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5 Summer Activities

Ways to Keep Middle School Kids Occupied

By Brandi BrownPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Photo by Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash

Parents often work hard to come up with summer activities for their elementary schoolers. While these small kiddos need to be occupied, that’s often the case for middle schoolers in the summer as well. If you are trying to keep a tween or young teen’s mind and body busy over the summer, check out these ideas.

Have them learn to cook something.

By the time kids are in middle school, they should be able to cook a few basic foods, such as pasta, boiled eggs, and grilled cheese. This summer, choose something else to make. Easy options are steamed, seasoned veggies or baked chicken and rice pilaf. Choose a meal and work with your middle schooler on perfecting it. Learning a new dish every few months will result in an adult who can make several basic dishes for every meal.

Plan a community service activity.

Doing something for other people is important for all of us, but for middle school students, it can be a great way to be connected to one’s community, which can be difficult. Community service projects don’t have to be complicated. They can involve working with existing groups, such as homeless shelters or women’s centers, to collect and organize donations for the people the nonprofit serves. Parents also can help their middle schoolers plan their own projects, such as picking up trash in the neighborhood, planting flowers in a public area, or writing letters of thanks to people in their lives.

Read a book and discuss it.

Reading aloud together doesn’t have to be something that kids outgrow with Dr. Seuss. Instead, choose a great book to read together. You may want to go with popular choices like the Harry Potter series, An Abundance of Katherines, or even the Lemony Snicket series A Series of Unfortunate Events. Classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, or Peter Pan also make great choices. Read one of these books together and then talk about it as you go. Not only are you spending time together, but you’re both able to expand your perspective.

Play card games.

We’re not talking about Uno here—although that’s fine if your middle school-aged kids liked it! Instead, pick up a basic card deck and learn to play some basic games. War, Heart, and 21 Blackjack are some of the most common card games, but there are many others. These card games are a great way to spend inexpensive, simple family time together with tweens. Stick a card in your purse or vacation bag so that you can pull them out when everyone’s bored. One of the best things about card games is that they let everyone play but also talk about important issues, so spend some time this summer bonding over a board game.

Take up a new hobby.

Whether it’s playing an instrument, doing an art project, or learning a new science concept, having a goal for the summer is a wonderful way to make use of this time. To keep these goals interesting for middle school students, use modern technology to meet these summer goals. For example, search YouTube for videos on beginning music lessons or science experiments. Look for lessons that include items already in your home or easy to access to make for some fun summer activities.

These activities only scratch the surface of activities that are available to keep your middle school students available. Tweens and teens may want to spend all of their time on screens with their friends, but it doesn’t have to be that way! Instead, they can learn to be entertained while learning something new over the summer.

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About the Creator

Brandi Brown

Brandi is a writer and part-time foodie. She feeds a diabetic spouse, a meat-and-potatoes kid, & a wannabe vegan on the daily. Read about what she's learned.

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