the airhorn, and everyone started heading home to wash up for supper.

If you showed up at the house during the day, you were either hurt, hungry, or just plain exhausted. All your friends were at the playground, home was where you went to fuel up or get fixed up.


We don't live in a neighborhood, but we got rid of our television and it was amazing how fast my daughter found other things to do. She's a voracious reader, and has learned to knit, crochet, play the flute and cello, and just sit and think of silly stories. Of course, we spend as much money on yarn, musical instruments, and other supplies as we used to on the cable bill, but I'm never short of hats, mittens, musical accompaniment, or artwork.