Ideas for a preteen for summer
 

Looking for ideas when I have my Granddaughter for a month this summer! We plan on doing a lot of camping so no electricity and I no longer have a sewing machine that she would be able to use there. I will come up with something in hand sewing for her but do not want her to be bored. Any great ideas out there?!!

I have thought of that one gonna have to print off some templates and Find a box of scraps to throw in the camper

how about yo yos. I love them for all ages. reading books, and cards.
hiking and fishing is always fun.

She will try anything I ask her to she has no hand crafter where she lives and yes 2 years ago we had the poison Ivy experience! we did a scavenger hunt no more looking for red leaves in summer she ended up with it all over her face it was horrible!
What kind of games can just 2 people play I am out of the loop on that one!

What about making up a couple of cross stitch kits, you could both stitch?

My DGD loves her knitting loom (she was 10 when she got it) I bought the 4 piece size set when i had a 50% off coupon at JoAnn's --- That and a some yarn and you could make any number of things....get a jump on some Christmas gift stocking caps or scarves - even Xmas stockings. My DGD's here every day during the summer so we'll be loom knitting a few things again this year.

potholder looms were fun when I was a kid. Trivial pursuit checkers, and chess are two people games. thers a cute one that I used to play with my son, "Pass the Pigs" was a card like game played with little rubber pigs. puzzles. Go to a Target andlook for games that 2 can play. they have a lot of card type of games, even I SPY is in card form. I keep coming back to see what everyone is saying. I think yo yos is the crafty way to go. a few will make a hotplate or a hotpad. quick and easy. I love hexies, but might be too much for kid to do. Some Teen magazines would be a great surprise for her on rainy days too. hide them for that time. Teen people magazine on a rainy day will pass the blues.

Going to check into the knitting loom we used to do the potholders with a loom but we had cotton loops so they did not melt with hot items now they seem to be all nylon. Oh Lynnie I used to have that little pig game wonder where it went! I did buy a new rubberband loom just need to get more bands I live in a small town with no resources so I might have a day trip with her too!

I have seen jewelry kits at Walmart and similar stores. They look like they would be fun for a 10yo. Some are for braiding friendship bracelets, some are for making bead necklaces and bracelets, etc. if nothing is available in your hometown, perhaps check out these kinds of kits on Amazon.

I was going to say yo-yos as well. IMHO they are easier than hexies. And she can add them to jeans, bags, hair bands or just sew them to a hair clip. For a non sewing option get some paint pens and draw designs on stones or pieces of wood you find. You can take them home or just leave them in the woods for fun. Check Pinterest or google search for painted stones.

The painted stones are fun we found some lasty ear and made some of our own to leave behind. I am thinking a tick tack tow game on a log with painted stones. That will keep us busy for a short time! Maybe modge podging bigger rocks to leave behind also

She is a great one for saying I am bored Grandma Ugg gotta have something in reserve to keep her busy!

Card games can be fun with just 2 people, gin rummy, slap jack, crazy 8s or teach her a favorite solitaire game.

Take pictures from previous trips and make photo albums she can take home with her. It can be as simple as gluing pictures on Construnction and adding words and stickers, or as complicated as you want.

That is the age I got my oldest hooked on Nancy Drew books she still loves them and all books my youngest on the other hand never did get a love for reading I tried it just never took.

Gather sticks and make an outline of a hopscotch game and play hopscotch. Take jump ropes and make up games and rhymes while jumping. She can jump you can make up the rhymes.

Do you have bocce balls? You can usually get an enexpensive set at places like Walmart or target.

Take scrap fabric and Construnction paper glue a quilt together or make a wall hanging with them and the natural elements in your campground.

I visited my grandmother when I was about your granddaughter's age and my GM had started a latch-hook project. I finished it and had a blast.

Board games like Scrabble are fun too!

I like the billi suggestion, she can make a fabric quilt and staple it together and leave for the next camper. will there be water near by to fish. I always loved that.

the yo yos come in different shapes also. she may make square ones for the beginning of a quilt she sews everytime she's with you.

Zentangles are hot right now. theres some books on it. I bought my son (25)
and some Micron markers and color brush markers to play with it. It's lots of
fun and you can join in on the fun. look it up on you tube, lotsa fun!

Finger Knitting is fun for kids. When my dd was that age she made scarves for everyone.

Or teach her how to crochet. Crochet was always easier for me than knitting.

Books, bring some you read as a child and some current kids fiction.

Press leaves and flowers

When I was 7 my grandmother taught me to spin and my grandfather (other side of the family) made me a simple loom. I could make placemats on it.

If you are on water teach her to fish.

Pick berries and make jam.

Get a rock hound book and identify the local rocks.

Get a plant book and identify the local plants

Same applies to birds, bugs etc.

Build a bird feeder and see who comes to eat there.

Create a recipe book of your and her favourite recipes. If you have any from your own mother or grandmother include them too.

Take a photo of the two of you each and every day of the time you are together. Take pictures of your activities, with flour on your noses, dirt on your hands, snuggled up together, and in your swim suits, (even if you have not had a photo of yourself in a swimsuit in 50 years). Those will allow her to hold on to the memories for the rest of her life. I was lucky to spend 3 weeks with my grandmother when I was 16. She died 3 months later. I do not have a single photo of the two of us alone together.

I have only one photo of me, my mum and my other Granny taken 6 months before she died, it was my wedding day. We did so much together (many of the things I listed above), but there is no photo record of it.

how about horseshoes

There's the bean bag toss. What about embroidery? WM used to have pillow slips kits with the pattern already stamped and ready to stitch. I don't do beading, but a lot of my friends do. They say it isn't hard to learn. How about hand sewing a mug rug? My 10 year old gd loves Rummikub (sp?).

