Indoor “Quarantine” Activities for Teens
At this point, there’s no answer as to how long families will be asked to stay home. The quarantine period is estimated at two weeks, but families could be stuck in their homes for much longer. If you’re a parent of teenagers, chances are you’re going to have some bored children on your hands. Social distancing combined with the quarantine will be stressful for teens who are used to seeing their friends – especially their boyfriends or girlfriends. How do you keep your teens entertained? Let’s take a closer look at quarantine activities for teens.
Life Skills
It is up to you as a parent to make sure your children leave home knowing how to care for themselves. Being stuck at home will give you the time to teach your kids cooking, cleaning, and financial skills that will help them in the future. Don’t let this time go to waste. Use it to educate your children on creating a budget or making homemade bread. Teach them how to check the oil in their car or change a furnace filter.
Reading
Print out a list of classic novels and have your children read one per week. You can download many classic books for free through Amazon. Let them choose which books appeal to them the most. Keeping your children reading while school is out will keep their brains busy and happy.
Movies
While screen time isn’t something you should rely on, movies here and there are fine and a great way to bring the family together. There are movies that were supposed to be released in the theaters that are being released on-demand due to the closure of many theaters. If you have the extra money to do so, enjoy one of these movies.
Focus on Careers
If you have older teenagers, discuss career options and then learn more about that career. For example, if your child wants to become a police officer, research the education required, watch documentaries about police work, etc. The more your children can learn about the career, the better. Teens don’t usually have the ability to learn more about a career before jumping into college.
Don’t let this time go to waste. While it can be hard to focus during this scary time, it can also be a time to learn. Teach your children important life skills. Encourage them to read the classics. Watch movies together. Learn more about their career choices.
Jessica Collazo
April 15, 2020These are some great activities for teens. We have to think outside the box with teens.
GiGi Eats
April 15, 2020I feel like most teens turn towards movies and other technology !!
Valerie
April 15, 2020Thanks for these helpful suggestions. It’s hard to keep the younger ones entertained or engaged when all they want to do is play the new Animal Crossing game lol. This is a good time for everyone to catch up on long-forgotten skills (as you said) like how to check the oil in their car, bread making, or reconnecting with one’s love for reading.
Lisa joy Thompson
April 15, 2020These are great ideas. This is also a great time for teens to learn about media biases and political agendas. It’s a great idea to have your teens watch news reports from a “right-leaning” news agency, a “left-leaning” news agency and a more balanced news agency and to give their opinion on what they think is actually true. It’s so important to help teens develop critical thinking skills before they head off to college and believe whatever their friends and professors tell them to believe.
Celebrate Woman Today
April 15, 2020The activities are in millions. The key thing is to keep your mind open to the things around us.
Heather
April 15, 2020My teenager has been doing a lot of painting. It’s her absolute favorite thing to do when she’s home.
Tara Pittman
April 15, 2020My teens are loving the extra computer time. They are also doing good meets with friends
Amy
April 15, 2020My kids are really not loving at home learning. My oldest is the most creative and has learned a great deal of life skills.
Kathy
April 15, 2020These are some great ideas. I don’t have any teens yet, but my kids like doing some of these too. My youngest and I love to read, so that’s something we have really been enjoying.
Sherry
April 15, 2020Thank you for this list. I have a teenage son at home. Even though he is distance learning right now there are some other things he can do as well. I live in Ontario, Canada and our state of emergency has been extended until May 12th.
the joyous living
April 15, 2020nice list of ideas. did you know that local libraries c/o overdrive.com have classic novels available to rent/borrow for free?
Fatima Torres
April 15, 2020My husband’s niece has been pacing back and forth the house. It’s a good idea to share these with her, so she gets herself more productive.
Sayed Williams
April 15, 2020Great read for quarantine. This is also applicable to adults. I, myself, am focusing on them at the moment.
Kita Bryant
April 15, 2020These are some great ideas. Keeping them busy is really important for everyone in the house.
Susan
April 16, 2020I’m baking and cooking tons with my 12 and 14 year old girls. And we’re reading more and watching lots of TV and movies. They’ve done a little cleaning… but not much yet.
Toni
April 16, 2020These are really great activity ideas!! Thanks for sharing!
Eileen M Loya
April 16, 2020I no longer have children in their teens, but my sister has two children, one 17 years old and one 14 years old. I know that they pass the time away watching movies and learning to cook. Her son painted their garage last week. I guess this quarantine period did bring some positive things.
Catalina
April 16, 2020I think that this period is more difficult for teens. They go out and socialize more than others and this is a great problem right now. Thanks God there are social media and online chats!
Iamgeetha blog
April 16, 2020Much needed information for my current situation. Thanks for sharing!
Marysa
April 16, 2020I have a teen who is struggling to stay entertained. My daughter does do a lot of FaceTiming with friends, which is a great way to stay connected and get in social time.
Myrah Duque
April 16, 2020These are great tips. I like the reading list, kids need to continue to read as much as possible.
Anne Marie
April 16, 2020I’m so proud of my teenage son. He’s been out in the community looking for work. He also takes our little ones to the park, or for visits to the local church. You’re right – this can be a time to grow and mature – not just stay at home all day complaining and binging on video games!
Claudia Krusch
April 16, 2020Such great ideas! Love all of them! I’m always trying to keep my teen busy.
Kuntala Bhattacharya
April 16, 2020Good apt suggestions. Difficult for young children and kids to constantly keep indoors without friends. Movies are surely interesting and yes focusing on careers. Time to think which is best for their future.
katrina Kroeplin
April 16, 2020these are great ideas. we have been doing a lot of crafts and such with the kids.
Lily
April 16, 2020I think reading for teens should be high on the list. Too many of them are stuck on social media and reading is not on their minds, is reading can help them learn life skills and help with career paths.
Claire Simpson-Graves
April 17, 2020I have a 15 year old at home and I’ve been teaching him life skills such as cooking, cleaning and budgeting. Great list here, thanks for sharing!
littlemisadvencha
April 17, 2020Thanks for having this list. This makes a good recommendation to our teens to keep them productive this quarantine period.
Monidipa
April 17, 2020I have been doing them all and I have started being tired now.
Emily
April 17, 2020never mind teens lol these are fun activities i like doing and im 31 :D. Ive never done so much reading before
Vasu Devan
April 17, 2020I think there are big plusses of the entire family being together for many days . I think you have a good list of things that can be done , especially with older children, who otherwise have wheels instead of feet 🙂 . Nice post!
Nilakshi
April 18, 2020All the activities listed here are so fun. Even though I’m not a teenager, I’m engaging myself in all these stuff.
Elisha
April 21, 2020Especially for teens who are graduating high school, it’s very useful to learn life skills. I think these are excellent ideas!