50 Fun Things To Do With Your Teenager
Finding stimulating activities to do with your teenager can help you bond and have fun together. Try some of these ideas.Fact checked by Sarah ScottFact checked by Sarah ScottSometimes, it's easy to get so caught up with work, sports, school, and other extracurricular activities, that there's little time to spend together as a family where you're focused on each other. On top of that, teens also aren't interested in spending too much time with their parents. It's developmentally normal for them to want to be surrounded by their friends and their own activities as they gain independence.Despite the obstacles that make it challenging, it's important to find quality time with your teen. Studies show teens who spend more time with their parents have better social skills and higher self-esteem.A 2016 study found that quality time with parents served as a better predictor of teenagers' academic aspirations than time spent doing homework or attending extracurricular activities. Parents who discussed books, attended cultural events, and brought teens on community outings raised their teen's aspirations.Giving your teen regular doses of positive attention will also help you maintain a healthy relationship which can reduce behavior problems and set your child up for success later in life.
Related: Why Parents Should Encourage Their Teens To Play More
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50 Things to Do With Your TeenagerSpending quality time with your teen and giving them positive attention doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Here are 50 ways you can have fun and bond with your teen:Sit down and talk about your teen's day.Volunteer together.Make dinner together or learn how to cook together.Solve a problem together. It could involve a household issue, like how to keep clutter from collecting on the table, or you could even talk about their ideas for solving larger issues in the world, like homelessness.Attend a music festival or age-appropriate concert together.Talk about the future. Identify your teen's future goals and discuss what the world might be like 20, 30, or even 50 years down the road.Read the same book and talk about it.Plan a weekend trip and have fun acting like tourists in a new place.Go hiking.Watch a play or musical.Develop a new healthy habit together like exercising or writing in a gratitude journal.Learn a new sport together—you could even sign up with a recreational league together.Explore foods from other cultures by having dinner at restaurants that serve food you've never tried or by cooking foods from other parts of the world.Start a garden that you both are invested in cultivating, or join a community garden.Work on a monthly menu plan together.Participate in a monthly challenge such as walking for 30 days or saving spare change for one month.Take a walking tour of historic neighborhoods.Go to a ballet or local symphony orchestra performance.Take a class together like a photography class or a graphic design class offered in the community.Attend a community event, like a local theatre production or a food festival.Build or add to a family website or social media site together.Research your family tree.Visit your local library.Do a puzzle and frame it.Take on a big cleaning project, like cleaning out the attic or donating old clothing.Go to a reading by a local author.Play catch in the park.Have a picnic.Go to a museum.Learn woodworking together.Take a pottery class.Stargaze together and learn all the names of the constellations.Get a birdhouse and try birdwatching together.Go to the zoo.Take a boat tour together.Make a time capsule.Watch a local parade.Go to a professional sports event.Film a movie of your family together on your phone.Learn how make a quilt out of old t-shirts together.Go camping and learn how to build a campfire.Visit a national park.Take a yoga class together.Co-host a dinner party together and invite your family.Start a small business together, even if it's as simple as a lemonade stand or dog walker.Tour a college.Attend a poetry event.Order takeout from your favorite restaurant and watch a movie together.Spend a day at the beach or a lake.Learn to paint or play a musical instrument together.
Related: 4 Ways to Connect Better With Your Teen
Make Time To ConnectTake turns picking the activities. It's good for your teen to attend events that they might not have chosen themself, so don't be afraid to pick things that might not interest them at first. They might discover some hidden talents or develop new interests.Give them a chance to pick some of the activities as well to help them stay invested in spending quality time together. You might find you're better able to stick with your plan if you schedule a regular date together once a week or twice or month. For more Parents news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Parents.
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