Summer ideas for a 5th grade boy- no camp

amother

Sun, May 05 2024, 12:36 am

He’s refusing to go to camp.
Even school camp.
He agrees to go to Rebbi but then wants to leave at 12.
We will probably go away for a week.
So he has 2 1/2 weeks of school from 9-12 and 1 week away with us.
There will be no other siblings at home until mid august.
( I work from home with very flexible hours so I’ll be there most of the time)
Please give me some ideas that can fill the long day.
For his sake and mine.
(I’ve tried everything to get him to change his mind about camp. It’s not happening)

SingALong

Sun, May 05 2024, 12:43 am

Does he like crafts? My some that age likes to do miniatures, like these 3d projects. Makes scenes from the pasha and stuff. We go to hobby lobby to stock up on supplies, and then they’re set for a couple of months.

Any pools nearby that someone hires a lifeguard and boys go swimming? We have that in the neighborhood, the boys go for an hour every day after supper.

Does he like musics? Maybe he’d be interested in starting to learn a skill like that. You can either look for a teacher or do that lessons by usb I saw advertised in the bp a few times.

Maybe once, A week take him to a museum like liberty science center, garden state discover, Camden aquarium, Monmouth university has a museum.

amother

Ballota

Sun, May 05 2024, 12:46 am

I'd deal with the cause. Why is he refusing to go to camp? I learned the hard way not to ignore those signs they only get worse when they hit teenage years and then it's often too late to deal with the issues.

amother

Sun, May 05 2024, 10:33 am

SingALong wrote:

Thanks
I’m not sure he would have patience to do arts and crafts by himself…
Swimming is a good idea if I can work something out.
Maybe music lessons too.
I think what’s bothering me is that he won’t have much social interaction. That’s really not good.
He went to camp the last 4 years. I feel that I have to respect his need to take a break this summer.
Hopefully he’ll realize that it’s better to be in camp next year than to hang out at home.

amother

Valerian

Sun, May 05 2024, 10:40 am

I don’t know…I spent my summers as a kid reading and playing outside. I didn’t like camp. It was nice to have unstructured time.

Just make sure he understands expectations for when you’re working.

amother

Sun, May 05 2024, 10:48 am

amother Valerian wrote:

Me too.. I didn’t go to camp until I was a staff member.
But I had younger siblings at home and neighbors so I wasn’t that bored.
I really feel like as much as he needs unstructured, relaxed time, he also needs people or he’ll end up being very bored and sad.

amother

Snowflake

Sun, May 05 2024, 10:56 am

amother OP wrote:

Are there maybe 2 other boys he knows that want to stay home as well?
You can do a round robin then. Each of you have the boys once a week. They’ll have each other for starters and so many more activities will be more fun.

Once a week have him home alone with you