Hi
I have and 8 and 11 year old.
Things defiantly drop off a lot for the older kids and sympathize with your feelings.
My 11 year old goes around town on his bike with his friends as his biggest hang out over the summer. Lots of icecream eating and dropping in at different homes to play video games.
Lots of 10-13 year old play at the library after lunch time. The library also has events by age group, so check out their calendar.
Tufts pool and Wrights pond are both good spots, but can be hard for kids to break into the social groups as lots of kids have friends already.
Someone else mentioned Medford rec, and if there a class that interests them, that would be great. They also hold movie nights which can be social.
I don’t know much about Troop 416 (we are only involved in the Pack) but Scouting is a great way to meet kids across the city.
Join one of the many karate classes in the city that meet year round.
Best
See if any of the Parks & Rec programs for their age group have availability. Spending some time at Wright’s Pond and/or Tufts Pool may also work.
For the best advice, find the PTO-run Facebook group for the school they’ll be in this fall (the PTOs have generally been good about having easy to find Facebook groups for each school, precisely so people new to the school can find them), and post asking for suggestions there. You might find a few people who live close by you whose kids are open to hanging out. If your kids have some specific interests like a sport, video games (especially ones like Minecraft), mentioning those may be helpful in finding good ways to connect with peers.
One of the challenges with the over 8/9yo age range is that kids tend to be much more independent in their peer interactions. And summer is hard in general because so many families have travel plans or specific camps they attend, meaning they’re unavailable for other opportunities. Or they are in the “too cool for structured activities” stage and sitting around at home staring at screens.
I hope your children are able to find some good friends soon!
The Robbins library in Arlington has a dedicated teen section, which is sort of a diner style section where only teens are allowed, and they have programming there. Seconding the ideas of visiting the Medford and Somerville rec websites, as well as some of the local gaming spots (dragon, Knight moves, etc), and check out flyers on community billboards like in Davis square. There are a few local GMs that run RPGs which are a great place for older kids to meet other kids! I know there's a local guy that runs small RPG groups and I can try to hunt down his name if you can't find it on Facebook!
The Medford Library is really nice and they have a lot of teen events going on. I know because when I look at the events calendar the teen events look super fun and im always jealous haha.
My kid is 13 and still hangs out at parks with friends sometimes - he just spent most of Saturday afternoon at Harris Park. Like someone else said the library is pretty popular with middle and high schoolers and there's a lot of different activities from drop-in or register crafts & makerspace clinics, book clubs, tabletop gaming plus they have a Nintendo Switch for multi-player gaming. The Square in general, either hanging out outside or in the Dunkin or other restaurants. Also in the Wegmans Cafe (those might be more populated during the school year on early release days than in the summer though).
Others mentioned Wright's Pond & Tufts pool. Keep in mind they both need seasonal passes, but Tufts offers day passes too. Next to the pool is a huge playground and field so more options for activities. We have a boys & girls club too but I don't know if they have drop in activities. The recreation program has a lot of different sports or activities.
Links for the library and Medford Recreation for more info:
https://medfordlibrary.org/
https://medfordma.myrec.com/info/activities/default.aspx
I would recommend looking at the local libraries teen programs. I know Belmont has a gaming evening, I'm pretty sure Medford and something do as well in their teen rooms. Definitely the rec centers for their programming. My kids just did a tennis clinic in Belmont and will be joining other clinics as the summer goes. These might help your teen meet others they vibe with.
Colleen’s and CB Scoops are prime hang out spots.
I see lots of pre-teens playing in the woods and rocks around Victory Park (Over by The Synagogue on 38).
As others have said there are Medford Rec and Parks department programs: https://medfordma.myrec.com/info/default.
There’s Pop Warner football and cheerleading if they’re 13 or under: https://medfordjrmustangs.com/
There’s the “Medford Youth Center”/ YMCA that over by the Chevalier Theater. https://www.mv-ymca.org/
Hi I have and 8 and 11 year old. Things defiantly drop off a lot for the older kids and sympathize with your feelings. My 11 year old goes around town on his bike with his friends as his biggest hang out over the summer. Lots of icecream eating and dropping in at different homes to play video games. Lots of 10-13 year old play at the library after lunch time. The library also has events by age group, so check out their calendar. Tufts pool and Wrights pond are both good spots, but can be hard for kids to break into the social groups as lots of kids have friends already. Someone else mentioned Medford rec, and if there a class that interests them, that would be great. They also hold movie nights which can be social. I don’t know much about Troop 416 (we are only involved in the Pack) but Scouting is a great way to meet kids across the city. Join one of the many karate classes in the city that meet year round. Best
Yes for scouting
The library is a great place to go!
