Airventure 2013 - Attending with Child

Just booked Airventure 2013! This will be my second visit and this time I'll be bringing my 10 year old son. I'm aware of Kid Venture but only visited last year while in route to the Helicopter rides. Does anyone that has attended with their kids have any advice on can't miss events? He loves flying and airplanes like I do, so he will be super stoked to attend; it's his birthday present! Anyway, just looking for ideas. What do you guys do with your kids while attending seminars or workshops etc? My thought of course is to have him join me but I don't want him to get board.

There is so much to do at EAA and I think a 10 year old is probably mature enogh for most of it if he does not get too tired,
First 2 things are something he may not get elswhere. Take him for an airplane ride. Get over on the north side of Pioneer airport at the museum and sign up for a helicopter ride. The waiting line can be a few minutes to about an hour, I think price is about $75 and worth it. If you prefer, go for a flight on the Ford Trimotor which is just south of warbirds, and again sign up early.
Next he can actually fly(dual), a gas engine powered line control model plane just behind the museum and that is free or it was.
Many of the owners of display airplanes may let a kid sit in their plane. Again, get there when it is not too crowded and the owner in not busy. DON'T go for instance to the warbird area right before they are starting to fly the airshow, find a less busy time.
Down at show center there are big C5A type things he can climb in.
There are a lot of kid oriented things at the museum area, I an not up on all them.
I'd give him some lunch money and tell him when to meet you at the cafe or headquarters of what area you are at if you get separated. I e , if you are at Ultralights he can meet you at the red barn, if at warbirds then on the porch of the main building. Caution him about not getting anywhere near a running airplane or prop. Acell phone might come in handy, but they don't always work there.
There may be some seminar that is good for kids, but I suspect most are not.

My son, I guess was about 12 or so met a girl in the ultralight area and we hardly saw him for the rest of the convention.

If you're over at KidVenture, there are two educational areas in the Pioneer Hangar that are appropriate for a 10-year old. One is Young Eagles Flight Education, where young people work through a mini-ground school covering all of the emphasis areas in learning to fly. The booths cover everything from regulation to preflighting a plane. Included is some time on a PC-ATD with a CFI which is logged. When they complete everything, they get a certificate of completion. It takes about a half-day for the entire process.

On the AMT side, there's a similar experience where young people can learn about building and repairing airplanes, doing everything from riveting to working on a wing etc. Again, that's also about a half day.

Hope this helps.

And of course, there's the museum, the main part of the show, as has been mentioned.

Thank you all for the excellent suggestions. I'm really looking forward to having him with me this year! I think I need to look into the Young Eagles programs, he will be all over the flight education programs. A flight would be great as well, he has only been up with me once so far.

At 10 years old, my daughters pretty much ventured out on their own. They'd go do some crafts & such at the craft tent, or go to kid venture for a while, then back to the 5th wheel for a nap or whatever. Then they'd come find me for a while.
I didn't worry too much about them. I always felt OSH is such a unique/safe place for the kids.
Now, at 23 & 18......they still do. And love every minute of it, they still look forward to the next year.

He will actually be 11 when we get there, hopefully he can find some friends to hang out with. I thought last year it was amazing how many kids were out and about checking everything out, it was great. I hope this year it will feel equally safe!

My son was only 6 when we first went in 2010 and he loved it. He was 8 on our last trip and spent a fair amount of time on his own at Kid Venture. Lots of stuff to do... the first trip will be OVERLOAD! You'll both love it!

I took my 8 year old daughter to Oshkosh last year, this was her first time. We where there for just about the whole week; arrived on Saturday prior to opening day and left on Friday morning. We never ran out of activities for her to do, Kid Venture alone has enough activities to last 2-3 days. By the end of the week my daughter asked me if we could come back again next year, and wanted to know why Oshkosh is held only once a year, she can’t wait a whole year for the next one!
While my wife was willing to take her while I went off to see and do other things, I wanted to be with my daughter while she was doing her things. Seminars and workshops are great, but seeing my daughter learning how to rivet or make a propeller at Kid Venture is priceless.

Thanks for all the great replies! My son was building online airports in some game tonight and I'm sure he's gonna freak out as this will be his birthday present. He is gonna be so excited! Then again I may be more excited to have him with me this time!

I have had the whole bunch up there in 2010 and 2012. Camped both times. Youngest was 7 on the first trip. Did KidVenture, where they did the riveting, prop shaping, rib making, etc. As the year closed I asked them about their favorite vacation. The youngest said without any hesitation, "OSHKOSH!" I asked if he was sure, if maybe he didn't like Disneyland better? No, he was sure. Disneyland and Disneyworld were great, but Oshkosh was better! The older two liked it just as much and I certainly hope that the same will be true for yours.

Oh, I also hope that you are planning for several days -- and not trying to cram it all in at once.

Very cool! Were planning on staying up there the whole week so we will be able to take it slow and enjoy it all! Thanks for the reply!