Paul, pm me your address.... I'll send you what they call 'somen'. It's a thin delicate noodle that you eat chilled, dip it into some soy sauce mix sauce and then slurp it up, or eat it with a bit of thin sliced cucumber and hard boiled egg garnish on top, sauce poured over.
Another way is to serve the noodles with ice cubes in it in a large bowl, then each person takes their small portions little by little as they eat. A very refreshing summer meal, especially lunch. You might have to fine tune it for the boy's tastes, but I think he will like it. Cold noodles can be really good, and it's about time to teach the lad to slurp! If you like it, possibly available if a Japanese market is around...pretty basic food here.