Winter is a great time to spend time with your teen. But finding activities for everyone to enjoy can be challenging. Too much downtime can cause everyone to get irritable and restless on cold winter days. Here are a few activities you can enjoy at home with your teen that will bring a smile to their faces and give you time to reconnect.
Get Outside
Going outside and enjoying nature in the winter gives your family fresh air and exercise and gives you time to listen and connect with your teen. Taking a hike can provide your teen time to share what’s been on their mind or help them work out some of their concerns.
Popular activities like sledding, skiing, and ice skating are great family activities. Have a snowman-building contest or build snowball forts for round snowball-throwing fun. If you don’t live in an area with snow, plan a ski vacation and hit the slopes.
Out with Old Clothes
The quieter days of winter offer a great opportunity for you and your teen to go through their clothes and other items they are no longer interested in. This is an excellent opportunity to talk to your teen about giving to others. Create a plan to donate the items to your local thrift store or charity. You can encourage your teen to find a local consignment shop to resell their items to get extra cash to spend.
Bonfire and S’Mores
Plan a night by the bonfire. If you live near some woods, head out and grab a few dry pieces of wood to bring home and have a bonfire. Roast hot dogs and S’mores over the fire while you drink hot cider and have a story contest. The winner gets bragging rights!
Bedroom Makeover
Your teen’s bedroom might need an update. Help them redecorate their room. Let them choose the color scheme and go shopping for some new decor. They can paint their dresser and redesign their headboard and walls for a fresh update.
Encourage their creativity and let them make the spaces theirs. You only have a couple of years with your teen at home. You can always redecorate when they are off on their own.
Teach Your Teen How to Cook
Choose a family meal night. Let your teen choose his favorite meal and have him make it with you. It’s a fun way to cook and develop your teen’s cooking skills. You might even have a master chef on your hands. Your teen will love the appreciation for making a great meal.
Plan a Day Trip
Have your teen plan a day as a tourist in your town or the next town over. Task them with finding local places to eat and see throughout the day. Have your teen create a bucket list of things to see for an extra challenge, then take photos of every spot you find.
Your teen will shine with the new responsibility of making a plan and following it through.
Family Game Night
Designate a teen choice family game night and let your teen choose the games that will be played with the family. Give your teen the role of moderator. This shows that you trust your teen and know they can be kind, caring, and fair to others. If game boards are your teen's thing, create a few “Minute-It-to-Win-It” games to get their energy out and create lots of laughter and cheers.
The Ultimate Teen Craft Challenge
Plan a craft challenge. Brainstorm with your teen what material will be in the challenge. Let your teen develop the guidelines and rewards for the best craft. Gather materials and make your crafts come to life. The goal is to have fun with your teen and work with them to master problem-solving skills when things don’t necessarily turn out as planned.
Time With Your Teen
Spending time with your teenager is important. Often they seem to be pulling away and acting like they don’t need you anymore. It’s okay to set up family time and expect your teen to participate.
Invite them to help make the decisions and plans. Getting them involved in the responsibility of family activities will show your teen that you trust them and are interested in their ideas.
It also demonstrates that you still care even as they try to be independent. Be sure to provide a lot of positive praise and support. They are still learning and need your support to find structure in the tasks and activities you offer them to provide to the family.
Is your teen refusing to participate in family activities, and you are not sure what to do? Contact the Liahona Academy today. We are specialists in helping your teen get back on track and live a happy and healthy life.
