What activities to do with a 11- and 12-year-old grandkids?
 

Grandkids are coming to visit (11 and 12 years old). Any suggestions on what to do. TYIA!!!

Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park | Florida State Parks

Orlando Attractions | Things To Do In Orlando - WonderWorks Orlando

Showcase of Citrus - Florida's Fresh Air Attraction(R)

Just a moment...

Depends on your budget, how long they're going to be here, and what their interests are.

First responders rec center

That's great for around 10 minutes.

I would do a compbination of things. I wouldnt put them in a car and drive them around central florida all week

1) pick a few day trip destinations and let them pick 1 or 2. Beach might be a good idea
2) 10 year olds love the pool,
3) putting courses or pitch and puts in the early evening, when they are slow
4) corn hole, shuffleboard
5) golf cart tour

jacksonla
 

They would love the Safari Wilderness in Lakeland. You drive your own car, following a guide on an ATV. That guide talks to you about the animals on your car radio. You get to pet/feed camels and more.

Swamp Fever, not far west of Wildwood. Grandpa gets to hold an alligator!

Let them play video games and text on their smart phones (just kidding).

They do have a bunch of electronic games to play.

Also a great teaching moment about what first responders do for the rest of us

a fun day trip is Wild Florida drive-thru safari, and @ the end of the trail is a petting zoo of all kinds of critters. if they enjoy that, you can take them to LunaSea llamas & other farm animals. in your own backyard, you have SumterLanding, the fave sq for the grandkids. have a nice lunch @ restaurant of choice, then go across from the old Sonny's for a mini-playground area. after that, head over to häagen-dazs , then @ 4pm the boat rides begin. if the kids like music, bring them to listen to our bands, & when they get bored of that, you have the movie house nearby. hope the suggestions help, best of luck!!!! :coolsmiley:

We asked our 4 granddaughters what they would like to do for day trips all agreed Disney. Stayed at Pop Century Resort discounted room rates for Florida Residents and discounted passes for grandchildren under 16. Then a day at Kennedy Space Center. Next year Universal.

If your budget allows and you have interest, rent a pontoon for a day-ride around the Lakes. The Dora Canal is one of the prettiest miles of water in the state and there are docks at the edges of swamps where you can tie down and grab some fried gator nuggets all throughout. You can also tie down at downtown Lake Dora, and stretch your legs on the way to lunch at any of around a dozen local restaurants there.

Cost for pontoon rental is around $350 for a full 8-hour cruise, and the boats seat up to 10 people. You have to pilot it yourself and the price includes fuel.

I know a few houses they can egg?! (Just kidding)

I agree with an earlier post....you’re a stones throw away from Disney. An 11/12 year old is the perfect age. Or Universal, SeaWorld etc.

Stay away from Lake Weir it is not a safe water at this time.

Close by is Leesburg Mall has a game area, Go Karts, Pool tables, Bowling and Laser Tag
Ocala and Clermont have a trampoline parks
Beach is always a win

So happy I moved to an adult community.

Zip lining
 

Take them zip lining up in Ocala. I took my granddaughter and it was excellent.

My granddaughter and her friend just did that and had a great time. It’s called The Canyons. Age limit is 10 and 70 lbs.

Check out camp villages a program put on by The Villages Parks & Recreation dept for grandkids 3 to 16 years old.

Skip the big parks go to fun spot. A lot less $ and more time on the rides not wait in lines.

This is a really good air boat ride. We loved it.

Silver Springs State Park in Ocala; glass bottom boat tours.

Have them weed the garden and lawn, clean windows, paint interior rooms. Then reward them with trip to one of the amusement or theme parks for a day. Not joking. This is what I did when I visited my grandparents, and I enjoyed every minute of it with them.

Things to do with grand kids
 

We took our grand kids to the Gator world park on Rte 44 just outside the Villages. Thay loved it. The got to hold one with it's mouth taped closed. They also got to fed babies, hotdog on a fishing pole.

Sky Zone in Ocala is fun for that age!

Things to do for 11 and 12 year olds
 

Gatorland in Orlando is a must. The kids will love it, and it is not too pricey like Disneyland and Universal are.

Activities
 

Paynes Prairie Park near Gainesville has about 50 Bison which is awesome to see for all ages. Part of our countries history and they are so cool

The CAT boats around the lakes then through Dora Canal . Granddaughter loved it the height of her trip last year. Cat boat adventures ! Way fun

Camp Geneva in Fruitland Park had horseback riding. You need to contact them for information.

Why is Lake Weir unsafe?

Ours that age really liked Gator Land. We've done several of the "biggies", like a stay at Disney and all the Disney parks, but that's a pricey option to do over and over. So, we took them to Gator Land, reasonable entrance with Florida resident option, and they 10 and 12 year old LEARNED and great deal about gators and crocks which they had only previously seen in a zoo briefly.

Silver Springs was another very reasonably priced outing ours really enjoyed, along with another day visit to Gator Land visit.

Just let get on their iPhone or iPad, :22yikes: They come now attached to umbilical cord now! Disney for about 15 separate park charges. You can play tennis, pickleball, basketball, platform tennis, billiards, bocce, shuffleboard, baseball when league’s are done, swamp boat ride near, village summer camp, take in movie if can get them to stay off iPhone for hour.:mornincoffee:

If interested in Camp Villages, here's the PDF brochure:

https://www.districtgov.org/departme...2%20lowres.pdf

Make sure you register in time for any specific activity, they don't accept "walk-ins."

Carson Springs Wildlife Sanctuary / Gainesville /352-468-2827 / Carsonspringswildlife.org

take them to orlando for some axe throwing , whats the worst that could happen???? and i think they may have some chain saws to.:22yikes::22yikes::22yikes:

Because it has a lot of red allergy in it right now, because of lack of rain and high heat

Sounds like fun

There are rage rooms in ORL but like your suggestion, 11or 12 may be an obstacle. International Drive has a ton to do for that demo. Not too far and if you don’t want to drop the kings ransom at a WDW park....it’s not a bad consolation. Pretty decent food for kids down there as well

Shooters World would be great too