<p>I'm taking my daughter on a spring break, week-long college tour, and her younger brother (10 years old) is getting dragged along too. There will be lots of driving, lots of walking, lots listening...you know the drill. Any ideas for making this more fun for my younger son, and something we can truly enjoy as a family?</p>
<p>We used treats as a bribe for good behavior, because all colleges have some type of smoothie bar or ice cream available. We also looked for interesting activities, like going up in a tower or attending a sports event on campus.</p>
<p>t-shirts?</p>
<p>Make him the designated photographer?</p>
<p>We added fun family things when we could. When we went to Baltimore to look at Loyola we went to a Baltimore Orioles game. In DC we added a day and did the museums and monuments. </p>
<p>Nintendo 3DS. He’s a 10 year-old boy. But make him go on the tours, even if he doesn’t want to, without the Nintendo. </p>
<p>D’s brother was 12 when doing the tours last year, and we were shocked at how much he was paying attention. Months later, we’d be talking with D about this college or that college, and S would chime in with “Wasn’t that the college with the statue in front of the church on top of the hill? I really liked that one!”</p>
<p>Tour guide cliche bingo: he wins a point when a guide talks about how you can swipe your ID card for laundry, a point for “if we don’t have the club you want, just find two friends and you can start your own,” a point for mentioning dinner at a professor’s house…</p>
<p>OK, this is actually what runs through consultants’ minds on our 11-campus-tours-in-4-days trips. But seriously, does he have an iPhone? That’s how grownups get through dull meetings.</p>
<p>^^I like the bingo idea. But you forgot to mention a cappella groups.</p>
<p>Add sustainability/green and study abroad to college tour BINGO!</p>
<p>He would probably be very grateful if you could arrange for him to spend that week with a friend instead.</p>
<p>We took our youngest son with older D when she did visits, (they are 6 years apart, so he was @ 11, not 10) and we kept him involved by asking what questions he had after tours. He liked the school my D selected, and decided that he wanted to go there too. He just made Dean’s List last quarter, so sometimes the exposure can be a motivator and pay off. </p>