Cool things for teens to do in the summer holidays

[LaineyW]

My husband came up with a great idea this evening (well, I thought it was great!) which I thought I'd share... he suggested that we go around the village and take photos of particular landmarks and well-known spots but in strange disguised contexts (upside down pics etc.) and make up a sort of treasure hunt for my daughter and her friends - to see if they could find all the different places.

Anyone else got anything cool for their bored teens to do for six weeks?

My other brilliant idea (not) is to refuse to make their lunches after I've been working from home all morning and they've been dossing in their beds until 11ish then get up and expect me to prepare food for them. Their quest is to provide me with nutritious healthy lunches every day instead. Yeah, right...

Jeez, this thread gets resurrected every bleeding summer. Some teenager always pops up to say the ideas early on in the thread are crap.

pointy dog: You lot need to get out more. i find that this is a ridiculous thing to say! I am a teenager myself and as soon as i read this i instantly thought this:
why should we have to hop the internet and go do something physical when all these adults on this sight and many others can just lounge around typing up crap ideas for teenagers.
i only joined this website to let you all know that these ideas are supposed to be COOL but all of these ideas are boring.
i have only just moved to a new town and its currently summer at the moment so i'm spending my days either on the laptop, sleeping and watching TV until 5ish when it cools down.
i know that a lot of you have suggested going swimming. have you considered that some people live in small towns and the nearest pool is two and a half hours away. not to mention that most girls my age don't go swimming because their mascara might run. i know that this is a ridiculous excuse but a lot of girls at my school use this excuse.
pretty much every other suggestion is something i'd do with my little cuz
she's four years old so that shows how babyish they are.
by know your probably thinking that i only came here to criticize.
so i guess i should now put up a few of my suggestions-
go on the internet and start up a new website
it can be about whatever you want it to be about- art, music, sport ANYTHING
go on your website at least once a week and update it, read the comments and posts
perhaps you might like to start writing a story
you either write one in a book or online
if you have or you are going to start up a website you could post your story as a weekly or monthly blog this will help keep your readers coming back
and you could always advertise your website on Facebook and Twitter
if you don't have an account on these websites you could get your friends to advertise for you
start up a scrapbook about your art
search on the internet for some free art classes or information about the history of art
write down the key points or notes and then illustrate them drawings
the best thing about this is that you don't have to be a good drawer or start taking art classes you could just scribble and make a picture out of it like its an ocean wave or something like that.
okay similar to the last suggestion but a little different i'm trying to keep my suggestions free so you don't have spend
this is free for me because i always have an art book lying around gathering dust under my bed or on top of my desk
okay to the point
get an A4 art book and start on fresh clean page
draw a title like "my visual art diary" and then put down your address under a subtitle "if found return to" decorate the page with glitter pens and drawings of things you can draw well
then use it like a diary
not a normal 'dear diary' thing a diary that you use to draw in like an art diary but more direct
the first page after the title page could be an 'about me' page
the next you could do a self portrait
or maybe you could make a picture like the country side entirely out of pencil shavings
okay so that last page suggestion is kinda dorky but it keeps you entertained.
last suggestion,
if you have little brothers and sisters that nag you to do stuff with them
you write a play or movie script
this is a fun idea even if you don't have younger siblings because like the story idea you could post it online
but if you do have siblings you can write them a script and get them to practice their lines and then rehearse in front of mum, dad or your guardians.
if you like the script idea but don't know what to base it on perhaps you could visit wacky websites and pick a theme from there if not then you can always use Google to help you out
well they're my top five tips for the holidays and one last bonus one
go onto a magazines website (Dolly is one of them) and see if they have newsletters they can send to your email address ( if you don't have one i suggest Gmail or Hotmail) this will keep you occupied reading about celebrity fashion and gossip, the hottest trends and whatnot. i know for sure that Dolly.com has weekly newsletters so try them first.
well that's all for now
GOOD LUCK MY FELLOW TEENS
= )

To respond to one parent who said the teens need to write clearer to get their point across, this is what I shall do.
I am 15 years old and the ideas you have suggested, neither me or my friends would touch with a ten foot pole. If teenagers seem like they don't know what they want to do, the chances are that they don't.
Do not try and hold us back in the holidays, we may spend a lot of time on the internet, but that is what we want to do. If you have a child who has just done their GCSE's they are old enough to decide what they want to do and deserve a break doing what they want to do.
DO NOT try and get them to do exciting stuff around your hometown. If we haven't found something interesting to do already, you cannot try and make them see it.
No teenager goes camping in the summer holidays, that is what D of E is for.
Let them go to theme parks, or give them the freedom to go out with friends, we like to socialize with people that is not our direct family.
Let them organise the summer holiday, you may be surprised!
Finally, do not shout at them!

