Ideas for Fun Things(inexpensive) to Do This Summer with 10 Yr Old Boy

how about letting him plant and grow his own veggie garden. there is always something to be done, and it is really thrilling to harvest the fruits of your labors. awesome for outdoorsy kids. hatch some butterflies or praying mantises, also so cool. we are out there every day planting and weeding and watering and trimming etc, my son makes little bug houses, uses nets and magnifying glasses, etc "cares" for them (kills them, really,) but thats ok :) we recycle those containers that you buy lettuce or strawberries in for the bugs and for seedlings, though i think you are past the time for seedlings for most things, though sunflowers or corn or beans would still work... he recycled old juice boxes, drilled holes and planted things in them and sold them at our schools plant sale, we might do a lemonade stand version of a plant sale over the summer to deal with all the seedlings i have, ive been saving yogurt cups, he drills holes in the bottoms,,,, he loved it so much. ...
also, i dont know about your area, but by me the town/county parks offer lots of free or almost free summer programs for kids.
how about getting involved with some volunteer work? go in the direction of things he loves, maybe beach clean ups or something like that?

If your county fair has competitions, he can do Legos for that or other art projects. Google your area fair.

We have a similar situation with my 11 yo son. He wants to learn how to cook. My daughter wants to learn to sew.

I say take him to the library and help him start a hobby. Our library has some awesome "summer" idea books that give a host of ideas about exploring your backyard, learning the constellations, bug collecting, gardening, summer cooking ideas, etc. This is just one book! It gave tons of ideas in the different chapters.

If you, Mom, are looking to drive the fun. What about picking a theme for each week of the summer and doing activities related to the theme. So for next week you could do "camping". Set up a tent in your yard. Cook out. Roast marshmallows. The next week you could do stars and planets.

Go all out. Make food, crafts, do research, read books, dress up, etc. all like your theme for the week.

I hope this idea helps! I know kids look forward to the summer, but sometimes it can seem like a LOOOONG summer for us Moms who have to keep things going! LOL

Since he is into leggos, maybe give him a challenge to build something difficult (like the plane) by say July 5th. Maybe a weekend camping trip.

I ran across this blog post, with lots of summer activities linked in, hopefully, you will find something you guys will like:

http://wearethatfamily.com/2010/06/wfmw-mom-im-bored-summ...