what are your 7-8 yos doing?

[MarineWife]

i know this sort of question has been asked a gazillion times but i need a refresher.

my 7yo, soon to be 8 in january, says he's bored so i need ideas of independent things for him to do. we do weekly bowling and park days with a local homeschool group. he's in a weekly homeschool chorus class and just started basketball after over a year of tae kwon do that we are taking a break from. the sports are in the evenings so we need daytime things. I have heard there is a homeschool band but can't get a response from the contact person about it. I also just learned of a homeschool art class I'm going to look into for him but we can't afford to pay much right now. There are museums and such around but they are so expensive that we can't go to them very often.

So, what kinds of projects or activities do your kids do at home on their own? What materials do you keep on hand for them and how do you encourage them to use them? I have tons of books and paper and paints and crayons and markers and pencils and toys but he doesn't use them much. He spends most of his time watching TV or playing video games. I don't mind that if that's what he wants to do but he says he only does those things because he's bored and there's nothing else to do.

edited to subscribe to my own thread.

[moominmamma]

My 8-year-old is on a bit of a video and computer-game kick these days, being rather passionate about Minecraft and Dr. Who. So we've seen screen time ramp up a fair bit lately. But here are the other things she spends her days at:

Crafts ... she's currently sewing a family of "monsters" to give as a Christmas gift. She also likes knitting and origami, though she hasn't done much of those the past few months.

Baking ... she has gradually become very capable in the kitchen and can do up lovely cookies, squares, muffins, desserts and even entrées. Cooking is her go-to activity when she's bored.

Hanging out with friends. Two afternoons a week she hangs out with friends. One time it's a social date with another homeschooling family. The other time it's a trip to the city with a bunch of teenagers (including her older brother and sister -- I'm the taxi driver) for choir rehearsal, and she loves the social time with them.

Violin. She studies violin, so she practices every day and has a lesson once a week, and about once a week there's a group class or a chamber ensemble rehearsal. 

Fitness-related stuff. We're lucky enough that she can attend the school for their fitness-related activities up to three times a week (she's there as I write this). We also walk the dog, go on nature hikes, do some geocaching from time to time, XC ski, run on the trails, or attend the community gym to play badminton or basketball or something. We aim for 60 minutes of physical activity a day, on average. Most of this is stuff I have to facilitate, but it's time and energy well-spent because she tends to be much more energetic and less aimless after being active.

Reading. She had grown out of the habit of reading for pleasure over the past few months. To get her back into that I started making hot drinks for the two of us and serving them on a little tray in front of the fire in the living room, sitting down with my own book, and offering her two or three novels to choose from. Now she is reading regularly again.

Documentaries. Either on-line or on DVD. She especially loves Planet Earth, The Elegant Universe, Connections, Life and has recently been enjoying Canada: A People's History because she wanted to learn more about Canadian history.

She's also a fairly academic kid, so she sometimes engages in big academic jags, spending a couple of hours with curriculum materials. Lately, not so much. But for most of the fall she was spending maybe an hour a day at that.

HTH!

Miranda

[MarineWife]

on a whim, i took my boys to the children's museum. thay have a weekly international cooking club that includes learning a little bit about the country of origin of the dish and the significance of it. they really enjoyed that. the whole thing cost me around $55-65 so it's not something we can do often.

my 7yo complained the whole way there and the whole way back (an hour and 20 minutes one way) even though he was the complaining about being bored at home. seems i can't win with that kid.

the baby cooperated today so we built a gingerbread house.

[shoefairy3]

My 8yo (nearly 9) is writing a story like the Meet books from American girl.  She is currently up to 4 chapters.  She also loves doing workbooks.  Shes a fun one. 

[beckington]

The biggest thing my 7yo is doing right now is making toys for his toy shop. Most of these are toys he makes out of junk - recyclables, random craft supplies, that type of thing. He is also sewing a few things.

He's also spending a lot of time on a new obsession: Moshi Monsters. He plays it online, chats on the phone to friends about it, draws pictures about it, and when he has friends over, they 'play it' outside. He just bought a book about it today from his allowance.

He also spends time reading, playing soccer (a lot - inside and outside! anything on the ground MUST be kicked!), learning the piano, playing with his baby brother, playing with Lego...

Oh we do an activity-based advent calendar so each day at the moment we do something related to that as well.

HTH!

[VeggieLovinMama]

Marine-Wife, did you see my post about too much video game time? Sounds like we have some similar gripes (my son is 8). It seems like boys often don't do the writing and crafts and baking that girls like to do. I guess video games just appeal to them more.

Have you tried things like wooden blocks or Tinker Toys or straws and connectors? My son loves those things, though he'll only do them if video games are turned off. In better weather we have a tree house and trampoline, bike, scooter, etc. which takes up a lot of his time too... I'm going to subscribe for more ideas for boys :)

[MarineWife]

We have all kinds of building blocks and Legos. He does play with them some but not much. I've been thinking that maybe I should put a limit on when the TV or video games can be turned on or that it all needs to be turned off after a bit but can be turned back on later. That goes against my radical unschooling thinking but I have experienced how both he and my 4 year old do more and play better without the TV and video games. He does turn them off himself after a while, though. I've even heard him say that playing video games too much is not healthy as he turns it off so he can limit himself.

My son does like to cook but I don't much. He gets more of that when his dad is home.

beckington~ I'm very interested in the toy making. Did your son come up with that on his own or did you show him how? Do you work with him or does he do it mostly on his own?

[moominmamma]

Originally Posted by MarineWife 

My son does like to cook but I don't much. He gets more of that when his dad is home.

