Summer Boredom Busters For Teens Leave a comment

Summer.

My favorite season, ever. I love the long, lazy days, staying up late, sleeping in, roasting things over our backyard fire pit, lounging by the local pool with friends, and all the summer gatherings.

But. Often the days can stretch from lovely and lazy to mind-numbingly dull. Especially for kids. When our children were young, it was relatively easy to keep them entertained, and for them to find creative ways to occupy themselves. However, the teenage years have proven much more difficult to deal with.

This summer, though it is only June, my 14 and 15 year old sons are B O R E D. Yes, they have chores. Yes, they have a few paid lawn mowing jobs, and yes, they get together with friends when possible. But in between those activities lie a lot of unfilled hours.

Discussing this problem on my Facebook Homeschooling Group, one mom suggested creating a Summer Bucket List for the family. I loved the idea, so Chad and I sat down with the kids and started brainstorming. Our goal was to included things from everyone’s wish list, whilst keeping the budget under control. And since we’re not doing a big famly vacation this year, that allows us to splurge on a few cool options.

On our list are things like:

• visit a new ice cream shop
• visit a local flea market
• roller skating
• go to a minor league baseball game
• kayaking
• visit 3 summer festivals
• go to an outdoor concert
• rent ATVs for the day
• go to the lake for the day

…and many more things like these.

My daughter made the bucket list pretty, and we have already crossed off an item or two. Everyone had input except for Noah, who isn’t home yet from his Air Force training.

I also have a few online resources for finding events, activities, and deals:

• Facebook Events -this allows me to search and bookmark anything withing a chosen mile radius, so I can find local farmers markets, festivals, and outings we might be interested in.
• Groupon -what better way to find deals on sporting events, attractions, and concerts?
• Yelp -I might as well see if others have enjoyed their experiences before booking outs.

Currently, our Bucket List has about 30 items on it, but we will add things as we dream them up. What’s on YOUR Summer Bucket List?

Alison