Hey guys I was hoping some of you fellas could help me come up with a few ideas on projects or things myself and my 2 sons could do together to spend time together and bond more.
I find myself coming home from work, and all 3 of us kind of doing our own things seperate from one another, and just dont feel right wasting away the time I have with them. I asked both of them if they wanted to go with dad this past weekend to the deer lease to set up some feeders and do a few things, only my 4 year old was interested, but he ALWAYS is, but my oldest could care less.
This really is not a problem if I am spending 1 on 1 time with each of them individually. The problem comes from all 3 of us doing something together. My oldest is 7 years old and my youngest is 4 years old. They are complete polar opposites.
The oldest is a tech head, who loves video games, computers etc.
The youngest is a bruiser, plays outside and loves fishing and hunting.He is infatuated with guns and cant wait until he is big enough to shoot his own rifle.
Usually my first idea would be to take them both fishing or hunting, but of course my oldest just really doesnt enjoy it too much, but on the other hand if I try to play video games or something like that the youngest loses his attention span quick.
I need an idea that would keep both of them equally engaged, and something that we can look back on with a sense of accomplishment.
I have a few ideas, such as building a deer blind out of 1 inch PVC pipe (idea I have), or building a soapbox car, building and flying a rocket etc. They both are very creative kids, and love to help dad with whatever I need them to help me with. I dont know if I should go all out on a big project such as the deer blind, or start smaller with something like a rocket and see how it goes.
Any ideas would really be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Take them shooting and maybe even a solo trip with your 7 year old with a .17hmr and .22 to garner some interest. Even the techiest kids I know love to go shoot and blow things up. The .17 is great for kids with zero recoil and accurate to 100 yards and beyond easily.

Make the trip about him..

1st thing is have dinner each evening "family style", no TV ect tra
Thats a good time to find out how their day went and lets them know your interested.

I think I would let them come up with the things/projects "they" want to do, make it fun and have them write it down then draw, do the project and draw again.

You say you have a "tech" type and a "tough" type. let the Tech type be the engineer and the "tough" one be the project manager, then they both have some reason to work together in whatever you choose to do. Soap cars, rockets, model planes, after a few projects they will come up with more ideas than you can afford..LOL Just some thoughts

Thats a good idea. he has his own .22 I bought for him awhile back, he lost interest in it, and its been sitting. May need pull it out and dust it off.

One of my roomates in colleg was the same way. He is the younger, very outdoor oriented, loves hunting fishing and guns/reloading, the older brother is a technology guy has shot one deer and has no urge to do it again, not against it just no drive. I dont know what to tell you... but keep the youngest AWAY FROM VIDEO GAMES!!!

I think building a deer blind would be a great idea, the youngest like hunting so he would like it and the oldest sounds like he likes tinkering, may be a great thing to bring yal together and it could get the oldest more interested.

matt

I like the PVC pipe ground blind as a project. Your 'techy' could help with design and your 'bruiser' could help with assembly. BTW: I built a PVC framed ground blind and have shot turkeys out of it the past two years. Kudos to you for wanting to spepnd the time with your boys. Believe me, they'll be grown before you know it.

Something my old man used to do with us besides hunting & fishing was to go looking for "treasure" lol. We all got metal detectors & would go to all sorts of places looking for stuff, to the beach/to the ball park (especially finding change under the bleachers)/ open fields/ old farms/ all sorts of property. Just bring a shovel or two & some cold drinks/snacks. Just an idea...

another idea to go along with this is geo cache. If you have a gps, kids love using them to go look for the caches. Gets them outside and doing something constructive. Just a thought.

Good subject I have 2 daughters same age 7 and 5 but 7 is the bruiser and 4 is the video game player. They like to go outside and ride bikes and play in the water so it could be just as simple as turning on th water hose. I spend my time with them doing home work and reading to them. Once in a while I will watch a movie with them. I like the post though giving me some ideas. Even though they are girls doesent mean that they cant do it better than the boys do lol.

