Fun Activities for a 10 Year Old.

Hi A.,

I have a 10 year old son and he enjoys Xbox, PSP (personal play station), swimming, bike riding - going to see kid movies, bowling, roller blading. We live in Allen and my son enjoys being outdoor at the Outlet Mall.

Hope this helps.

Here are some great ideas for you. About an hour and a half away from Dallas is Glen Rose Texas. You can go to Fossil Rim Wildife Park a drive through animal safari, you can also go to Dinasour Valley State park and see real tracks and go exploring. go to www.fossilrim.com and check them both out!

Also, Hawaiian Falls Waterparks are great as is Hurricane Harbour over in Arlington by Six Flags!

Have fun, S.

My daughter is 10 years old and they're pretty easy to please.

The ideas of the zoo, ballgame, waterpark, etc are awesome. Especially the waterparks that are in towns..they're smaller, you can generally watch all areas of the park and they're cheaper.

We've got so many neat things here in the DFW area...Six Flags, Science Museums in Dallas and Fort Worth, lots of other kids of museums in all cities. If he's a Boy Scout, he may enjoy the National Scouting Museum in Irving.

You can always check Guidelive.com for fun activities.

Here's the info on the Boy Scout Museum...
http://www.bsamuseum.org/

Don't forget places like Grapevine Mills mall, besides the shopping, there is a skate park, arcade and ice rink.

As far as other "games" .. I know the Wii and PS2 and 3 are hits, but don't know if you have any of those. Would be neat if he could just be outside.

Have fun!

Swimming, movies, Mesquite Rodeo (Friday/Saturday), riding bikes on a bike trails... Baseball at the Frisco complex.

A baseball game can be a lot of fun.

I agree the waterparks are great for everyone. There are two in Lewisville. I am not sure where you live.

I love the Ft. Worth zoo.

Putt-putt golf is fun.

I would find out what kind of interests he has - sports, science, animals, etc. Then build around that.

Have a great time.

Dear A. V,

I hope you and your family have a great time while your nephew is in town. He will, most likely, bring some sort of electronic game, etc. with him. That's one thing boys his age like. He will also enjoy playing on your computer (so if you don't have a blocker, you might want to get one NOW!). He probably enjoys lots of outdoor activities--swimming, put-put golf (if not actual golf, if you or your husband play), basketball, etc. He might like to go to movies. I'm sure there will be some that ALL of you, including your own son, would enjoy. He would probably enjoy visiting some of the area's water parks (as would your son!) and/or Six Flags.

Have a great time!

Deb D

P. S. If you or any of your friends are in need of a great Realtor, check me out at www.debdunn.com

DD

I think the Dallas Aquarium and the Dallas Science Museum would be great outings for both kids!

Water parks and swimming pools are a great source of fun for this age, especially if there's another kid that age around to share it with...neighbors, church friends, whatever.

Wow, you've gotten some wonderful ideas already! I have a few to add.

Sandy Lake Amusement Park in Carrollton is a great place to spend the day. You can download a free family admission at their website:

http://www.sandylake.com/sandylake.html

It's a great alternative to Six Flags if he likes amusement park rides because you don't have the long lines to wait in which could present problems if your son got bored, unless your husband came along, too, to ride with your nephew or to watch your son while you ride. You can buy a ticket book there for $20, I think, which is a great deal. There are kiddie rides there, too, so your son will have fun, but the park is just the perfect size because you can see the bigger rides (rollercoaster, the spider, etc.) from where the kiddie rides are, so they can both have fun and play while you can keep an eye on both of them. The rides are like what you'd find at a carnival, but they're set up all summer long, and the kiddie rides are mostly in the shade. You can bring in a picnic lunch and dine by the lake, or they also have a snack bar there with hot dogs, etc. We didn't venture to the stables, but they offer pony rides, as well. You can play mini golf there and they have two huge pools. You can bring in your own swimming noodles, inner tubes, and floats, which is nice because not all municipal pools allow them.