Well, I'm a teenager, (actually not quite - I'm 12). I have slightly different thoughts. I mean of course we need freedom but our teenage years are what make us who we are when we are older - an adult. So, it's important to make sure we don't lose our way. I know we want to spend time with our friends but what about our family. We often take them for granted but we shouldn't. Which teenager can live without a family? If you can, good for you. But I can't. Don't think of me as some pathetic, 'sad' loner. I like spending time with my friends, going shopping and all that stuff but do your friend really mean more to you then those who brought you up? I am shocked. People really don't go swimming just because they'll ruin their make up? What sort of an excuse is that? Honestly, if you went on a trip with your family, you'd get bored and probably hate it but if you went on that same trip with your friends, it suddenly becomes great, cool. I really don't understand, maybe I will later. Back to the topic, the suggestions given aren't that uncool. They could be 'cooler' but I wouldn't mind a day in the park with my family. It doesn't really cost much. Maybe my thoughts will change when I'm older. I know parents are often against lying in front of the TV all day but what about a family trip to the cinema or even watch a movie at home. I love the ice-skating suggestions. Theme parks are always great fun. Another suggestion I'd make (not if you'd like it) is COOKING. I love cooking and baking stuff - cookies, cakes, biscuits, curries and other dishes. I think, girls like arty stuff. Not the childish kind. My younger sister did this memory box think and I thought it was quite fun. For a teenager, I think it's important for us to know who we are. You just get a plain shoe box, decorate it how you want to and fill it with photos and stuff that remind you of good memories. You can keep adding to it and when you're a adult you can look back in it and think I suppose. Oh, adding diary entries (doesn't have to be regular) is a good idea as well.

That's all from me. I'm sorry if I offended or hurt anyone - I had no intention of doing so. I just put down my point of view. And sorry if my ideas weren't 'cool' enough fellow (well I'm not a complete teenager) teenagers.

redincourt darling - my DD (teen) thinks manicures/pedicures are for shallow wasters. What am I to do? Please help, as she wants to be a doctor and specialise in tropical diseases, ie malaria. She is spending the summer volunteering for Oxfam but I don't know, your post really makes me despair of her - she doesn't spend nearly enough time in Lakeside, nor nearly enough money on shoes she can't walk in. I have failed as a mother obvs. You are just so, like, totes amazeballs.

PS as this is a year on, have you passed your GCSEs yet?

Love and respect.

yy to camping!

Every teenager cannot be the same. I mean, if your child isn't interested in manicures, shopping etc, it's not a problem. They are interested in other things. Why would you want to change your child's personality? Leave them to it. Perhaps, their interests will change. Besides, it's not compulsory for a teen to go out with their friends every day, go shopping and all that the other stuff!

I personally feel there are some very good suggestions here, but I also feel some of you are being quite rude. As another person has said, all teenagers are different just like every person is different. And there are all sorts of suggestions to suit different people. Most teens (well, going by what by DD-14- and her friends have said) they'd rather do something that's chilled out and relaxed. But then maybe that's just them.

NK311000- I'm glad you've come to this thread and spoken some sense (and you're only 12!) Great suggestions, I'll definitely be using some this summer.
A girls night in can be fab, snacks, girly films, pampering themselves and just having a good time can be a brill way to entertain a handful of girls. My teens don't mind spending time with the family. They're quite well rounded actually. Help around the house for pocket money and then spend time with friends as well as family. Everyone's happy.

Who said teenagers dont like treasure hunts

my dd 15 and her mates are doing gishwes

She has also spent the summer helping at an SEN playscheme and loving every minute. She also been chilling playing Sims and Animal crossing and discovered Storage Hunters.
Havent seen DS hardly at all this summer, he's off doing his DofE hike this week.

DD1(15) is happy doing any family day out, hiking, camping and hanging out with her mates when they are about.

Their hanging out isn't very teen, tends to consist of climbing trees, racing about like 8 year-olds and having water fights. Her mates are 16!

She also does water sports, reads endless vampire books, likes the theatre and cinema anything from Shakespeare to City of bones. Is a mad keen Dr Who fan, draws, knits and roams the web for dr who, twilight and Sherlock fan sites and ideas for GCSE art.

DD2(12) does the teen sleepovers, shopping, hair, make up, texting friends and talking about music, celebs and boys for both of them.

She also does gymnastics on the trampoline for hours and plays SIMs on the PC. She is just getting into Dad1's huge fantasy book collection and started reading writing her own fan fiction.

I'm not totally certain about this, DD1 say some of the fan fiction is somewhat sexual, sometimes homosexual (eg Holmes and Watson) and generally dodgy.

DD1 likes game of Thrones so I doubt it bothers her, but I do wonder about DD2.

DD1's fantasy books, Their dad reads electronic books for fun

Oh and DD1 would love the photo idea. I've done something similar with things around the house for a brownie quiz.

A village one would be perfect for the WI at Christmas quiz, I might well send DD1 out with the camera.

We still like to do things with our daughter (which she probably considers uncool) and like to get her out of the house some of the time rather than being indoors on gadgets all the time. The things which have gone down well in the holidays are:

Camping which she loves
Seeing friends & sleepovers - they've all happily spent the day in eachother's houses, but at least they have company
Swimming (with me!)
Having money to buy chocolate
Day trip to West Midland Safari and Leisure Park with us and two friends
Go Ape - really expensive, £30 adult, £24 child, she's not really adventurous but loved and coped with this better than my husband. She was so enthusiast afterwards, so think this must be cool

Go Ape would be the hight of cool here, DDs have sugested it for birthdays, but it is very expensive because of the adult/child ratios.

The other high ropes in Norfolk called Xtreme is very good.

yeah like im a teen and im a boy i just try to being a girl so wearing dresses high heels and makeup

lol the grammar from some of the "adults" is shocking on here, don't think the lad has anything to worry about

Rediince, you could work on how to be taken seriously by adults - by learning how to punctuate sentences! grin SO BLOODY RUDE

Thank you to all the teens who have generously given their time...I'd much rather have your input.