# Parents of Tweens and Teens - What do they like to do?



## SecondTime'Round (Jan 15, 2015)

I've been asked by my kids' school to be a "Classroom Parent Coordinator" for my son's 7th grade class. They go to a very small private school and the school is undergoing an effort to create more "community" and reaching out to parents, I guess, to act as social coordinators. My role will be to plan one out-of-school social event per quarter and invite all of the other kids and parents to it. Examples given were going to the movies and bowling. (I kinda fail to see how attending a movie together creates "community," but I digress...)

I'm more comfortable with my son's 7th grade class than my daughter's 9th grade class, but this still is not exactly my cup of tea. My greatest fear is planning an event and the only people showing up are my son and me and the one boy in his class who drives him insane and his parent. 

Besides typical "field trip" type stuff (i.e. museums), please send me any ideas you can think of that are fairly low budget and would appeal to both boys and girls solely in a social way. No "host a party at your house," either!


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## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

Movies is a bad idea IMHO because the kids pay attention to the movie and do not interact as much.

What sort of things are in your area? For example are there any museums that have a hands-on exhibit for the younger kids? Some museums do overnight where kids bring sleeping bags. 

10 memorable museum sleepovers for kids of all ages

Where I live we have an amusement park that kids love. It also has a water part of it... wave pool, water slides, lazy river, etc.

Day at the zoo.

There are farms around here where you can schedule a kids day at the farm.

Do the kids do any charity? One of my son's schools had every class do a charity type project. For example his class visited an old folks home once a month and did things like put on a show and sang for the older folks. The kids loved it. The older folks loved it.

One of the older classes helped with meals on wheels.

Does the school have enough land to do a garden? They could grow veggies to donate to food banks, soup kitchens and/or to take home so that they learn where their food comes from.

Just a few ideas.


http://www.classtrips.com/region-landing/2046/school-field-trips-in-connecticut


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## SecondTime'Round (Jan 15, 2015)

EleGirl said:


> Movies is a bad idea IMHO because the kids pay attention to the movie and do not interact as much.
> 
> What sort of things are in your area? For example are there any museums that have a hands-on exhibit for the younger kids? Some museums do overnight where kids bring sleeping bags.
> 
> ...


We live within 1 or 2 hours of MANY things you've mentioned but in the immediate area....limited.

However, there is a charity very closely affiliated to the school that my son and some friends have volunteered at (started in memory of a student who died in a sledding accident about 6 years ago), so that is a GREAT idea for an activity. They are always in great need of manual labor and have regular volunteer nights.

I also love the garden idea, but that would require way more time (not to mention skill) than I am able to give.....they do have the grounds for it, but I just have no expertise.


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## hotshotdot (Jul 28, 2015)

Scavenger hunts are fun for all ages. I do one for Easter because our kids are all almost 4 years apart in age (19, 16, & 11) & they all enjoy it. For large groups they can have teams. Use riddles as clues that point them to the next clue & the last clue leads to the prize (each team gets a prize). I have used tickets to a ball game or movies as prizes but it could even be a room set up for a party.


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## SecondTime'Round (Jan 15, 2015)

hotshotdot said:


> Scavenger hunts are fun for all ages. I do one for Easter because our kids are all almost 4 years apart in age (19, 16, & 11) & they all enjoy it. For large groups they can have teams. Use riddles as clues that point them to the next clue & the last clue leads to the prize (each team gets a prize). I have used tickets to a ball game or movies as prizes but it could even be a room set up for a party.


Ohhh, I love this idea! I've done several scavenger hunts as an adult so I'm sure they would love this, and this is also something I could pull off and probably be allowed to do on school grounds. Thanks for this idea!

ETA: Or even what was called "Polaroid Panic" when I was a teen in youth group....now more commonly called a road rally. I love the idea of a mini road rally!


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## Spotthedeaddog (Sep 27, 2015)

EleGirl said:


> Movies is a bad idea IMHO because the kids pay attention to the movie and do not interact as much.
> 
> 
> Do the kids do any charity? One of my son's schools had every class do a charity type project. For example his class visited an old folks home once a month and did things like put on a show and sang for the older folks. The kids loved it. The older folks loved it.
> ...


Agree on that point about the movie (or watching TV). how to be there, and not be there!

The song dance thing can be good but better to organise it as skills - also depends on the age group and creative skills they're working with. formal dance can be interesting.

With the other options.... there is too much mindbending influence on impressionable children for "community" and "charity" work. It creates an expectation that community (and government) are there to look out for them, and that giving everything away is noble and good. Sadly the sociopaths of the world love to run structures like that.

I would also look into cooking - or into what work experiences the parent has - are there participation skills that children can do in that line of work? Far too much effort goes into dumbing down modern children. I'm doing university study at the moment and I'm horrified that the second year university papers (19-20yr old) are actually simpler and require less work than what was 3 years earlier (16-17yr old) when I first attend 28years ago (I still have my text books and revise once a year). The level of maturity and ability has fallen shockingly, as has the level of the examination and the rigiour of the projects (less q's, less skill, more points about presentation - despite presentation software making the presentation work easier and faster!)

Also if there's time do swap around leadership roles, and 2ic roles. So many modern people smiling to your face, and totally in it for themselves...despite ht e"public community" message !


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## Spotthedeaddog (Sep 27, 2015)

hotshotdot said:


> Scavenger hunts are fun for all ages. I do one for Easter because our kids are all almost 4 years apart in age (19, 16, & 11) & they all enjoy it. For large groups they can have teams. Use riddles as clues that point them to the next clue & the last clue leads to the prize (each team gets a prize). I have used tickets to a ball game or movies as prizes but it could even be a room set up for a party.


If they have cellphones then a version of portal or geohunt (Q-codes) involving group photos at certain points would work


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