Being ten, your nephew probably has a summer reading list he has to complete while on break, so while your son naps in the afternoon would be a good time for that. Make it count, though, by enrolling him in the Summer Reading Club in area libraries where he can earn prizes for his efforts (we love the program at the Lewisville library, and have gotten some great free kids' meals, etc., from their SRC.) Most libraries have some great programs and shows, too. The Lewisville Library offers some on Thursday nights for your nephew's age (I'd avoid the Friday morning ones for the 3-6 year-olds as he'd just feel they were for babies.) But Mad Science, Brett Roberts, and Critterman are presentations we always enjoy. You can download the schedule and more at
http://www.cityoflewisville.com/wcmsite/publishing.nsf/Co...

As someone mentioned, Lewisville has two great aquatic centers. There are details on them in the WOW brochure link, also. The Sun Valley one is awesome since there's something there for both boys. They have a shaded toddler play pool as well as water slides and a lily pad crossing for the ten-year-old. Plus, at $5/person admission, it's quite a bargain compared with the bigger water parks.

Frisco Aquatic Center is brand new and looks to be a great one! The outdoor water park is hopefully opening by the end of May, but the indoor water park is already open. I'd say the indoor one is for younger kids, although they have a big water slide indoors. The outdoor park should offer more for the older kids. It's just north on Preston Rd. from Gattitown in Frisco, too, and like others, I highly recommend Gattitown. If you go on Mondays, moms get a free buffet with purchase of a kids' buffet. Sign up for the kids' birthday club while you're there because they will mail your child a free Gattitown Game Card and a free voucher for a Frisco Roughriders game. (If it's not during the baseball season, you can use it for a game during the next season.) You an also sign up online at http://ridersbaseball.com/community/birthday/

If your nephew likes baseball, take him to a Frisco Roughriders, Texas Rangers, or other game. The Zooperstars will be at the Roughriders game on July 31. http://www.zooperstars.com/ZOOper_Show.asp
http://www.ridersbaseball.com

If it's just too hot outside, consider Main Event in Lewisville, Grapevine Mills (ice skating, Game Works, skateboarding at Woodward Skate Park), and free/discount summer movie clubs at local theaters:

AMC Summer Movie Camp on Weds. mornings: http://www.amctheatres.com/smc/movies.html

Kids' Summer Series at Studio Movie Grill:
http://www.studiomoviegrill.com/lewisvillesummerseries.html

Cinemark Summer Movie Clubhouse:
http://www.cinemark.com/summermovieclubhouse.asp

Wow, that was a much longer post than I'd intended. Sorry! I'm the activities coordinator for our MOMS Club, as well as mom to kids ages 8 and 4, so I have a lot of tricks in my bag when it comes to entertaining kids of different ages.

Have a great time with your nephew and son this summer!
J.

I have just a couple to add before I head off to work.

The zoo-both the 10 year old and 2 year old will enjoy this! We sometimes ride the Dart train from Plano to the Dallas Zoo to make it an even BIGGER day, but it takes about an hour to get there and an hour to get back.

The circus-Barnum and Bailey will be here for a couple of weeks. Fun for both ages.

Waterparks-you can go to an outdoor waterpark (Hawaiian Falls has plenty for the 2 year old to enjoy). There is also a natatorium in Allen that may be better for your son.

The best thing I think you can do is find a friend in the same age range to play with him a coule times a week. Maybe some of your friends have 10 year olds?

There are so many more things you can do....have fun!

Hi A., I hope you have fun with your nephew. I have 3 boys, ages 12, 10 and 4. They love to go to either the Frisco Stonebrier Mall or Galleria Mall and go ice skating. That is a treat to them. They aren't even good at it at first, but after a bit, they get the hang of it and learn faster than I do! My 10 year old LOVES the science museum in Dallas. There is also an indoor water park in Allen at the Natotorium. It has a lazy river and slides. You should try Gatti Town in Frisco across from Target by the mall. It has great buffets and games for kids and even a few indoor rides like bumper cars and a virtual roller coster. There is an Entertainment place in Plano and I can't remember the exact name but it has bowling and laser tag and video games. Boys can have fun at any park, even at age 12! They also like computer sites that have games or games that you buy for the computer. Club Penguin is one of those sites my boys use.
Hope this helps! Get him involved with what you are doing with your son so he doesn't get bored. Have him read to your son or help you in the kitchen. I bet a few responsibilities helping you with alot of praise would make him feel important.
Iron Man at the movies would be a huge hit!