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Ideas for activities with your single child

4 replies

VillandraMcTavish · 11/10/2013 17:22

I know we can do lots of the things that everyone else does Grin but do bear with me.

My son (9) is pretty family-oriented and he doesn't really want to join in with lots of clubs. He doesn't like big groups and he's not at all sporty. We're fairly new to the area and don't have masses of family friends here yet. So quite often at the weekend, it's just us. We're aware that if there's another child around, the kids amuse themselves (as we did when children) but of course with one the parents become the default 'playmates' at least some of the time.

I'm finding it a bit intense, to be very truthful. I don't share a lot of my son's natural interests. I do try but it's far easier to sort of leave him and DH to it. I feel I'm missing out a bit and am looking for things that we can do which are a bit different, don't involve a lot of money, do involve the three of us as much as possible, and a bonus would be if they can lead to meeting people in smallish groups.

So far I've come up with geocaching (helping us explore the area a bit) but as the winter comes on it's becoming less appealing Grin

What do you do in a three that you all really enjoy?

OP posts:
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QueenofLouisiana · 11/10/2013 22:30

We go swimming, visit National Trust & English Heritage places, curl up and read....

Mind you, I share a lot of interests with DS- which helps.

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callmeovercautious · 12/10/2013 23:03

Geocaching has been fun for us this year too, and something my DH is not too keen on so was a great thing to share with just DD and me Smile. Swimming and bike rides also good.

Are there any other only children in his class at school? Perhaps try to invite them to the park one afternoon if the weather is good? If it goes well ask the Mum for coffee at yours so the kids can play?

Sometimes at he weekend I just text out that we are going to the park to a few other mums, we usually get one or two others who have no plans so that works well! You need to be bold enough to chat to the other mums and ask for their numbers!

Building friendships with other families if you are new to an area can be hard. How about Cubs? or is that too big a group for him?

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Catmint · 12/10/2013 23:15

Villandra, I know where you're coming from. Today we got the train to Leicester and went to the museum. It has several different bits,such as dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, a gallery, natural history, so we enjoyed them all and didn't get bogged down by too much of one thing.

I hate to say it, but having an ipad has helped me spend quality time with Dd. I don't much like board games, her imaginary games are quite frustrating to join in, ( without fail she ends up as my bossy teacher, no matter what the premise of the game is) and I don't know how to play console games. So, We have found games on ipad where we can both play and enjoy them together, talk about them and have fun. We like tocaboca games, fingerpainting,& those games where you have to search for hidden objects.

As a family we like going to national trust and similar places and building dens. We always really enjoy bowling when we do that as a treat.

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marykat2004 · 24/12/2013 07:38

hi, i know this is a couple of months old but I was just looking for ways to entertain my 9 yo. We are in the exact same boat, new to the area, not many friends yet. And DD doesn't like sports or big groups.

My new year's resolution to do more with her, to make time between work and house chores (a big house is a lot more work than our old tiny flat). So just saying hello here... I'll try some of the suggested things people said.

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