Couldn't he cook some things by himself? Or learn to do so? Start with one simple recipe. A couple of runs with a bit of assistance and he'd probably be good on his own. After he's comfortable with that recipe he can start gradually expanding his repertoire. For my kids baking things entirely on their own gave them a huge sense of accomplishment and they were eager to do so. After that they just kind of took off. I would be handed shopping lists each week for whatever they had planned.

Miranda

[MarineWife]

yes, i guess he could start cooking more on his own. he does make pancakes pretty much by himself. i think i'll ask for a few things he'd like to make so i can pick up the ingredients.

[Qalliope]

Mine is also very into computer-based activities.  But he also enjoys legos and drawing comics and watching history and science documentaries. The encouragement he gets from his kung fu teacher keeps him interested in practicing that as well.  He likes for us to just sit and talk about current events.  He's built some wood kits in the past, and I am putting together a small workshop area for him to tinker about with hand tools. I may put his electronics stuff there too, as I think it may rekindle his interest in that.

[beckington]

Originally Posted by MarineWife 
beckington~ I'm very interested in the toy making. Did your son come up with that on his own or did you show him how? Do you work with him or does he do it mostly on his own?

Oh, it's really basic stuff - imagine lots of toilet rolls, tin cans and tape!! :) He does it on his own. I keep out recyclables that I think look like they have building potential for him and throw it in his pile of stuff for him to discover. The sewing I did show him though. He's been talking recently ababout using wood and tools to make stuff but we haven't got there yet.
 

[MarineWife]

Oh, ok. Maybe I should start a collection of recyclables for my boys. My 7yo has been talking for a while about building things for a while. I'm waiting for my dh to be home long enough to clean out a space in the garage and get to work with him.

[Attila the Honey]

My 8 year old is obsessed with Monster High dolls.  She spends a lot of her time making them outfits.  She also enjoys Story of the World and listening to The Wizard Of Oz on Librivox.  She plays outside a lot, and enjoys doing "schoolwork" on theheadoftheclass.com.  She takes a monthly zoo class and also, and once a week she goes to the library to read to the therapy dog there.

[dbsam]

Originally Posted by MarineWife 

Oh, ok. Maybe I should start a collection of recyclables for my boys. My 7yo has been talking for a while about building things for a while. I'm waiting for my dh to be home long enough to clean out a space in the garage and get to work with him.

I do not homeschool or unschool - just like reading in these forums  - but...my 7yo son loves building things.  In addition to recycled materials he has a pile of wood scraps, tiles, basically any building material and some basic tools and wood glue.  Lately he made a little table and a shelf out of wood and glass tiles.  (The table is more decorative...I do not think it would hold too much!)  My daughter, also 7, loves building things too.  Often their 'inventions' are not functional or even identifiable but they have so much fun making them.  The only problem is figuring out what to do with all their creations.  My children prefer to not follow plans.  Many 7-8 yo's would like to follow plans that you can find online. 

[VeggieLovinMama]

Originally Posted by Qalliope 

Mine is also very into computer-based activities.  But he also enjoys legos and drawing comics and watching history and science documentaries. The encouragement he gets from his kung fu teacher keeps him interested in practicing that as well.  He likes for us to just sit and talk about current events.  He's built some wood kits in the past, and I am putting together a small workshop area for him to tinker about with hand tools. I may put his electronics stuff there too, as I think it may rekindle his interest in that.

Your boy and mine sound very very similar. Computers, drawing comics, documentaries... but the woodworking, not so much. Maybe because he hasn't been introduced to it much, but also he has some fine motor issues. I should see if he'd bite on that one... he has helped his dad build a treehouse and loved it...

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by moominmamma 

Couldn't he cook some things by himself? Or learn to do so? Start with one simple recipe. A couple of runs with a bit of assistance and he'd probably be good on his own. After he's comfortable with that recipe he can start gradually expanding his repertoire. For my kids baking things entirely on their own gave them a huge sense of accomplishment and they were eager to do so. After that they just kind of took off. I would be handed shopping lists each week for whatever they had planned.

Miranda

This reminded me of the book I read recently entitled "50 Dangerous Things....", which was a fun book.  One of the ideas was to bake something of your own invention.  NPR has an interview with the author, who also runs a camp....(crap! what was it called?)  Great interview.  Fun ideas.  Great book.

Bon apetit!

[MarineWife]

I just got home from buying ingredients to bake cookies. My ds has also said he wants to make chili so that is on our list. It will be fun!

[canadiangranola]

For a cheaper alternative to the international cooking class, why not try looking up international recipes at home and making one and talking a bit about the country the recipe comes from. You don't have to drive (except maybe to shop for the ingredients, but then even the shopping is learning) and you could even mark on a world map places you have tried recipes from. We have done this before (with my 8yr old boy, 6 yr old girl, and 3 yr old girl) and it has been great fun.

[Qalliope]

Maybe because he hasn't been introduced to it much, but also he has some fine motor issues. I should see if he'd bite on that one... he has helped his dad build a treehouse and loved it...

Do you have Lowe's or Home Depot in Canada?   The big box home improvement stores have free weekend workshops with little kits to introduce kids to woodworking. Thats how ds got into it; plus, they send you home with whatever little bundle of tools the kids need for the project.  So you wind up with a child-sized hammer, goggles, work apron, etc.

A dedicated workspace makes ds much more inclined to pursue whatever he is into. I think often video and computer games are chosen out of convenience.  Nothing to set up, clear a space for, or clean up afterwards with all the sense of accomplishment you get from a real-world project.  I'm trying to work around that without constantly doing the work involved in getting projects jump-started myself. 

[MarineWife]

We have both a Home Depot and a Lowe's here. I've been told the Lowe's classes are better. I keep meaning to take my boys but always forget. Getting up and doing something on a Saturday morning isn't in my usual routine of things to do. I need to mark it on my calendar with reminders so I'm more likely to do it.