The "tween age" years are tough enough already when you consider that this age group is either too old or still too young for many activities. And then, there's now the factor of social distancing to consider.

So how do you find a fun pastime for your tween when the Summer camps have either canceled or are next-to-impossible to access when numbers are severely limited? Here are some ideas to get your tween through the Summer without suffering too much boredom.

Compose and Perform and Impromptu Play

This activity helps your son/daughter to tap into his/her imagination in many different ways. Creating a short, one-act play involves many smaller activities including:

• writing the script

• designing (or drawing) costumes

• creating the set and props

• choosing background music

With ample supplies, such as empty boxes, gently used clothing, and lots of markers and tape, any tween can come up with an excellent production to delight the whole family. For an added bonus, allow the youngsters to perform the play during a video call to Grampa and Grandma.

Create a Comic Book

Half the fun centers around inventing the plotline and the characters. And tweens sure have an active imagination and a zest for embellishing adventures when telling a good story. So encourage your kiddos to put that creative energy to good use by drafting a cool plot--complete with pictures.

To gain inspiration for this project, your tweens can either research comic book creation online, or if you still have your old collection, you can share those books as examples of a finished piece that will provide some amusing reading and discussion for your kiddos.

From there, your tweens will enjoy crafting complex heroes and villains and of course, incorporating those trademark, dialogue bubbles that comics are best known for. All this project takes is a large sheet of newsprint or construction paper and some markers or colored pencils.

Join a Virtual Book Club

Although many youths suffer from Zoom fatigue, this informal format provides a more relaxed setting for sharing in the experience of reading a great book. Plus, your tweens will enjoy visiting with their friends and family.

To start a book club, you and your tween can follow these steps:

• select a book or a graphic novel

• create invitations based on the book's theme to send with the login and discussion info

• conduct the first meeting as a "meet-and-greet" and to familiarize the participants with the "round-robin" format for discussing the book

• keep meetings down to an hour to accommodate for attention span or limits on screen time

If you've never facilitated a book club meeting, you might also consider obtaining a study guide for the book from Schmoop or Spark Notes which has free access to discussion questions, summaries, and character lists.

So these are just a few ideas to save your tweens from drowning in the sea of boredom or staying plugged in for too long. Remember that as we navigate the new normal, we can still provide fun opportunities for our families that keep us connected and engaged in learning.