What can I do to help my 7 year old not lose the 'spark' of being a kid?

Question

He loves video games and computer games, of course, and we limit the time he is in front of a screen, but he seems like he is losing his 'spark'. You know, when you were a kid, everything seemed mysterious, exciting, wonderful? He doesn't want to use his imagination, he is very easily disappointed and disillusioned and seems more like a teenager than a little kid. What can I do that is not expensive (like building him a treehouse), that would really help him out? I remember when I realized that everything I dreamed of wasn't exactly possible and that most dreams I had wouldn't be realized (like going to explore in the jungle, driving a bus across the country) and I was in my teens, it makes life less fun when you realize that your fantasies probably won't come true! I want to put the spark back in him but I need some ideas. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

tell him to go outside and play with the neighbor kids

Answer 2

get rid of the video games completely, there is no imagination required with them, and then the poor kids today then expect life to be the same.

Books rather than TV

Answer 3

Trips, trips, trips.

1) Museum

2) Zoo

3) Water Park

4) Anything sponspred by Nickelodeon

5) Regular park

6) Beach

7) Mall

8) Movies

9) Some little league team (baseball, football, soccer)

Answer 4

Get him outside!  That's the problem with computers and video games.

Take him to a park, on a walking trail.  Buy him a camera and let him take pictures in nature, take him to a duck pond to feed the ducks, buy a kite and go fly it.  Find some trees to climb.   Get him a bike, if he doesn't have one, and yourself, and start biking to places.

Pack a picnic lunch and find a fun place to have a picnic.

Pick apples or something at an orchard.

Anything outdoors that will get him moving.

Yes, VBS, tishkabo !  Good idea!

Answer 5

Getting him outside and with friends his own age. I love the idea of a tree house.  Trampolines keep the kids busy for hours at my house as well as a small pool or watersprinkler.

Riding his bike or a motor scooter is lots of fun.

My daughter is almost 9 and I noticed her and her friends don't play barbies of babies or play with traditional toys very much. They have fun just running and playing outside. Having lemonade and snow cone stands is their favorite past time this summer.

This week they have attended VBS and wow you can really see the spark in them.