There are more productive things to do at home for teenagers than anyone could ever imagine.
Listening to music for hours on end, playing video games, talking on the phone and learning every new dance routine on TikTok are leisure activities.
Can leisure activities for teenagers be productive? Of course they can. It just depends on the activity.
Productive activities for teenagers result in positive outcomes.
They can read books to learn different subjects. Complete house chores to earn money. Take care of their younger siblings or pets to develop a sense of responsibility. They can also become proficient in various languages, like French, Spanish, and Japanese.
The list goes on and on.
I don’t regret my childhood one bit, but I won’t lie. There are more productive things I could have done at sixteen-years-old.
High school is what you make it. It’s a memorable time for most and four years of misery for others.
No matter which category you identify with, most teenagers don’t understand that it’s such a short time period in their lives. By the time they turn forty years old, high school and college feel like a blip on the map.
But what if some teenagers decide to be more productive? What if they make their formative years worthwhile and have fun at the same time?
Teenagers need to maintain a balance to achieve productivity. Some teenagers get so wrapped up in their youth they believe it’s going to last forever.
Then they blink and it’s a decade later, and they are stuck wondering where the time went.
Don’t let this be you, goal-friends! As a teenager, you have your entire future ahead of you. It’s never too early to set goals and get a head start.
Get ahead of the curve while you’ve still got time and no bills to pay! The world is definitely your oyster, so act like it.
You don’t have to wait twenty years from now to make your dreams come true.
I’m not recommending that you trade in your freedom and fun for hard labor and extra study time. Use the free time that you have now wisely.
You’ll be able to do what you love as an adult to the point it won’t feel like work at all. There are so many classes, apps, and opportunities you can do from the comfort of your home.
So, take advantage of those winter, spring, and summer breaks now. If you don’t know where to start, keep reading to discover unique activities and productive things to do at home for teenagers.
Parents, we’ve got you covered on all fronts!
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Scholarship Search
No, it’s not too early to look for money to pay for college. The pre-teen age is the perfect time to start.
Those high school graduates that are rewarded with millions of dollars in scholarship money didn’t apply for scholarships at the last minute.
Applying for that many scholarships is intentional. When they say money is everywhere for college, it is! You just have to dig a little deeper.
There are various types of scholarships you can search for, including:
- Local and national scholarships
- Merit-based and need-based scholarships
- Academic scholarships
- Athletic scholarships
- Talent-based scholarships
- Career-specific scholarships
- Minority scholarships
Different criteria typically determine the awarding of these scholarships, such as academic achievement, financial need, athletic ability, ethnicity, talents, or intended career path.
Non-profit organizations, churches, fraternity and sorority organizations also offer private and public scholarships that many people aren’t aware of.
If you have a pre-teen or teen aged child under your roof, scholarship applications are a great way for them to be productive in their downtime.
Going to college is now a luxury for many with the high cost of tuition in America. Imagine if you could graduate from college debt free.
Duolingo
Too much screen time is a growing concern for a lot of parents. But there’s one app that may benefit the time that they spend on their smartphones – Duolingo.
Duolingo is a popular language-learning platform and app that offers courses in various languages like Spanish, French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Russian, plus many more.
The app uses gamification and interactive exercises to teach vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
Screen-time doesn’t have to be bad. Learning a new language is one of the most productive things to do at home for teenagers.
Make sure your tween has the Duolingo app downloaded and they can start today!
Declutter Bedroom
We all know teens don’t have the neatest rooms, closets, or bathrooms, for that matter.
Cleaning should be a regular chore for teenagers to complete on a weekly basis, but what about the junk underneath their beds and unorganized closets?
What about all the unnecessary mess on the bathroom countertops and study desks?
Teenagers need to develop a habit of decluttering their living spaces. Instead of gaming or scrolling social media, they can tidy up the space they spend most of their time.
Not only is decluttering productive, but it prevents nasty odors and critters from creeping into your home.
Basic Personal Finance
Financial literacy is important for adults, teenagers, and children to learn.
