If you’re the parent of a teen, it can be tough to encourage them to try new things but engaging in a range of hobbies is a great way for them to develop in their adolescence. Ideally, teens should consistently partake in a physically active hobby for health reasons, but there are some at-home activities that offer an engaging way for them to wind down and enjoy their free time. Here are our top six suggestions for the best hobbies for teens.
Learning To Play Music
For teens, creativity is a fantastic outlet that can support them with emotional regulation. Learning to play a new instrument is a brilliant way for them to express this creativity and attain a skill that will stay with them for life. Support your teen as they test different instruments to find one that they enjoy, and you’ll reap the rewards of a happy, engaged adolescent.
Hiking
Exercise is vital to our mental and physical health, but between long hours at school, and an increasing amount of time spent indoors, it can be tricky to promote physical activity for teens. A low-impact, easily accessible option is hiking, which allows teens to get into the great outdoors, appreciate nature and move their body.
PC Gaming
Gaming can sometimes get a bad reputation as a hobby, especially for teens. However, while it’s important that you don’t encourage your teen to spend too much time online, PC gaming can actually serve as a brilliant foundation for an interest in technology. This can lead to a variety of future academic and career pursuits, in industries that dominate the modern world, such as computer science and web development. For teens to enjoy the best possible gaming experience, a good approach is to kit them out with a high quality computer, such as a Lenovo GTX 1070 Gaming PC that’s specifically built to provide the perfect gaming experience.
Dog Walking
A brilliant hobby for your animal-loving teen might be dog walking. You can encourage them to create flyers to hand out to local neighbors and residents, and even start walking dogs on a volunteer basis to build a foundation for a potential business opportunity.
Creative Writing
Writing is a great way for teens to work on their skills by doing something they enjoy that will serve them in the future. Whether it’s for college applications or just the enjoyment of writing a book, your teen will thank you if you encourage the hobby of creative writing at this age.
Photography
Not only will photography encourage your teen to see new points of view and get moving, but this is another creative hobby that will allow them to explore nature. There are some brilliant guides available that can help you find a starter camera for a teen, so this is a great place to start if you’re looking to get your teen started in the world of photography but are in need of some inspiration.
Encouraging your teen to take up even one of these hobbies is a great way to help them branch out into new areas and pursue their interests. By kitting them out with the right equipment, such as a gaming PC or camera, and encouraging creative hobbies as well as outdoor ones, you can help your teen to blend new hobbies into active lifestyle choices.
Bonus Hobby: Lockpicking
At a glance, getting your teen a guide on lockpicking can sound like you’re prodding them to do something shady. After all, knowing how to pick locks might not give a positive first impression.
Despite its bad reputation, lock picking can be beneficial in many ways. For one, it’s a specialized and practical skill. Anytime there’s a jammed lock or knob around the house, your teenager can surely help instead of hiring a locksmith. They can also profit from it when your neighbors need assistance with such issues. And when they find themselves trapped in a tricky situation, they have the survival skill to escape.