Teenagers need fun activities to do at home. Especially if they are spending time home alone and bored. If your teenager needs a few home alone activities, I’ve compiled a long list of things to do for bored teenagers..
With a little creativity, your teenager can have fun while they are home alone. Depending on your child’s interest, they may want to exercise, play a board game, or get lost in a book.
But there are so many more options available. How about magic, dog training, a scavenger hunt, or goal-setting?
This list has over 100 options for every teenager (boys and girls). Print it out and let them choose an option for the day. It’s important to mix up activities because a teen’s mind is developing quickly.
The learning doesn’t stop when kids leave the classroom. Keep them busy at home as well!
Let’s take a look at all the fun things to do for bored teenagers.
Why It’s Important to Keep Teenagers Engaged – Not Bored
Whether you’re a teenager or adult, you likely remember times when you were home alone and bored. Being home alone isn’t necessarily bad, you can make your own decisions and enjoy peace and quiet.
However, boredom isn’t a good habit to get used to. Our mind needs to be challenged and our body needs to stay busy.
Whether it’s in the form of exercise or a challenging puzzle, it’s important to be creative when you’re home alone and bored.
Teenagers have strong imaginations and plenty of energy. Put those characteristics to use with fun activities. Cooking, dog walking, origami, and goal setting are a few of my top picks.
Here are some free typing games that are fun and educational.
Whatever you choose, work hard to learn and do your best.
Tips To Keep Kids From Being Bored
- Don’t settle for a sedentary lifestyle at home
- Reduce their time on the television
- Ask questions to make teenagers think
- If they are home alone, hold them accountable to be productive (they can teach you what they learned)
- Don’t allow the words “I’m bored”
- Promote learning by example
- Support your teenager’s interests (if it’s worthwhile)
- Make learning fun
- Provide incentives
- Allow them to invite over friends
- Try to understand why and how things work
109 Best Activities For A Bored Teenager Home Alone
1. Write down your life goals
2. Write a letter to family and friends
3. Memorize a favorite quote
4. Read one of history’s great novels
5. Workout
6. Learn a new sport
7. Practice your favoite sport
8. Take the dog for a walk
9. Teach your dog a new trick
10. Learn to juggle
11. Practice photography (lighting and angles)
12. Learn origami
13. Learn to shuffle a deck of cards
14. Learn a new card game or trick
15. Play solitaire with cards
16. Draw a self-portrait
17. Start a journal
18. Create a scrapbook
19. Go for a bike ride
20. Call a friend or family member to say hello
21. Practice sudoku
22. Work on a crossword puzzle
23. Plan a weekend activity for friends or family
24. Clean a room in the house (surprise your parents)
25. Cook a delicious meal
26. Stretch or do yoga
27. Watch a documentary to learn something new
28. Learn how to use chopsticks
29. Practice a new language (Duolingo is amazing)
30. Give your pet a bath and comb their hair
31. Do laundry for the entire house
32. Dust your room
33. Research an online course to take
34. Learn to tie a tie and a bow
35. Learn a new dance
36. Learn about a controversial topic and understand both sides of the debate
37. Memorize the 3 branches of government and why they are important
38. Create a new game (shoot hoops in the trashcan)
39. Paint your nails (or trim them)
40. Give yourself a facial (or a mask)
41. Write a stand-up comedy routine to perform for your family
42. Learn to garden outside
43. Come up with a small business idea (lemonade stand)
44. Draw/design a new outfit that you can make in the future
45. Write a letter that predicts the future
46. Learn to bake (sweets or bread)
Fun Things Teenagers Can Do At Home (with Friends)
48. Play a card game
47. Build a fort
49. Play “truth or dare”
50. Have a debate
51. Teach each other something new
52. Tell a scary story
53. Play basketball, catch, or volleyball
54. Learn a clapping game with words
55. Cook a meal together
56. Bake cookies
57. Play a board game together
58. Video game head-to-head
59. Wrestle
60. Record an acting skit
61. Play Mad-Lib game
62. Watch a movie and make popcorn
63. Have a pool party
64. Camp in the backyard under the stars
65. See who can spot a shooting star first
66. Learn a few of the stars in the sky
67. Recycle trash into something cool (bag or bracelet)
68. See who can make the best paper airplane
69. Tell each other’s future
70. Make a song playlist
71. Memorize all the words to a popular song (or karaoke)
72. Pick flowers outside and make a bouquet
73. Make sidewalk art with chalk
74. Make a scavenger hunt for each other
75. Brain storm ways to be more active in the community (trash pick-up)
76. Practice lines from your favorite movies
77. Thumb war
78. Play “I spy”
79. Hide and seek
80. Rearrange your bedroom
81. Do make-up or create new hairstyles
82. Make a collage of photos with friends
83. Paint
84. Use a sewing kit to repair old clothes or add style to clothes
85. Make a tie-dye shirt
86. Go swimming
87. Sort through old clothes and get rid of them
88. Create your own “Amazing Race”
89. Make a timed obstacle course
90. Time how long you can hold your breath and improve it over a few weeks
91. Draw in a coloring book (for teens or adults)
92. Hula hoop
93. Jump rope
94. Make a tree house
95. Have a slumber party
96. Make a viral video (indoor trick shot)
97. Set up an miniature golf course
98. Have a nerf battle
99. Complete a jigsaw puzzle
100. Practice gymnastics
101. Hide special treats in family drawers (family members will be happily surprised)
102. Identify a common problem and invent something to fix it
103. Learn to type properly (Kidztype here)
104. Learn to knit
105. Train your cat to play fetch
106. Plan a mall scavenger hunt with your friends (click link for ideas)
107. Duolingo Math or Language
108. Learn to Count Cards (poker tricks – it’s possible)
109. Get Certified in an Area of Interest (weight lifting, graphic design)
What Not To Do When Home Alone and Bored
Traditionally, television and video games have been looked down on as less productive activities and “time wasters”. Television is one of those activities where it’s easy to zone-out and be less mentally active.
Educational shows and documentaries might be an exception to the rule. Of course, everyone loves the occasional movie!
Video games can be a “time waster” but it can also help improve hand-eye coordination and it’s an engaging activity for the mind. I believe the key to enjoying television and video games is that they should be done in moderation.
Too many adults spend hours in front of the television and too many teens spend hours playing video games.
If you’re alone, it can be tough to find the motivation to learn something new or to work on a puzzle. That’s why it’s so much better if teenagers are with friends where they can learn together and feed off each other.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are tons of fun activities your bored teenager can do when they are home alone and bored. It’s not just a book, the television, or video games.
Instead, they can learn origami, create a skit on video, or learn to debate. There are many great life-skills that can be learned at home and it doesn’t have to be “boring”.
Ask your teenager to be creative. Ask them to come up with their own ideas to cure boredom and don’t settle for the common words “I’m bored”. These days, musical instruments and languages can be learned for free!
Fun activities for a bored teenager can be inside or outside and they can involve physical activity, mental concentration, and plenty of laughter.
Let me know how I did with this list and share ideas that I may have missed. Let’s get this list up to 200!
