Teen Boredom-8 Clever Things for Teens to do at Home

If you’ve got a teenager who’s driving you crazy from boredom, believe me, you are not alone. So, to make life a little more tolerable, here are 8 clever things for teens to do at home.

Unfortunately, families everywhere are scrambling to come up with ideas to maintain some normalcy in their households during this difficult time.

So, what’s the fix?

I started thinking back to the days when I was a young girl. What kept my sisters and me busy on long days when school was out? Social media was not around and YouTube would have been a dream come true in the 1990s.

Now, here we are in 2020 dealing with events that no one could have ever predicted.

What Parents Can Do

As parents, it is our responsibility to provide some kind of structure while keeping our kids safe, healthy, and happy.

With that said, it’s going to take some effort.

Hopefully, these activities will keep your restless teens entertained for the majority of their day. Many of the suggestions mentioned are common sense ideas, yet they tend to be forgotten as the years pass by.

Create a Cool Collage

One thing your teen can do at home involves magazines and glue. Sounds kind of elementary, but no doubt, creating a collage is an awesome way to keep your mind and your hands busy.

But listen, if you present this idea to your teen, don’t be surprised if they roll their eyes and immediately shut down the entire thought of this.

Keep that in mind before throwing out suggestions.

You may have to do a little prep work like gathering a few supplies (scissors/glue etc).

Supplies:

• Magazines

• Scissors

• Glue-Stick or Elmer’s (whatever you have in stock)

• Posterboard or Cardboard

Directions

Have your teen gather all the magazines he or she can find around the house. You may have to sacrifice your Cosmopolitan or Martha Stewart magazine for this project.

Next, it’s time to get creative. Find images that are eye-catching or interesting to look at.

You may want to choose a theme- sports, fashion, makeup, music, food, etc…

Carefully cut the pictures and place them into a bowl or plastic bag (doing this helps prevent misplaced or scattered pictures).

Now you can start gluing.

The good thing about making a collage is that your teens can work as much or little as they want while talking on the phone, watching TV or even better, listening to music as they skim through magazines.

My daughter recently started working on a collage to pass some time…It makes me happy to see her occupied and doing something a little different for fun.

Classic Movies

When all else fails, make it a movie night.

Why not turn back time and share a few of your favorite classic movies!

Grab the popcorn and snacks along with a few blankets or pillows to get cozy.

Here are a few oldies but goodies:

The Breakfast Club

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Sixteen Candles

Weird Science

Pretty in Pink

Coming to America

Steel Magnolias

Dirty Dancing

The Karate Kid

Ice Cream Floats

Ice cream floats have been around since the late 19th century. According to thenibble.com, the ice cream float was invented by a pharmacist named Robert Green. Eventually, his magic combo of soda and ice cream became a massive hit amongst his customers.

Undoubtedly, most teens love eating ice cream. If they haven’t tried an ice cream float yet, they will be all over it.

Ingredients:

Cups or Glasses

Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper

Vanilla Ice Cream

Ice Cream Scooper or Spoon

Straws

Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream into your glass and then pour at least 6 oz of cola over top. Grab a straw and enjoy!

Music and Cleaning

The majority of teenagers dread cleaning and will put it off as long as they can. Now that everyone is sticking around the house, things tend to get out of place and messier than usual.

A simple idea to motivate your teen is to crank up their favorite music and set a timer. Doing this will make all the difference in the vibe of the house. If you have an Alexa, she will come in handy for this.

*Set time-20 minutes to an hour.

*Turn up the music and get your booties cleaning! (Pick an area for your teen to clean while you work on your bedroom or whichever area needs extra attention).

*Once the timer stops, the house is cleaner, you are happier and hopefully everyone got a little exercise from the dancing and cleaning.

Experimental Cooking

Time to head to the kitchen!

No matter if you plan on making spaghetti, a casserole, chocolate cake or even just scrambled eggs-this is an opportunity to spend time with your teens and teach them how to follow a recipe (especially one that requires more steps than heating a hot pocket in the microwave).

Once you feel comfortable with his or her ability to prepare a meal, ask them to make breakfast or lunch a few times a week. Of course, use your judgment before setting them loose in the kitchen. Always be safe!

Start a Journal

Starting a journal is one of my favorite ideas.

Encourage your teen to write down something every day, even if it’s only a few sentences.

Journal entry ideas:

Jot down things accomplished– (ex. crafts, projects, exercise, family time, etc.…)

Write down current and future goals.

Share feelings or worries.

Write about happy times or good things.

Journaling is not only a genius idea for teens but also parents. Once you get started it will become an easy pattern to fall into. Someday you will look back at the entries and thank yourself for taking the time to write down a little something every day.

Exercise

I know what you’re probably thinking, that’s what everyone says, “You need to exercise.”

It sounds so boring. Instead, I say to my daughter, we need to get our bodies moving, let’s take a quick walk or turn on some dance music.

Ideas:

Jump on the Trampoline

Hula Hoop

Jump Rope

Dance

Stretching

Aerobics- (There are plenty of exercise apps and YouTube videos to follow along to)

Games

Some of the best childhood memories involve playing games. I can recall my mother encouraging my sisters and I to pull out the board games during holidays and summer breaks.

The most difficult part is getting everyone to agree on which game they want to play.

Game Ideas

Clue

Jenga

Scattergories

Life

Balderdash

Monopoly

Other games to play with your teen:

Cards: Spades, Slapjack, Crazy Eights, War, and Spoons, etc..

Mad Libs

Darts

Dominoes

Charades

My Final Thoughts

It’s important to set realistic expectations during this difficult time. Every day will not be great, but every day will not be terrible.

The main goal is to keep your family as safe and healthy as you can. In the meantime, when a good moment comes along, grab it and hold on as long as you can. Enjoy being with your family, love your children, and be well.

For more from The Pink Bananas, check out this post about mother-daughter activities.

DIY Activities for Moms and Daughters