Kids at the lease

Just curious what do yall do to occupy the kiddos at the lease during the day and hunting hours if they dont go to the stand. I have a 13 year old and 4 year old both girls both seem to lose interest pretty quick. May be a stupid question just looking for new ideas. I remember when i was kid i was content just exploring around and getting into stuff i shouldn't, my girls seem to be a little different.

camera, the birds, squirrels

satellite TV helps

but most of the time mine are riding around on the Polaris or making smores

If there is a pond, put a fishing pole in their hands.

Fishing, shooting, playing with rocks, climbing trees, take a nap, or just give them a bungee cord and an arrow with no tip and they will fight dragons and critters...at least that's what my girl does

iPad or DVD player goes in the stand to pass the time when rifle season gets here.

We have family land that we camp and hunt on and have a huge sand pile covered and chain link fenced with lights. We built it for our kids years ago and now it's a big hit with the grandkids.

To this day I can distinctly remember that the hours between 10 and 3 took about a week to go by when I was a kid. The men usually were napping. We played and fished at the pond/river mostly. I just loved hunting so much I couldn't wait for each hunt...

This plus look for arrowheads.

The grandkids bring board games and cards, that's enough to keep them busy inside. Outside they terrorize everything that moves. We also have a "range" set up for BB guns that keeps them going.

cool idea's. i gotta learn ta read, thought it read whin kids are in stand

We have yet to find one in 20 years on the place, so we walk the old creek bed to find fossils

I can totally relate. My time was, while the Men were napping, spent with a fly rod and a popping bug on the shores of Toledo Bend or Sam Rayburn...Many bass were caught...They were released...In peanut oil.

^^^ Wow, someone had rich parents to own fly rods in east Texas.

^^^^^ Found many fossils? Don't tell anyone, land will be taken over for new dino park.

Just joshing you fellows, good memories for all.

There's a verified Indian camp on our place. The kids LOVE hunting for arrowheads....and the adults make SURE there are just enough arrowheads found to keep the kids interested. Some call it "seeding." Arrowheads are cheap on E-Bay. We've been doing this for a few generations and by the time the "kids" are old enough to either be told or figure out the truth they no longer need occupying and are more than willing to eventually deploy the same tactic on their own kids or nieces and nephews. We let the kids go empty-handed sometimes to keep it challenging. Sometimes they surprise us and find an "actual" arrowhead after a good rain.

Kids at camp? Sounds like a free source of manual labor to me. Brush clearing, rock piling, feeder filling, food plot plowing and planting. Work 'em like a rented mule so they'll sleep good at night.

LOL....just kidding.

we did same with tooth fairy with our kids. Ya'll know story. whin woke up from me nap, grandson standing thar with a dallor, said here's for some dentures.

I'll hunt all day....but my kids are all grown now so they grew up with it...

I have an old school bus that we fixed up for the kids to have a hang out. My 15 year old daughter sits on her phone all day most of the time anyway. If her friends come up they hang out in the bus. One will be in the front of the bus and the other at the back and they are still texting each other. lol...
My boy has a spot in the creek that his is digging for cold in. I'm not going to tell him there is no gold there. he might find some.

I'll make a confession here: my girls like the outdoors and being at the farm now, but are just now getting into hunting (they are 18 and 20 now). But they were always well behaved. When friends bring their younger kids to the farm, it often seems like a beating to me. They seem to just run wild and stay constantly underfoot. They don't entertain themselves by exploring, etc. like we did and seem to require their parents to be entertaining them. Constantly butting into grownup conversations. I grew up in an age where kids respected their elders and were mostly "seen and not heard". That seems to be a thing of the past now.....

Maybe I'm just an old codger now IDK.

guess a lot is how & were ya grew up. good stuff here

Age is the key here. Sure some 7 and up kids are able to entertain themselves but the younger 3, 4, 5, and 6 year olds want to go along too and have to be occupied as well. That is where granny and grandad come in to play.

I get it with the young ones. I am talking about 10-16 year olds. Just a little while back, a buddy and his 13 year old rode down with me to hog hunt-couldn't even have a conversation riding down for the kid constantly interrupting from the back seat talking about crap that's on a 13 year old's brain. Rude. No concept of manners. Dad didn't even attempt to correct him. Crazy....

Why don't you leave them at home?

know a lot of girls that age that care nothing about being at a lease. sugar & spice, & every thing nice. I've sat an let my daughter put nail polish on my toes , Not saying ya have ta do that.

I have one granddaughter been hunting with me since she was 6. She is 10 now and took her first deer last year when she was 9. She totally occupies herself when in camp. My other granddaughter is a few years older. She follows me around saying I am bored every 5 minutes. If they don't want to be there it's hard trying to keep them entertained.

Hand her deck of cards and tell her to play solitaire, if she doesn't like that tell her you will leave her at home the next time. She will have either accept it or she will adjust to just to get to go. There is no point in letting her make you her entertainment director. Ours want to go, they go out of their way to be able to go, if they whine, they get the "We are here to work and hunt, if you want to complain, next time you can stay at home" speech, cooperation starts immediately.

Yup ... girls are different.
Girls love 'pretty' ... girls love busy

So try an art project that explores deer habitat.

a) 4 yr old find things you think a deer would eat and use it to make a picture using poster board
b) 4 yr old find things a deer would eat, make a dinner plate for a deer to come visit you
c) 4 yr old find a good spot for a deer to rest and make a home: bed, living room etc.

13 yr old is a little bit tricky - paint a picture using words to describe a deer and the things they do when nobody is watching - hand write the letter / poem and hide it where only God can see.
13 yr old - before you go, make a list of bible verses about deer, birds, nature
13 yr old - describe different animals/plants in a letter - how do these animals remind you about God (example: bird soft gentle, buck powerful protective)

girls are rarely short on words - the idea is to get them to connect God (Creator) with Nature (His Creation)

Have them hunt Rattlesnakes.

Greatness! I took this approach with shed antlers. We had quite the stash in the barn so I would strategically place them in and around camp. My girls would spend hours looking for them. A couple of times one of the guys in camp would come around the corner and say look what I found right in camp. Dude I hid that for the kids go put it back. lol. They are 15 and 20 now and think it's funny I was hiding them the whole time but I told them some of the ones they found may have not been hid by me. Can't wait till my surprise little boy of 2 years old gets to go

No matter what you get them interested in doing, enjoy it with them. It won't be too long before they are grown and gone making their own way through life.

See if they can bring a friend or friends?


I do understand though nowadays everybody is worried about responsibility/liability.

Lots of good ideas. Definitely do what you can to get them outdoors.

Amen Brother. As an "empty nester" I can second this. Time flys. Make time to spend with your kids while they are still there!

On the young ones, get them one of those fly shooters that shoot salt.

JR

I do not have kids to take to the lease. So last year I played wiffle ball with a 8 year old named hunter. He beat the tar out of me.