I have a niece who just turned 9 and I'm looking for fun things to do with her this summer. My sister and I are going to set up a camp site in the backyard, and I'm thinking of setting up a treasure hunt, complete with maps and clues! My niece is full of energy though, so that will only occupy her for so long, and I'll need other things lined up.

So, let's talk games, crafts, and activities!
What were your favorite things to do when you were 8-10 years old?
What kinds of things do you do with the kids in your life?

Reserving this post for later.
I'd like to generate a list of ideas, tutorials, and other resources here as time goes by.

Ooh sounds fun! When I was young I used to spend countless hours rolling down a little hill in our garden. Used to do it like till I was around 15

Oh man, rolling down hills is so much fun. I wonder if there are any good rolling hills around where I live. It would have to be one with short grass though, because otherwise we might get ticks. >_<

A treasure hunt sounds like a great idea. I was nuts about that sort of thing when I was little.

"Obstacle courses" can be fun too, especially for high-energy kids. Set one up, figure out a reasonable time to do it in (by trying it out yourself and then shaving off a couple seconds if you feel you're slower than her), then get a stopwatch and offer some little prize if she does it in the right amount of time. Make it a time that maybe she won't get on the first go, so maybe she'll have to do it 2 or 3 times. That way it's a fun challenge.

Decoupage is good, too! You can go to a craft store to get little raw wood trinkets (coasters, signs, little jewelry boxes, keychains, whatever), some modpodge, and a sponge brush. Then gather up some magazines, comics, or print out some pictures and she can make some nifty things. A comic store I like recently had a thing like that set up for adults. It's a craft that pleases everybody.

Blanket forts are good too. Get plenty of blankets and pillows together, and maybe figure out roughly how to do it, but don't set it up until she gets there. Helping build the fort is half the fun.

Ooo, those are great ideas Cherry!

We've done some collage projects in the past, so she'll probably enjoy decoupage too. I should check out my local office and art supply store next time I'm in town. There are probably some cool projects to be found there.

I think our backyard camping situation is going to end up a lot like a pillow fort. My sister talked about dragging her whole mattress out to the tent, and I want to hang colorful fabric between the trees. If I'm not careful, it'll end up looking like something off a Pinterest board.

Oh... I bet Pinterest has lots of great kid ideas...

Look up STEM design challenges, too. There are a lot of great projects geared towards that age group floating about.

My son is 9 years old and he has ADHD. He is full of energy and never wants to do something for any expended amount of time. He is an only child and has been around my three teenage sisters all his life. He does however enjoy playing outside in the water. A little pool he can splash around in, then some beach toys he can build sandcastles or make mud-pies with. He'll bounce back and forth from keeping him occupied for hours during the hottest time of the day. (We live in the hi-desert in southern California) That leaves me with 'mommy peace time' I can sit back and soak up the sun while sipping a cold fruit drink. After that we work on our garden then come inside to play with lego's or we'll play a video game together.

Belly, those STEM challenges look really cool! I'm definitely bookmarking those for the future.

Seth, water play is a good idea too! We probably won't do much at home this year, because of the drought, but I live near the beach and some good river spots, so swimming will definitely be on our list.