Family activities you can do with teenagers

By Bridie McArthur

How do you keep hyperactive kids busy for six weeks?What activities can you do as a family that your teenager will actually want to take part in?On behalf of all of us, we are so grateful that you have to drive us everywhere during this six-week stretch of hot, hot, hot limbo between school years.

Summer holidays have a strange duality of seeming both never-ending and miserably finite – but really, they’re just a time to have fun without the pressures of academic stress.

If you ever find yourself hearingthe words ‘I’m boooooored, can we do something fun?’, here’s a list of just that – fun things you can do as a family.

Go for a walk

This one is good for the mind, good for the body, and if it’s a long one you mind find everyone issuper tired when they get home. Walk around the neighbourhood, the local mountain or trail, a lake — anywhere that has some great views and will allow you to get your legs moving.

Have an at-home movie marathon

Bring Hoyts to your living room! It’s much cheaper, and there’s no travel – win-win. Pop some popcorn, maybe pick a theme – Marvel, Disney, Star Wars, 90s/00s rom-coms – and settle in.

Swim

There isn’t much better than swimming on a super-hot day, so jump in – whether that be into your or a friends’ backyard pool, a public pool, the beach, lake, etc. Remember sunscreen and hats!

Hit the library

Some of my best memories are checking out a teetering pile of library books for the holidays and tearing through them lying on the grass in the backyard. Make it a family affair: set a challenge that every member of the family has to borrow at least three items, with different genres, numbers of pages, authors, etc — it’s up to you if fishing magazines count (cue pointed look at my dad). Libraries also have audiobooks, movies, and CDs, so there’s something for everyone.

Enrol your kids in a class

This is a great way for kids to make friends and explore their passions (and also get them out of the house). There are so many options: theatre classes, dance classes, cooking classes, swimming classes, sewing classes, athletic classes — the possibilities are endless.

Have a cook-off

This is another at-home option, and the best part is it will (hopefully) result in something you can eat. Have a cook-off! You can set teams and you could compete for the best brownies, cupcakes, or more healthier options such as vegetable muffins or even a whole dinner.

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