13 Fun Mother-Daughter Activities for your Tween Girl

Having a tween daughter can be as much exhausting as it can be fun. This is a beautiful age, but it can be one to test your patience. But that doesn’t mean that mother-daughter activities can’t happen. I love them and encourage them!

My oldest daughter will be a 10-year-old soon (God-willing), which is hard to believe!

She is incredibly smart, sassy, and sweet. But, at this age, you realize that the hormones are starting to trickle in.

You still want to protect her innocence, but see that she’s becoming more and more mature. 

This is the time I want to continue to strengthen our relationship. Most importantly, I want to train her to be a servant of the Lord and encourage her to be more willing to help around the house, among other things. 

This can be trying because tweens are starting to become more social and want to try new things. They are learning more about themselves and discovering their likes and dislikes. 

She is also becoming more embarrassed by me intruding while her friends are around. Her attitude is coming through, for sure.

One activity I have always enjoyed is spending one-on-one time with each child.

Since we are a large family, it can be easy to feel left out. My daughter was also the youngest child of her two older brothers for over five years, so she got a lot of attention.

Since she is in the tween stage, I’m asking her what things she would like to do to spend time together. 

Most recently, we spent time together going to a store of her choice – Claire’s since she’s starting an earring collection.

Since I’m trying to commit more time to spend one-on-one lately, I want to share some mother-daughter activities that can be good for a nine-year-old:

• Do a Bible study together. Find a topic you both could learn more about and teach her how to prepare her lesson. At this age, she’s still eager to learn and is starting to learn about her place in the world and how she can please others. Her connections with God and His word are becoming more real.
• Paint each other’s nails. This might need lots of practice depending on the level your girl can paint, but she’ll be pleased with herself on this one either way. 
• Get a manicure or pedicure together. We don’t do this much because mine gets too spoiled, but it’s still fun to do – on occasion.
• Grab lunch and go to a nearby park. 
• Get ice cream or slushie.
• Have a movie or game night. 
• Go to the library and check out some books.
• Try a new activity together, like painting, drawing, or knitting. 
• Visit an art gallery. I adore an art gallery, and our local art museum is practically free for homeschoolers; yours may be, too.
• Volunteer in the community. Find a local community, like a food bank to donate canned food. You can also check out a local children’s home to see if they accept donated cooked food. 
• Go to a pottery class. 
• Go on a hike together. We recently did this as a family, and it was so much fun! My daughter didn’t complain one bit. 

• Cook or bake a dish to give to someone or a local children’s home, or just a meal for the family. 

Again, I haven’t done all of these activities, but I want to commit more time to make most of these happen, if possible. 

I can tell my daughter enjoys our activities together. The more time I spend with her, the more I see her willingness to serve because she feels encouraged and valued.

Even verbal praise, a hug, or a kiss while telling her thank you for doing chores without being told goes a long way. I value these precious moments more often because they grow so fast!

We are also building relationships during homeschooling. 

I always sit with her to do a couple of subjects during school, so sharing a laugh or allowing her to act silly to get a reaction in return can be a good thing. 

Of course, relationship building starts early on, but this age is also critical to maintaining that relationship.

Even if I can’t do something with her on a specific day or week, I always tell her I love her. 

Hope you find these tips helpful!

What’s something fun you’ve done with your tween girl? Comment below.

XOXO,

Sharonda