They don’t have to wait until they walk across the stage in college or get their first jobs to learn the basics of personal finance.
Financial literacy includes learning concepts like budgeting, saving, investing, managing debt, and understanding financial l products like credit cards and loans.
Parents, you can set aside time to teach your teenagers this information, or provide them with resources on how to learn basic personal finance on their own.
One of my favorite finance books to recommend for young ladies is Tori Dunlap’s Financial Feminist.
Tori breaks down budgeting, saving, and investing in a way that’s so easy to digest that a toddler could understand it.
Teenagers may not have any income aside from an allowance, but teaching them what to do when they get money can be a game-changer.
Start A YouTube Channel
Just when you thought starting a YouTube channel was a thing of the past, it’s not!
After years of editing videos on their phones and countless hours of creating content, people have found great financial success on YouTube.
Those back-to-back uploads are lucrative, especially for those who have remained consistent on the platform and have grown a following and increased watch time over the years.
The good thing is – there’s no age limit for uploading on YouTube. Teenagers in middle school and high school are creating accounts and uploading within the same day right from the palm of their hands.
You don’t need fancy equipment or expensive cameras to start. There’s a niche for everything you can think of.
From live streaming with friends, video gaming, filming study videos, to reviewing your favorite books on Booktube, you can become a content creator and eventually monetize your channel, too.
Who knew filming your life, sharing silly tips, and showcasing your hobbies could be this lucrative? Some Youtubers have turned into millionaires and celebrities from the exposure alone.
You can learn a new skill, have fun, and start earning money as a teenager. Remember, hard work always pays off.
Assist With House Projects
There’s always something to do around the house. If your children are of age where they can assist with house projects that require a few more hands, then recruit them, too.
Yardwork, painting rooms, or cleaning out the attic and storage for a garage sale are some projects teenagers can lend a hand to.
Smaller projects like rearranging furniture, decorating, or organizing the pantry are also productive things for teenagers to do.
Reading Challenges
Reading challenges is still a thing.
There are plenty of book challenges across social media, at school, and local libraries with rewards to keep teenagers engaged while they are on a break from school.
Some people challenge themselves to read 50-100 books a year and steadily add to their To-Be-Read lists.
There are content creators who go viral with book reviews with loyal followers who rely on their next book recommendation.
Check out BookTok, Bookstagram, or Booktube to see what’s trending across social media platforms. You can also look at Pinterest, visit local bookstores, or visit the library to see what challenges they are running
Even if you’re not a big fan of reading, it’s a great hobby to try for teenagers. Explore different genres to see what interests you more.
Become A Virtual Volunteer
There are a plethora of companies and organizations who can use the help of teenagers online.
Translators, tutors, transcribers, researchers, writers, artists, and designers are all needed in various organizations. If you’re at least eighteen years old, you can help others from home by volunteering for the crisis text line.
Who knew that people could make a real impact in the world right from the comfort and safety of their own homes?
Virtual volunteer opportunities are some of the best productive things to do at home for teenagers because they provide real-world experience, improve communication skills, and teenagers can feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment from giving back.
Learn A New Skill
Learning platforms like Skillshare, Udemy, and Coursera offer thousands of courses online for practically any type of skill you can think of.
If you’re interested in coding, web design, app development, cooking, fashion design, digital marketing, learning a new instrument or even how to create fun stickers, there’s a class on it.
Don’t forget, there are tons of tutorials and courses that you can find for free right on YouTube.
Make the best use of your free time, goal-friends! Be resourceful because the options are endless.
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Arts & Crafts
For the creatives, indulging in arts and crafts at home when you’re bored or have free time is a no-brainer.
What do you enjoy? For some, it’s sketching, watercolor or oil painting, designing pottery, while others take pleasure in making jewelry, knitting, sewing, pouring candles or making bath bombs.
Are you interested in trying some more fun, unique arts and craft ideas you can try at home? Click here.
Cook Easy Recipes
Help with preparing dinner instead of just pulling up a seat to eat at the table. You don’t have to be a Michelin chef to throw down in the kitchen.