Help them build a clubhouse. We have our own man room in the back yard. It started as a chickencoop. lol

Im sitting here trying to think back about the things my dad used to do with my brother and I. This is a great topic for me as well because I have two three month old twin boys..so here in a few years I will be needing ideas too.

Things I remember doing with my dad are, building model cars and planes. Model rockets were a fav of mine too. One think I look back on and really enjoyed was building a model trainset. My dad got a sheet of plywood and made a big table with it in the guest room. We layed down the track, built mountains with paper mache. Used tree branches for trees, etc. Spanish moss made great detail too. Boxes worked great for buildings. Cheap acrylic paint for the details. My brother and I ran that train around the track for hours upon hours. I still have the trainset at my dads place. I look forward to getting it out for my boys.

When we got older we built radio controlled planes and cars together.

He got us out in his wood shop and taught us how to build different things.

We had a multi level backyard, so we built a zipline.

We did alot of hiking, camping, and exploring together. There are some great parks within just a few hours of here.

I know what you mean though. My dad was a big hunter, but my brother and I lost interest in it at a certain age too. I think many kids will do that. So yeah, some non hunting activities are important too.

These are just ideas, so I hope they help some.

What kind of rifle? The reason I ask is that my son quickly grew tired of shooting paper with a single shot bolt action and lost interest as well. That changed when I bought him a S&W M&P 15-22. Once he got a semi auto that looked like the rifles in the video games and what he saw on TV, his interest was piqued again. Now at 13, he loves to go shooting and hunting. Prefers dove hunting the most, because he gets to shoot more often and doesn't have to sit perfectly still and quiet.

I hate to say this but you may have to force the issue with the oldest one. It may not be PC and he's going to whine about it but I firmly believe that the tech-cord has to be cut sometimes.

It doesn't all have to be "fun" either. Find a farmer or rancher that needs some work done and "volunteer" your kids. Nothing too major at first and you will need to be with them but
it would do them some good.

ever since I was about 5 I can remember my dad always having a car for us to work on. That was/is my favorite thing to do with him. Very satisfying doing something with your hands and having tangible results. I was always there helping with any projects around the house too. Pretty crazy to think that we still work on the same stuff together 25 years later

The rockets sound like a cool idea or building planes (not sure how much that would cost).

Good luck with them both, especially the older one. My nephew is 14 and a tech nerd, not athletic/outside kid at all which is polar opposite of his cowboy father. They found that camping a fishing was something they both really enjoyed and it was a way to get him to "unplug" for a couple days.

Thanks alot guys for all of the ideas! I been reading all of this over and am heading to Home Depot to pick up some PVC pipe and elbows, and start there.

Medinabuck, on your PVC ground blind, what did you end up using for the outside covering? I was thinking maybe some of that camo covering from academy, but not sure yet. I was also thinking of maybe taking some old white sheets, or tarp or something and letting them help me spray paint the camo on. What do you think would work best?

Cyphertext, his rifle is an older Savage. Cant remember off-hand the model, but its tube fed, with the push rod under the barrel. He actually made me proud when he first got it. I would watch him as he shot it til t was empty, and would go through all of his safety checks (safety ON, Unloaded, pointed in safe direction etc.) and reload it all by himself and start plinking again. I do have an S&W MP-15 also, never really thought about taking that out and letting him have at it with that. Thats a pretty good idea also.

All great idea guys! Thanks so much.

Build a feeder pipe, like the pig pipes, we use them as deer feeders. Get the both of them to help. Not much to it, but the older one can measure, and the younger one mark the cut spots. Use a handsaw to cut the pipe, it's a pain, but it keeps both occupied. One holds and the other cuts until he tired and then they switch out. Find an old brace and bit, to drill the holes, it will take a while, but again it takes 2 to get the job done. Look for handsaw or brace and bit at flea markets, cheap unless you run across a collector brand.

Hard to get hurt with handsaw and brace and bit, but I can assure you it can happen. Most kids haven't a clue how to use either, all the power drills and saws. Explain that the handsaw and the brace and bit are the original "cordless" versions. After they make the first one, set it out as soon as possible, so they can see how the ground gets tore up around it. Then have them make another.