8I am constantly trying to find things for my son to do outside. There are not any other kids his age (8) in the neighborhood, but I feel like he should still be running around in the fresh air. I don't feel comfortable with him riding his bike in the street and our driveway has too much of a hill. He has rope swings and stuff in the backyard, a basketball hoop, woods for exploring, but it's just not fun for him without a playmate. I will take him down the street on his roller blades and shoot a few hoops with him, but would like to see him entertain himself. Anyone else have little boys who spend the day outside and what are they doing?
We go back to our old neighborhood that has a huge park. I sit and read or exercise on the track while watching her play with kids. I have to occasionally intervene(teens sometimes come over and bother kids), but she gets to climb, run, and play games with kids like I did.
I am not sure how to help here, with out other kids around he is unlikely to entertain himself, no one likes to be alone. Is there a park, skate park, or the like you can take him too that would have other kids around his age about for him to play with?
This is a tough one since there are no other kids his age. Are there kids a little younger or just a little older? My son is 7 and he plays with 7 year olds and 9 & 10 year olds. I try to give him a little freedom outside (we do live in a gated community) but I check on him every 30 minutes and he has boundaries and is not allowed in anyone's home. Some "younger" kids are pretty grown up and some "older" kids are still "young acting". I do know the kids he plays with (I made a point to meet them and chat for a few minutes) you can pretty much tell if you can trust your child's friends. Maybe that will help. Or you can always sit in the driveway a few times to see how they play? If not then maybe enroll him in an outdoor activity like soccer, golf, football etc so he gets the fresh air he needs. Hope this helps a little...
I am the only one who homeschools in our area. My 9 yo runs the dogs everywhere.
We often go to other parks in the neighboring suburbs, as our neighborhood park is often lacking in kids who will play with my son (they either only speak to fellow Polish or Spanish-speaking kids, and when my son tries to play with him, they ignore him, even know they know English.)
My kids are younger, so I have to watch them pretty closely, but if they were older I'd be able to bring my books, bills, iPad, etc and get some stuff done while there.
I can't wait for the time to come when my kids are old enough to come on long bike rides with me. We have great bike trails in our area (although all of them require that we drive there to get on the trails).
My boys would run around outside all day if I let them. My oldest is almost 9 and has quite the imagination and has always been one that has no problem playing independently. Hubby is building them a clubhouse next spring :) I'm sure they will use it plenty. They like to explore look for frogs, toads, see fit there any tiny fish in the even tinier brook behind the house, search for salamanders, they used to garden with me while it was nice out.
Why not invite a friend over to play for a couple of hours to ride bikes with, shoot hoops with, toss, explore with.
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My boys would run around outside all day if I let them. My oldest is almost 9 and has quite the imagination and has always been one that has no problem playing independently. Hubby is building them a clubhouse next spring :) I'm sure they will use it plenty. They like to explore look for frogs, toads, see fit there any tiny fish in the even tinier brook behind the house, search for salamanders, they used to garden with me while it was nice out.
Why not invite a friend over to play for a couple of hours to ride bikes with, shoot hoops with, toss, explore with.
Well my kids love being outside. However this year my oldest has way too much homework so he doesnt get to play much outside except for the weekend. My kids have 3 other kids to play with on our street.