I love the idea about the tree, birds & insect books and identifying them. Wouldn't that be wonderful if you sparked a love of the outdoors for her. Bicycles would be good. Good hiking shoes for long walks. And I agree, get as many pictures as you can. This can be a very special time for both of you.

First, don't feel that you need to entertain her all the time. She needs to be able to spend time doing what she wants to do. Make sure she takes some books,or a Kindle. My Kindle will hold a charge for about two weeks if I turn off the WiFi and can be charged using a car charger. There are lots of free books out there so you can load it up before leaving home. Take some board games. Take a pack or two of playing cards. Teach her to crochet or knit, if she is interested. You two could learn together. Get one of those looms that you can make pot holders on. Get a book on rocks and minerals and collect rocks while you are camping and hiking. Get a books to identify birds, flowers, and/or trees. Learn to read a map and compass as you are hiking.

Thanks for all the ideas many of them we do every summer but this year it is just her for a while I have some new ideas now so will get busy putting together a Grandma and me box that she can bring out when she wants to choose something. I may put all the ideas on a slip of paper and have her draw one out for extra activities. We will be cooking and having plain old camping fun. A few years ago I made the kids a cardboard oven and we baked cakes and muffins in it. We had a blast!

How about stepping stones. You can buy kits or we used plaster of paris and lined a small pizza box with a trash bag. You could decorate the stone with things you collected while hiking but NO red leaves. Date it and make one each year she's with you. Make 2 and let her take one home with her. I like the jelly idea too. I was going to suggest hexies but I think the yo-yo's might be easier. There are lots of shapes in the yo-yo maker from Clover. I have a butterfly that I just love.

I like the suggestion about taking pictures. Digital cameras are so cheap now. I think it would make a great surprise present to have her own unless she already has one. She can always pretend that she is a nature photographer and take lots of pictures and you only need to print out a few special ones. I wish digital cameras were around when my Grandma and my Dad were still alive. I was a camera hound back then and I do have quite a few, but more would always have been better.

Good luck with all those suggestions...sound great...but they are not electronic...YIKES....(maybe you are out of wi fi range??)

Yes we rustic camp so no Wi Fi we usually do not allow the kids to play on their ipads or phones while camping it is a time to exercise and be outside! I grew up in a rural area and had tons of outdoor experiences my Grandchildren on the other hand live in the City and just sit and play games! Try to keep them moving when I have them here! We do play a lot of cards while camping and I have found a new "adult" card game to play this year- after the kiddos are asleep!!

One time when we were on a rainy camping trip in a tent (5 kids) ...my Mom taught us how to "sign" the alphabet and then we played at trying to guess what each other was saying. Something like that might interest her if you learn it together from a library book.

I got my DGD a rug hooking kit. Had the yarn and hook and stenciled pattern on the burlap mat. They love it. They bought more yarn later and made their own kits. Used colored markers to make their own characters. She may also want to bring some of her own things. Letting her help with different projects just sounds fun. My kids loved catching their own fish and frying it up. You can Google camping activities and see what they the list consists.

This is excellent idea. My aunt used to do this for the fun of it. If they went on a hike and wanted to be quiet, they signed. Ironically, after my cousin's little girl was 6 months old she contracted meningitis and it affected her ears. She became deaf in both ears. If they have to communicate across the room they finger sign the alphabet or are very discreet. who knew!

Maybe teach her basic embroidery, like redwork-? Or make bookmarks, decorate a picture frame, or making camping foods.

I just came up with a cool idea if any others of you have children that like crafts! We are gonna make a bunch of these. I bought two wire baskets, a small solar light and some tissue paper. put a hole in the top and put the solar light on the inside. wired the two baskets together. Cut the tissue paper in squares and using a brush I brushed elmer's glue on part of the basket and started adding squares of tissue paper. Once it is completely covered I will add a layer of Modge Podge and viola a lantern to hang from the camper. cost to me $4.00 next couple will only cost 3$$.

I have just discovered coloring books for adults. No they are not x-rated! they have more complex designs than children's coloring books. I have seen them online at Amazon.com and seen them in Michael's stores and even Joanne's (which also had Zentangle books). Add a big box of crayons or colored pencils and off you go. When my niece was little we would color together, she took one page, I took the other. My niece is an adult now. Perhaps I need to get one of the coloring books and invite her over! You can also google adult coloring books and get lots of choices. I also think sewing hexagons into a Grandmother's Flower Garden would be fun as well. Have a happy time with her and give her lots of hugs!

another great thing I used to do when i'd visit my grands was to listen to stories they tell. about time b4 tv and all day movies, and rumble seats and radio shows. she can take notes and she'll be glad she did.

Another fun one would be to cut empty t-paper rolls in 2 or 3 inch sections & spray or hand paint them in different colors. Gather pine cones ,moss neat bark pieces & such from the woods. Then glue them inside the colored t-paper rings & make ornaments out of them. You can put a little cotton in for snow. The possibilities are endless.

How old is she?

Yo-yo kit! You can do yo-yos anywhere easily!

She is 12 She made her first quilt with charm squares when she was 6 with a battery operated sewing machine at the campground.

Exactly what I was going to suggest. You can pre-cut squares, just add 1.5" to the size of the hexies. 1" hexie would need a 2.5" square. 2" hexie would need a 3.5" square. Using hexies, you can stop at anytime. Make a mug rug or a full size quilt.