E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeNEW YORK — Kiley Krzyzek is going to be a counselor-in-training for a month this summer. She’ll do choir camp for a week.
But it’s the rest of the time the 14-year-old wants to fill up, the weeks when there is nothing going on.
-
Tips to keep boredom away
Looking for ways to keep your tween or young teen busy over the summer? Here are six ideas to pull them away from the computer, the television and the cell phone:
• Look into teen classes, said Carol Weston, advice columnist for Girls’ Life magazine. Summer school might not excite, but look for classes in areas kids may have an interest in, like writing, drama, art or lifeguarding. If transportation is a problem, coordinate with other parents.
• Help kids find work, such as baby-sitting, car washing, dog walking or lawn mowing, said Weston. Perhaps you know someone who could use some extra help in his office. Kids want to make extra money.
• Check churches, soup kitchens, senior centers, animal shelters and the like to see if they need volunteers.
• Investigate local summer programming. Try the YMCA, library, colleges, museums or even health clubs. For example, Lifestyle Family Fitness has free summer memberships for teens 12 to 17 in all 55 of its locations.
•Consider a kid swap, suggests Weston. One parent can take the kids on an outing one day, another can take them somewhere another day.
• Explore summer camp options. Many have counselor-in-training or other programs for teens. For pricier specialty or residential camps, ask about financial aid or a group rate if several kids enroll together. Find camps at acacamps.org.
— Associated Press
“At first, it’s a big relief to be off from school without extra work and stress,” said Kiley, of West Hartford, Conn. “But then it gets to be too boring. You find yourself watching TV too much, on the computer too much.”
Many parents of tweens and young teens are looking to beat summer boredom as the economy puts pricey specialty camps and residential camps out of reach.Summer is tough for tweens and young teens, experts say. Kids in that 12-15 age range are old enough to stay home but too young to drive or get jobs other than things like baby-sitting and mowing lawns.
But while it can be easy and cheaper to leave kids home to entertain themselves when parents are working, too much unstructured time can lead to boredom, which is a constant complaint from tweens and young teens, said Denise Restauri, founder and CEO of AllyKatzz.com, a social networking site for girls ages 10 to 15.
Kids want to be active, said Restauri.
Suzanna Narducci, co-founder of TweenParent.com, a site for parents of preteens, suggests parents look for activities that are specific to children’s interests, whether it’s music, art or science.
Summer is a great time for them to develop new skills, especially if there is something they want to learn, Carol Weston, advice columnist for Girls’ Life magazine said.
Not to mention too much time on their hands can lead to trouble, said tween and teen expert Annie Fox. “Anything seems like a good idea because there is nothing happening.”
@Nyx.CommentBody@