11 Ways to Spend Time with Your Tween Daughter

With our older daughter away at camp this week, I’ve gotten to spend more one-on-one time with our 11-year-old.  She’s had a few fun outings with friends, but I also tried to come up with ways we could spend time together.

We didn’t get to do all of these, but we’ll certainly have a plan for the next time she’s home alone!

1.  Bake.  We (mostly she) made these snail-shaped sugar cookies one afternoon.  She got the recipe from a library book.

2.  Read aloud.  We spent extra time reading Where the Red Fern Grows, our current read-aloud.  (Just a side note – I didn’t realize, when we started it, that this book has a bit of bad language.  We’re finishing it with my edits, but I probably wouldn’t give it to her to read on her own.)

3.  Play a game.  We have two closet shelves that hold board games and card games, so this is a good time to pull them out.

4.  Visit the library.  My daughter enjoys the library, so we could probably get away with doing this twice in a week.

5.  Shop.  She needed a few new clothing items, so we took advantage of being able to focus solely on purchases for her.

6.  Walk or bike ride around the neighborhood or at a park.

7.  Go out for a special treat.  After church on Wednesday night, my husband suggested taking her to Sweet Frog – which was a nice treat for all of us!

8.  Make an art project together.  Find ideas on Pinterest or use items you already have on hand to sew, paint, glue, etc.

9.  Have a “spa” night.  Paint your nails together, style each other’s hair, or make your own beauty products.

10.  Work on a service project.  Take those cookies you baked to a neighbor or write cards to people in your church who are sick or shut-in.

11.  Listen.  Plan a time to just sit and talk.  Give her your full attention, ask questions, and try to really understand her heart and what’s going on in her life.

What are some other good ways to spend time with a pre-teen girl?