Start with the basics first, like omelets and bacon, grilled cheese sandwiches, smoothie bowls, pasta with tomato sauce, or tacos.
When your parents are preparing meals, don’t just watch them. Ask them how you can help with the baking on holidays or cook a meal for the night.
It’s never too early to brush up on your cooking skills. Find easy recipes online, so greasy take out and wasting money on Uber Eats can become a thing of the past. You’ll reap the benefits in adulthood.
Start A Side Hustle
Who doesn’t want to earn some quick extra cash in their spare time? That piggy bank with your life savings in it won’t fill itself up on its own.
Sure, you can do chores around the house for an allowance, but you’re likely not clocking in to a job after school or on the weekends.
Use this time to help others and earn money in return. Starting a side hustle is one of the most popular productive things to do at home for teenagers these days.
Shopping is a teenager’s favorite pastime, and that requires excessive funds some parents don’t have.
Teenagers can babysit their younger siblings, walk pet dogs around the neighborhood, resale items on Poshmark, wash cars, or cut grass for some extra cash.
Summer Job Search
School’s out for summer every single year. There’s no excuse for teenagers to lie around the house for 90 days until it ends.
Summer jobs are competitive, but it’s true that the early bird gets the worm. Teenagers can learn responsibility by searching for summer jobs in advance.
They can start by asking family and close relatives if they know of anyone who may need help around their businesses, homes, or have any connections to paid internship opportunities.
Parents can leverage their professional networks to help teenagers out, too.
There are also more conventional ways of looking for summer jobs at local park districts, library job ads, or school and church bulletin boards.
Most teenagers get their jobs through word of mouth or they take earning money into their own hands like starting online shops, babysitting for their neighbors, or thrift goods to sell.
Connect With Family
Teenagers live in a bubble. It’s their world for 4-6 years and adults are merely players in it.
Sometimes, parents have to make sure they spend an adequate amount of their time with family members.
Whether it’s planning family outings every other weekend, instilling a rule of no phones after dinner, homework help, or carving out time for siblings to engage in activities with one another to build a lasting bond, it’s necessary.
Family time is an expectation that’s set by parents, and one of the most important productive things to do at home for teenagers.
Teenagers can read to their younger siblings at night sometimes.
They can also spend time with each other by playing board games, having movie nights, or engaging in sports activities.
Fitness
Sedentary lifestyles start early on.
Parents should set a healthy example of living an active lifestyle, but this isn’t always the case.
You can make sports activities mandatory throughout the year for teenagers, but group fitness like yoga, dancing cardio, or swimming are productive activities for teenagers to do right at home.
Obesity in teens is increasing at a rapid rate. As a parent, it’s best to normalize moving your body daily so your they can do the same.
Teenagers have pent up energy and stress that they need to release, too. If there’s an at home gym, make sure that they are making use of it.
An hour or two of playing outside or going for a walk around the backyard or neighborhood will suffice for a healthier lifestyle.
10 fun activities for teenage groups
Teenagers love their friend groups, but they can’t be outside all the time.
There’s curfew, age restrictions for certain events, and danger lurking late at night. Sometimes, it’s best for them to stick close to home.
Many teenagers think staying inside is boring because they don’t believe it’s fun things for teens to do at home.
That’s why I’m sharing 10 fun activities for teenage groups to prove the masses wrong.
- Play indoor DIY games
- Film a vlog cooking a homemade pizza from scratch
- Pick out each other’s outfits for a photoshoot
- Create tie dye shirts
- Make mocktails
- Perform a mock trial about a current event
- Netflix and chill
- Write a personal letter to your younger selves
- Host a spa party
- Self portrait contest
You don’t have to be a tween or teenager to borrow from this list of productive things to do at home for teenagers.
There are no age limits in finding productive things to do when bored at home. Young adults and elders can benefit from these productive activities, too.
If you’re a teenager, that’s interested in starting a new side hustle, I have the perfect Side Hustle Planner printable for you.
I teach entrepreneurs how to simplify their life and business with less + own their time and maximize productivity towards their personal and monetary goals.
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