How to Keep Your Teen Busy During the Summer
While your sleepy sloth might be happy to lounge on the couch all summer, he̵7;ll probably thank you later if you provide a multitude of new experiences for him instead. Use his interests as a guide to the ideal summer pastimes so he̵7;ll be willing to get off the couch and stay physically and mentally active throughout summer vacation.
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Plenty of Play
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You can keep your teen busy this summer by sending him to summer camp where he can sharpen his skills, indulge in interests or learn something new. Give your teen a once-in-a-lifetime experience with a summer teen travel program in Costa Rica, Fiji, the Galapagos Islands, West Indies, Iceland, South Africa or Australia. These trips often include a combination of skill building, teamwork, community service and academic enrichment. If you̵7;re on a budget, plan a staycation instead: Turn the pool into a Caribbean oasis and let him have a beach party in the backyard, set up a tent instead for a backyard camping trip or turn the basement into the ultimate gamer̵7;s lounge.
Hard at Work
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Whether he̵7;s saving up money toward college tuition or banking some extra cash for his first car, the summertime presents plenty of work opportunities for your teen. He can apply to conventional work at a local coffee shop or fast food restaurant or look for opportunities that coordinate with his interests. A water lover with formal training can apply to work as a lifeguard, while your young fashionista might prefer a part-time job at the mall. Encourage your teen to use his creative entrepreneurial skills, handing out flyers to mow lawns and maintain gardens, offering logo or website design or using his photo manipulation skills to offer composite photo prints.
Good Deeds
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Help your teen develop her self-esteem by helping others this summer. You can research the wide variety of volunteer opportunities in your area to find one that coordinates with her interests. Encourage your animal lover to volunteer at a shelter, while your physically active teen can help out with community building projects or volunteer for children's summer sports organizations. Alternatively, help your teen develop his own charitable opportunities. He can muck out the garage to find items for a charity yard sale; hang flyers and spread the word, and then donate the proceeds to his favorite charity. Have him get his friends involved to make it an even grander project.
Family Time
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The school year is busy; between your work and her homework, there often isn̵7;t as much time for family bonding as you̵7;d like. Use her lax summer schedule as an opportunity to create family memories together. You can plan a vacation together throughout the year ̵1; an excuse to slip in a few moments together on busy school nights ̵1; and then reap the benefits of your planning when school̵7;s out for summer. You can remodel your teen̵7;s room together, or turn the attic or basement into a teen hangout and work together on the design. Take up a new hobby together, learning woodworking skills, trying out your culinary talents or turning your old wardrobes into something new with a fashion reconstruction project.
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As an adult, the idea that your teen may be under stress may seem laughable. After all, you have a mortgage to pay and kids to raise. You have real stress. Though teens may not feel the same kind of stress that you do, their stress is still very real
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The words that come out of your teen’s mouth may not match up with what his body is telling you. Whether you want to communicate better with your teen or pick up on what’s really going on with him, you can learn to read his nonverbal cues
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Although you may zip through your days, feeling like you never have enough time, life can be drastically different for your teenager. In fact, some teenagers experience an issue virtually foreign to adults -- known as boredom. A bored teenager may be
