From mastering new skills to discovering local activities, here’s your ultimate guide to keeping teenagers engaged and happy during school holidays.
Adolescence is a time of great potential, during which teens develop independence and explore new experiences.
Old school methods of keeping teenagers occupied during school holidays are no longer popular. With the advent and growing popularity of social media and the internet, Gen Z and Gen Alpha want more control over their time and how they choose to spend it. They might resist structured plans or family-oriented activities if they feel it limits their freedom.
Drawing on recent trends, here are six practical ideas to help keep teens engaged, productive, and happy during their free time.
Exploring local attractions during vacation is a great way to keep teens engaged, entertained, and off their screens, at least for a while!
Here's a list of ideas tailored to a variety of interests, energy levels, and group sizes.
Speaking of mental health, there are few things better for the mind than physical exercise, and your teens will have plenty of time to get active during the holidays.
Granted, getting them to the gym might be tough, but you can also try:
Money management skills are something we all need, but that very few of us actually learn at school, so the holidays are a great time to get your teen engaged with this vital life skill.
There are several ways you can do this during the holidays.
One option is to give them their entire allowance, now. If your teen typically receives a weekly allowance, discuss budgeting with them before empowering them to manage their allowance during the holidays. If they're out of school for eight weeks and you can afford to give them their full eight weeks' allowance upfront, do it and let them learn. Just make sure they know you're not bailing them out if they spend it all by the end of week two!
Another approach is to set them a "24-hour challenge." If they want something non-essential, get them to wait 24 hours before buying, and see if they still want it. This is a scaled-down version of the 30-day rule you might follow yourself!
You can also get your teen involved in making decisions about the household budget. Get them to help you differentiate between what groceries you really need versus what you’d like to add to your shopping basket, or whether your budget means you can eat out this week.
Depending on your circumstances and how the above ideas work, you can also challenge your teens to:
Getting your teens to complete household chores can help build responsibility and discipline, while also making your life easier. Everyone wins!
Use these simple checklists to keep them busy during the school holidays.
And finally, suggest they get involved in a community or charity initiative. In addition to learning new skills, volunteering will also be great for their mental health.
Pursuing hobbies during school holidays is an excellent way for your teens to relax, explore, and discover existing and new interests, as well as build valuable skills. This might mean following their passion for photography or creative writing, learning new AI skills, posting reviews of places they've visited, creating podcasts and videos, learning a new language, or learning to play an instrument or sing. All of these activities can boost your teens’ self-discipline and enhance their cognitive development.
Watching movies, for example, and writing reviews during school holidays is not only fun, but it also serves as an educational activity, keeping your teens' brains engaged while they're out of school. Writing movie reviews helps improve critical thinking and opinion-forming, hones writing skills and creativity. It may even spark an interest in a career such as animation, design, or marketing, too. And their reviews can go anywhere, from sites like IMDB to platforms like Letterboxd or even their own blog!
What does a good review look like? If your teen needs an outline, they can get started with a summary of the plot, their favourite scene, character, or acting performance, and what they feel the meaning of the movie was, finishing with their own opinion and why they liked or disliked it and, of course, a rating out of 10!
Keeping teenagers engaged during the school holidays is essential for their personal growth, creativity, and overall well-being. By encouraging them to explore a variety of activities, as we've explored here, your teens can stay productive during their school summer break while also discovering new interests and passions, as well as maintaining and learning healthy routines.
Good luck – and enjoy the school holidays!