tomorrow I’m taking my 3 sons 15, 12, and 8 to visit two cousins, a girl 5 and a boy 7. These children are not well acquainted.
I would love it if this could be Cousins! Together! but I know the 15 and 12 yr old are just going to slump around and be sullen unless I think of an activity that they can do with the younger ones.
Obviously the way in is something the big boys can feel superior in while guiding the younger ones, without being too awfully boring.
If there a game I can buy I can probably run out to Target or WalMart tonight before our trip tomorrow.
Honestly the best thing I can think of is building with blocks with the older ones providing grandiose design and the younger ones getting to knock the whole thing over when finished.
I played a board game calledPictureka! with a 4-year-old the other day. It’s rated ages 8-15…I played the Disney version which is 6+.
Anyway the 4yo did a good enough job, and me and his mom (we’re in our 30s) were challenged by it too and it wasn’t hard to be both helpful and competitive with the 4yo while playing.
I’d bring some big buckets of loose Legos. Dump them out and they can all build together. The big kids can help the little ones or make things for the little ones to play with. The little ones will probably come up with some fun creations, too!
Like this: Robot or human?, if you don’t have any at home already.
Any colored candy would do. It’s a simple game, easy to set up, easy to stop when the kids get bored, kids can drop in out out, and there’s candy. Because candy!
I got that idea from this [thread=631859]thread on team building games.[/thread] On re-reading the thread, some of the games are not family-friendly.
I say: let the older ones sulk/use their smartphones. Cater to the kids close in age. TBH, I’m mildly surprised the older ones would have ANY interest in kid appropriate activities.
Really? My older kids loved to play with their younger cousins, or younger friend of the family. It was fun to re-visit the toys and games they liked as kids. No sulking needed. Why would you think older kids would, as a group, be so sullen in this situation?
Kids really enjoy card games, even in this day and age, perhaps because of the novelty. Expect someone to cry at least once in the frustration of losing. Or is that just my hypercompetitive kids?
That’s a pretty stereotypical and negative impression of kids that age. Having kids that age myself and working with kids that age, I’d disagree that sullenness and the need to bribe kids to do anything is not generally the case or the default expectation. You seem to have a pretty poor impression of teens. I’m curious how much direct experience it’s based on.
Did it ever occur to you stereotypes start because they have a kernel of truth? Are you also seriously arguing your kids WANT to spend time with you? I’ve never heard of a teenager WANTING to be near their parents.
First of all yes. My kids do hang out with us, watch movies and play games willingly (Cards Against Humanity, anyone??), among the other activities they do away from us. In fact they bring friends home and we do stuff with them too!
Second of all, this was about kids hanging out with their little cousins and finding something fun they can all do, not about parents. You categorically claimed no kid would want to do this willingly and just let them be sullen on their iPhones. I call nonsense on the idea that this was an impossible goal. Sure any kids can be grumpy, sullen, not interested on any given day, but to assume this is the default and it’s not even worth trying unless you’re willing to bribe them is a terrible image to have about teens.
Don’t you want to teach high schoolers? Why, if they’re such crappy human beings?
Pictureka sounded like a good bet but I looked at two stores and couldn’t find it and went with Apples to Apples…there’s a new junior version with pictures so I got that.
It really worked out well! Everybody could play, everybody had fun. 5 and 7 year old needed a little assistance but loved the game.
etv78 I also took your idea of bribery and promised my kids cokes (worth more than dollars to their greedy little souls) if they played nice with their cousins.
Eventually the game broke up after three rounds and everybody played outside in the rain with swords, even the 15 yr old. So Cousins Together success!
As we were leaving I noticed the game Pictureka on their shelf.
Sounds terrific! Apples to Apples is great game for all ages. You;d be surprised how much older cousins like excuses to play like little kids again (swords in the rain? Awesome!). My bet is they didn’t need bribing. But a little positive reinforcement to grease the wheels can’t hurt either.
But a little positive reinforcement to grease the wheels can’t hurt either.