How To - - -

I may have a bit more than 20 fun summer ideas for a teen, but having some ideas to help out during the summer when hormones boredom hits will hopefully keep you and your teen getting along.

I really think most of the ideas could be done by either a teen boy or girl.

Schooling year around, we have kept a heavier school load until Mr. Senior 2013 and Mr. Awesome hit their high school years and then we have switched over the last few years to following a more traditional public school schedule.  It really is in the middle to high school grades that I feel the tug at being a bit more creative to beat summer boredom.

You may have some more ideas to add to this growing list, but here are a few of our own that helps preserve sanity with a teen.  Well I can hope, can’t I?

• We kept on ball room dancing during the summer. You know I told you my boys refused to do this until Dad put his foot down (no pun intended) and then they fell absolutely in love with the manly art of dancing.  I think having cool dance instructors helped.  So if you have either boys or girls, it is a must to have cool instructors.  This translates to instructors that are younger and not old like me.
• Square dancing works too.  We have a large homeschool group here that keeps on dancing and even does competitions in the summers.  Teens love to compete.
• My oldest also had looked into volunteering at the local fire station.  I think his enthusiasm was dampened a bit when they said they would start him off on washing the fire trucks instead of fighting fires.  But again, he would be getting a lot of valuable training for other careers like an investigator and realized too that you have to begin at the bottom.  What does his dad and mom know anyway about starting off on jobs?
• I  was part of 4-H group too where both boys and girls started gardens if they had a green thumb.  My oldest wasn’t a teen yet, but one of the 10th grade boys even had an interest in becoming a chef.  He and his mom were hosting parties and selling Pampered Chef where he could make some money and cook too.  Brilliant.

• There are a whole host of places to volunteer at too that would be delighted to have a teen like the local animal shelter, teen helpers at the library, and any kind of rescue.  Living close to the coast and to marshes, we have groups that are looking for teens to help either count birds or help out at their facilities.  It really is a matter of asking around and being assertive.
• One year, Mr. Senior 2013 did woodworking and there is leather working too.
• Our local newspaper host summer shops for high school students who are interested in journalism. The classes are conducted by reporters, editors, photographers and graphic artists.  It is free.
• I know a lady in town that puts on several beginner photography workshops during the summer specifically geared toward teens.  She had asked me if I knew of any high school girls who were homeschooled and that could accompany here at weddings and parties as an assistant and learn photography.  It was nice to know she knew of the reputation of our teens, which is that they are pretty responsible.

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• We have a couple of indoor rock climbing/trampoline/dodge boy throwing place that allows your teen to let off some steam.
• Our local college offers a certificate program for an EMT helper that one of my sons was looking into.  This actually seemed like the adventure a teen would be looking for, but probably geared more for a high school senior.  The program included training to assist an EMT and basically would help the EMT with any emergencies he or she would be called to.
• Kelley’s daughter started volunteering working at a vet’s office because of her love for animals and it has turned into a paying job.
• The boys have a friend who joined a bowling league.  He and his father go together and they get out of the house each week.

• Dare I even need to mention that you could use the time to get in some more drive practice with your teen? They probably won’t let you forget.  But then I was trying to list things less stressful and less prone to aging you.
• When I was a teen, I had signed up to help out at the hospital.  If you have a girl or boy who are interested in the medical field, I don’t know of any place that turns down volunteer help.
• My oldest had signed up too for indoor tennis lessons.  It’s too hot here in Texas to be outdoors past mid-morning, but there are many places with indoor courts and swimming pools too.
• If they are a water lover like my boys, they are always accepting volunteers at the swimming pools.  I would caution you to check into this though because some of our local pools had no supervising adult and the teen boys and girls were left alone.  So I did not approve of that for my boys.

• Also, pretty close to us is a State park and they have canoeing activities on the river for a  small group.  You know how much teens like to be with other teens and it’s not hard to gather a group.
• If they want to earn a few bucks and they know friends who have pets, then a pet setting business is great too.  A lot of people are traveling during the summer and need a place for those pets.  This is a good idea too for a younger teen because you don’t have to deal with age restrictions like businesses have for teens.
• The summer before last Mr. Senior 2013 worked with my husband and then I helped him prepare a resume.  We spent a week learning about resumes and the importance of skills in a workplace.

• I also have some hands on building projects called  Da Vinci Machine Series if they hit the mood and want to build.  I don’t think I have showed these to you before.  But its something else I have in my arsenal and pull out when I need to.  These projects are for ages 14 years and up.  So they are not babyish, which I like and they can go with history or science.  I have one more kit left and probably need to grab some more before we move.

These are just a few ideas that pop in my head and that we have done.  I do think if you are going to take a break or have a change in your routine, then make it just that.  Don’t try to keep the same routine that we expect of our teens during the year for school.

There is only one time to be a teenager and before you know it the demands of adulthood are upon them.  Let them linger at being a teenager and soak up the hum drum days of summer.

What does your teen enjoy doing during the summer?

Hugs and love ya,