r/ChandlerAZ • u/imnotthemom10247 • 14d ago

Summer activities for young teens

What is everyone doing with their young teens during working hours this summer?

This is our first summer having this type of schedule so we have never had to think about this before. Younger sibling is going to “camp” at his school. But oldest exceeds the age for the school summer care.

I don’t really want my young teen home 8 hours a day alone multiple days a week.

Looking for suggestions, recommendations.

Don’t suggest “family” we have no family
Here. We live in a subdivision with few younger families and they are all going away for the summer (my oldests bff).

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u/Somewho_10 14d ago

Unfortunately, this is a big challenge. We should offer more to this age group. I believe there are a few programs for teens in things like science, acting, life guarding, and dance. I encouraged mine to volunteer to help at the summer children's reading program at the local library. One teen was interested in becoming a doctor and I managed to get her in the "white coats" program at a local hospital. Another volunteered as a camp counselor for girl scouts. I began working on this with them in January each year. We planned vacations around holes in their schedule. The Phoenix Zoo may need volunteers for their "Zoo Camp." Hopefully, this helps a little.

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u/ehllz 14d ago

It might be kinda late to apply to these at this point, but i have sent my daughters to ASU's pop music camp for a few weeks and ASU's fine art camp. They thoroughly enjoyed both experiences but requires an interest in music or art.

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u/Old_Adhesiveness_573 14d ago

This is hard! Tumbleweed Rec Center has a summer camp for 10-13 year olds. Would that work? Also City of Chandler has a leaders in training program where younger teens can be like assistant counselors at their camps, including the one at tumbleweed. Unfortunately, I think the deadline has passed for that, but looking ahead for next summer maybe?

Conquer ninja also has a summer camp that I think includes younger teens, and is a ton of fun.

Also, a lot of gyms have summer teen passes, as does alta climbing gyms, etc. that way they can at least get a good workout daily! Depending on your kid's age, you could ask think about a UberTeen account, for transportation to and from.

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u/maroc411 14d ago

You didn’t say how young, but I am guessing they are too young for paid work, so possibly volunteering? For next year look into the Leaders in Training program (ages 13-17) through the city. They already did the interviews and made selections for this year. Check with Police Dept, they run a Junior Academy, not sure if they have already fulfilled their spots. Often the biggest problem parents run into with these programs is transportation back and forth. Check places like Big Brothers/Sisters or food bank for other volunteer opportunities.