Ways to meet other brainy 7 year olds?

[ShadowMom]

My little guy is 7 and a half years old and he's a bit nerdy, like his parents.    He's having some trouble relating to the kids he meets at school, so I was trying to think of ways that he can meet other kids with similar interests.  He likes building things and is into complex stuff, he loves science and studying animals and space and stuff like that.

He's having problems socializing with other kids and feeling like he belongs and has common interests.  Emotionally speaking, he's a bit behind in his ability to relate to other people, and is very sensitive.

So, I thought getting him exposed to kids who are into stuff that he likes might help.  I understand the Lego stores have clubs where kids build Lego stuff together on Saturday mornings, and we don't have a Lego store but something like that would be amazing to try out.

Do you other mamas have any ideas on activities we could try?

I have shared custody so he's only with me every other weekend, so it would need to be something where we could go when we could, not an every-week commitment.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

[ollyoxenfree]

DS works part-time at a community art gallery and it often hosts weekend workshops for different groups. There are some children's animation workshops with claymation that are a lot of fun. You could check out local museums, art galleries, film studios, and community centres for similar programs. 

The university also offers weekend programs to encourage young children in science and engineering. They tend to run for consecutive Saturdays for 8 or 10 weeks, but I think they also have one-off weekend workshops too. 

Local nature reserves offer nature walks all year round. We liked to go on walks with themes - a night-time owl prowl, a wild edibles course, etc. 

Scouts? A scout troop might be understanding if a child couldn't attend every week. 

I find small local community newspapers are great for listing these kinds of workshops, classes and clubs. 

Since an every week commitment like a Lego Robotics or computer club might be difficult, is it possible to arrange playdates with any like-minded classmates? A trip to a science museum or a nature walk outing might be a good way to encourage a budding friendship. 

 

Good luck. 

[LynnS6]

Chess club

Our school ran a lego club where they did lego robotics (sorry I don't know who sponsored it because my kids weren't interested). Our local science museum does something similar, as does our local library.

Science museum classes

Rec center classes

Book club

[chaimom]

I have one of those boys, too. My son is in a highly gifted school with other kids like him, and even in that group there are only 2 he really connects with, so I know it's tricky finding a good companion for a kid like this. Any chance there's a gifted or HG school where he might find more quirky kids?   My son does chess club at school, but it's not really that social.  He likes it, though.   My son did icamp last week & this week (animation and lego robotics) and there were other brainy kids there. Your science museum might have camps he'd like.  

In your shoes, I would also be looking for activities that build his confidence so it doesn't matter so much if he's on his own.  It might be music or sports-- for my son it's both. And when you're on a team, it's a lot easier to connect with a buddy. 

[mkksmom]

This isn't exactly what you asked, but my dd is a brainy kid who was behind in social skills, and one thing that helped her learn specific social skills was the Superflex curriculum. We didn't do all of the activities, but the book alone was a tremendous help for her. Not sure if it would help in your specific situation, but I was so glad that I read about it on here that I wanted to mention it.

[nextcommercial]

Originally Posted by ShadowMom 

My little guy is 7 and a half years old and he's a bit nerdy, like his parents.    He's having some trouble relating to the kids he meets at school, so I was trying to think of ways that he can meet other kids with similar interests.  He likes building things and is into complex stuff, he loves science and studying animals and space and stuff like that.

Bless you!  I have two friends who's kids are like your son.  Both of them just keep pushing their sons into activities they hate.  One kid is very tall, so his parents decided he's a basketball player.. but, he wants to be a saxophone player.  He wants to be in a marching band.  He's a geek to his very core, and I love that about him.  The funny thing is BOTH his parents are the geekiest people I know... so, why do they want to ungeek him?  He's so awesome.

The other one has only a dad, and dad just doesn't get it.  His son loves math, and Pokemon, and collects superballs, and wants to join a card playing club.  Dad is a four wheeling, football watching jock.  So, he's lost... but, at least he tries to find the joy in Pokemon.  They've both recently discovered going into the desert at night to look for snakes together.  They also started playing Poker with some of the friends and their kids.

Try music.  Maybe there's a music lesson he would enjoy.  My daughter made some of her best lifelong friends in her music lessons.  They are all adults now, but still get together every few weeks.  

[JudiAU]

Mensa has online communities and in person events for kids that qualify.

Chess club; book club through library (if your local public library doesn't have a program for his age, help them develop one); form a group on meet up; many musesums have programs on the weekend.