It may be that I also have to switch my idea of what is "academic." Before DS7 started school, I used to say that his hunger for learning was just as critical to him as food, water and sleep. If we didn't feed that hunger, he acted out and had much greater anxiety issues than if we did.
DS5 said to me a long time ago...."to me fun = snap circuits" He said it in a context of how he doesn't think superheros and cartoon characters are all that interesting. It was pretty funny because it describes him so much.
Anyhow, some things we do include tons of board games (which are mostly logic based). He loves board games like Blokus, Othello, SET, scrabble, equate, Quiddler pass the pigs, etc. He also likes those solo games from thinkfun (rush hour, amaze, cover your tracks, chocolate fix, and hoppers). Lots of computer games, and he likes to make his own sodoku puzzles. He also likes to make his own projects and contraptions as well with random things around the house. We also make up obstacle courses and things like that. Frisbee golf (but I am awful at throwing frisbee so I made up soccer golf). And science experiments are fun too.
