Summer holiday activities for teens
With schools out for the summer, here are some activities to keep teenagers busy, taken from our educational resources published over the past year.
Get creative
If you enjoy watching TV and films, why not make your own film, documentary, animation or comedy sketch and curate a film festival? If you like clothes and fashion, create your own fashion brand by designing and creating clothes. Be inspired by your surroundings to experiment with photography techniques. Or use microorganisms to create your own food.
Get growing
There is something incredibly satisfying about planting seeds, caring for seedlings and watching them grow. And it is especially pleasing if you can then eat the end result! Why not plant your own indoor herb garden and add what you grow to your cooking? If you have access to a garden, try the Indigenous American ‘three sisters’ planting method to grow beans, corn and squash. You could also devise an experiment to determine how environmental conditions influence plants’ germination and growth. And take care of the bees and butterflies by planting a pollinator garden with native plants.
Look for local wildlife
Explore your local ecology. Whether you live in the city or the countryside, there will be plants and animals around you. Learn to identify your local wildlife, then conduct an ecological survey to assess what species live near you.
Explore other aspects of your local area
How do your surroundings influence you? Go for a walk around your neighbourhood and consider how the architecture and built environment impacts people who live and work there, and how you interact with digital technologies when you’re out and about.
Make a difference in the world
What issues are you passionate about? What social or environmental injustices exist in your community or country? What global problems do you want to fix? How could you help address these issues and fight for social and environmental justice? You could start a campaign to make a difference, join a local, national or global organisation that promotes community and environmental health and well-being, or use the power of photography to raise awareness of social justice or environmental justice issues.
Design and conduct your own experiments
Conduct scientific experiments to explore what colours make up different inks and food dyes, and what happens when CO2 dissolves in water. Conduct classic psychology experiments to explore cognitive control and decision making. Or design your own experiments to explore human behaviour, whether psychological inputs cause physiological changes in the body, how an audience impacts a performance, and how our senses impact our ability to read. And learn how to analyse scientific data.
Take care of yourself
Looking after your mental health is incredibly important. Create a self-care package containing items to boost your well-being, and use creative arts, music and activity to improve your mental health.
Need more inspiration?
If you need more activities to keep you entertained, check out these ideas from last summer: www.futurumcareers.com/16-holiday-activities-for-teens