Winter Activities For Teens and Tweens

With winter coming and tweens and teens being indoors more, we’ll be hearing a lot more “mom I’m bored.”

Over the years, there are so many indoor activities my kids have been involved in. I’d like to share some ideas:

Find a pen pal. My older daughter spent an entire year writing to people in several other countries. They exchanged stickers and a few other small trinkets. These were hand written letters that the two parties exchanged.

Work on a jigsaw puzzle. We have a table we’ve set up in our family room many times. We buy puzzles at garage sales and then work them together. We’ve gotten scenes from other countries and also very tough to work puzzles such as a box of chocolates.

Work crossword puzzles. My daughter increased her vocabulary tremendously doing crossword puzzles. She began with simple crossword puzzles and then continues working harder and harder puzzles. Today, no one in the family can beat her at word games.

Try new recipes. My kids have had so much fun looking for recipes online, shopping for the ingredients and then creating meals. There is no limit to what your tweens and teens can make. We are about to learn to make sushi in our home.

Create a family tree. I have started this many times but never finished. There are so many sites dedicated to genealogy research. Ask your teens to each trace back one half of their family.

Write a game show. This can be so much fun for teens to create and write their own game show. Invite over a few friends and then play the game after it’s completed.

Offer to help the seniors in your town. The winter months can be cold and more difficult for teens to get out and about. Can your teen market for a senior while you’re doing the family shopping? Can your teen help decorate a senior’s home for the holidays? Can your teen shovel snow or rake leaves for a neighborhood senior?

Learn a new language. There are many books and CD’s on the market today to help you learn a new language. Visit your local library to see what they have available.

Create a website. There are several free places to create websites. Learn HTML and have fun creating a website that is yours.

Decorate or redecorate your bedroom. Organize drawers and closets. Hang posters on the walls. Move the furniture around. Teens spend so much time in their bedrooms; this is a wonderful activity to make their room to their liking.

Sort the family photos. Create either photo albums or scrapbook albums with the family albums. You can sort by year, by season or even by person.

Enjoy some of these activities with your tween or teen this winter. Get them involved in activities to help those cold months slide on by.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka