{"id":11,"date":"2019-03-15T09:00:51","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T09:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/sew\/2019\/03\/15\/big-kids-need-interaction-too-6\/"},"modified":"2019-03-15T21:31:52","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T21:31:52","slug":"big-kids-need-interaction-too-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/sew\/2019\/03\/15\/big-kids-need-interaction-too-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Kids Need Interaction Too"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-3808\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/Killian77-bubble-.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"375\" height=\"249\" \/>Just because a child is old enough to occupy themselves, doesn\u2019t mean that they should be expected to do so the majority of the time.\u00a0 Host families have a certain expectation of activity and involvement for their children. Get the kids engaged and active. You <em>can<\/em> be more fun than the TV or a video game.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><strong>Problem:<\/strong><br \/>\n<em><strong>But, my kids don\u2019t want to do anything but watch TV or play video games.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Solution:<\/strong><br \/>\nInstead of saying, \u00a0\u201cWould you like to\u00a0(fill in the blank with any activity)?\u00a0 The answer will often be, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Try this, \u201cNow we are going to\u00a0(fill in the blank with any activity.)\u00a0or \u201cWould you rather do \u00a0_____ or ______?\u201d \u00a0Make sure both the choices are good options.<br \/>\nYour chances of co-operation are greatly increased. Even kids who are reluctant to try new things will usually get in the spirit of things and have fun, if you pick a good activity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Problem:<\/strong><br \/>\n<em><strong>I don\u2019t know what to do with school age kids.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Solution:<\/strong><br \/>\nLook for ideas online. Google \u201cactivities school age kids\u201d or \u201cactivities tweens\u201d.\u00a0Below is a list of some ideas to get you started.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cooking<\/li>\n<li>Making things (check craft stores like Michael\u2019s for kits and models that are age appropriate)<\/li>\n<li>Going fun places (pottery painting, jewelry making, farms, museums,\u00a0mini-golf, go-karts)<\/li>\n<li>Sports (soccer, tennis, swimming, bicycling, roller skating, ice skating)<\/li>\n<li>Let them teach you to do something they enjoy. Kids this age love being the expert.<\/li>\n<li>Get outdoors and visit local parks.\u00a0 You can even make a project of reviewing all the local parks (what kind of equipment they have, is there shade, water fountain?)\u00a0 They can write this up and keep, so they remember which ones they want to go to again and which ones to skip in the future.<\/li>\n<li>Let them help you search and plan some activities.<\/li>\n<li>Check on the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/aupairinamerica\/\"><strong>APIA Pinterest page<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and here on our cluster blog for\u00a0ideas.<\/li>\n<li>If you have a GPS, try taking them geocaching.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/\">Here<\/a>\u00a0is a website with all the details.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note: Always get permission from your host parents before taking the kids places.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><span style=\"color: #808080\">Photo: Killian77<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just because a child is old enough to occupy themselves, doesn\u2019t mean that they should be expected to do so the majority of the time.\u00a0 Host families have a certain expectation of activity and involvement for their children. Get the kids engaged and active. You can be more fun than the TV or a video  <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/sew\/2019\/03\/15\/big-kids-need-interaction-too-6\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14,5,2,4,6],"tags":[7,8,9,10,11,12,13],"class_list":["post-11","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-au-pair-tips","category-child-care","category-childcare","category-fun-things-we-do","category-host-family-tips","category-kids","tag-activities","tag-boredom","tag-interaction","tag-school-aged-kids","tag-screentime","tag-teens","tag-tweens"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Big Kids Need Interaction Too - Around the Sound Au Pair<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/sew\/2019\/03\/15\/big-kids-need-interaction-too-6\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Big Kids Need Interaction Too - Around the Sound Au Pair\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Just because a child is old enough to occupy themselves, doesn\u2019t mean that they should be expected to do so the majority of the time.\u00a0 Host families have a certain expectation of activity and involvement for their children. 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You can be more fun than the TV or a video Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/sew\/2019\/03\/15\/big-kids-need-interaction-too-6\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Around the Sound Au Pair\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-15T09:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-15T21:31:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/Killian77-bubble-.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Becky Mitchell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Becky Mitchell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/sew\/2019\/03\/15\/big-kids-need-interaction-too-6\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/sew\/2019\/03\/15\/big-kids-need-interaction-too-6\/\",\"name\":\"Big Kids Need Interaction Too - 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