See if any of the Parks & Rec programs for their age group have availability. Spending some time at Wright’s Pond and/or Tufts Pool may also work. For the best advice, find the PTO-run Facebook group for the school they’ll be in this fall (the PTOs have generally been good about having easy to find Facebook groups for each school, precisely so people new to the school can find them), and post asking for suggestions there. You might find a few people who live close by you whose kids are open to hanging out. If your kids have some specific interests like a sport, video games (especially ones like Minecraft), mentioning those may be helpful in finding good ways to connect with peers. One of the challenges with the over 8/9yo age range is that kids tend to be much more independent in their peer interactions. And summer is hard in general because so many families have travel plans or specific camps they attend, meaning they’re unavailable for other opportunities. Or they are in the “too cool for structured activities” stage and sitting around at home staring at screens. I hope your children are able to find some good friends soon!
I think I heard they are at carr park lighting fires.
Can confirm. They are in fact lighting fires in the woods at Carr Park.
No flaming portapotties recently, though the summer is yet young
Yup, directly behind my house almost every single night. Tired of having to call the police on a daily basis.
The Robbins library in Arlington has a dedicated teen section, which is sort of a diner style section where only teens are allowed, and they have programming there. Seconding the ideas of visiting the Medford and Somerville rec websites, as well as some of the local gaming spots (dragon, Knight moves, etc), and check out flyers on community billboards like in Davis square. There are a few local GMs that run RPGs which are a great place for older kids to meet other kids! I know there's a local guy that runs small RPG groups and I can try to hunt down his name if you can't find it on Facebook!
Medford library has a teen section too where kids play games and videogames
Danger Wizard has summer programs for kids wanting to play D&D!
That's totally his name!
Wrights Pond
The Medford Library is really nice and they have a lot of teen events going on. I know because when I look at the events calendar the teen events look super fun and im always jealous haha.
And "teen" at the library often includes pre-teens
My kid is 13 and still hangs out at parks with friends sometimes - he just spent most of Saturday afternoon at Harris Park. Like someone else said the library is pretty popular with middle and high schoolers and there's a lot of different activities from drop-in or register crafts & makerspace clinics, book clubs, tabletop gaming plus they have a Nintendo Switch for multi-player gaming. The Square in general, either hanging out outside or in the Dunkin or other restaurants. Also in the Wegmans Cafe (those might be more populated during the school year on early release days than in the summer though). Others mentioned Wright's Pond & Tufts pool. Keep in mind they both need seasonal passes, but Tufts offers day passes too. Next to the pool is a huge playground and field so more options for activities. We have a boys & girls club too but I don't know if they have drop in activities. The recreation program has a lot of different sports or activities. Links for the library and Medford Recreation for more info: https://medfordlibrary.org/ https://medfordma.myrec.com/info/activities/default.aspx
Lucky Strike in Assembly Row, Town Line in Malden or Dave n Busters in Woburn. Great family hangout with lots of kids.
Ymca?
I would recommend looking at the local libraries teen programs. I know Belmont has a gaming evening, I'm pretty sure Medford and something do as well in their teen rooms. Definitely the rec centers for their programming. My kids just did a tennis clinic in Belmont and will be joining other clinics as the summer goes. These might help your teen meet others they vibe with.
Colleen’s and CB Scoops are prime hang out spots. I see lots of pre-teens playing in the woods and rocks around Victory Park (Over by The Synagogue on 38). As others have said there are Medford Rec and Parks department programs: https://medfordma.myrec.com/info/default. There’s Pop Warner football and cheerleading if they’re 13 or under: https://medfordjrmustangs.com/ There’s the “Medford Youth Center”/ YMCA that over by the Chevalier Theater. https://www.mv-ymca.org/
Breaking bottles behind the wawa