Summer Activities For Kids When They Get Older: How Do You Keep Teen Kids Occupied?

Usually, there are plenty of ideas for summer vacation activities for kids. However, older children and teens may not always be interested in these activities! If you have teen children like I do, you probably want to come up with some ways to keep them occupied. 

Preferably, these activities would be something that can also get them to put down their gadgets. They've been on their PCs, smartphones, or tablets most of the time during their online schooling. 

Here are some interesting and useful summer activities for older kids. 

Summer Jobs

As your child gets older, it makes more and more sense for them to try different summer jobs. As long as your child is old enough, getting them working outside of the house can give them independence and teach them valuable lessons about money.

These jobs can include as much or as little responsibility as they need. They could go out and find a job that requires them to be available for a set number of hours or days each week.

Although your child may not want to work, they'll love earning money for themselves and they will learn some very valuable lessons along the way! They could learn new skills related to promoting their services, getting referrals, setting their own rates and managing their own money!

What Jobs Can Teen Kids Do?

Depending on how old your child is, they're probably not going to be putting together a CV and applying to local businesses just yet. Their first jobs should be relatively easy - they aren't going to earn a fortune, but to a child, the freedom of earning their own money is a great thrill! 

Here are a few ideas for the perfect summer jobs for older kids and teens that don't require any long-term commitment.

Babysitting

Babysitting can be one of the best-paid jobs for kids, and it can even be fun if your child enjoys spending time around younger children. Before allowing your child to babysit, check if your state has a minimum age for babysitting (not all do). 

If your child is too young to look after children on their own, they can still help out when one of the parents is around. Many children start babysitting on their own around the age of 12 or 13.

Dog Walking

Your child will have the extra time they need to offer dog walking services throughout the summer. It's important to make sure your child can commit to whatever arrangements they make with customers, as dogs need to be walked every day without fail. 

This is a great idea for keeping the kids active, though you'll want to make sure your child is responsible enough to take care of the dogs they walk.

Yard Work

There are different activities your kids could help out to do in your neighbors' yards or garden. For example, they could mow their lawn at regular intervals throughout the summer (a good arrangement that'll keep money coming in all summer long!).

If they could speak with the neighbors to see exactly what kind of garden service they need, that would be great. Some activities can include raking leaves,  planting flowers, watering plants, and so on.

Lemonade Stands

Summer is the perfect time of year for your kids to set up their lemonade stand! Of course, this idea is quite limited and you may only want to do it a couple of times throughout the summer. 

But it's great fun making lemonade together. It also teaches them to learn a little about running a business. 

It may not be selling lemonade that your kid wants. My teen daughter enjoys baking and she said that she would make some goodies to sell. She and her friend had some fun selling and earning some, too.

Help Them Develop Their Interests And Skills

As your children get older, they probably won't be interested in summer activities for kids, such as playing outside. It would probably be better to encourage them to develop their specific skills and interests.

My sister who is a voice coach said she could teach her niece while they are on vacation. They just had one session so far, yet it was a wonderful experience for them. They are looking forward to the next session.

This could involve going to a camp to teach them certain skills or sports. You might set them up with musical instrument lessons, or help them buy materials to start creating their own art. 

Older children may not have a firm idea yet of what they want to do when they're older, but most of them will already be developing skills in certain areas that can be improved during the summer months away from school.

You could even help your child to come up with a long-term project to complete over the summer. Perhaps they want to build something from scratch with wood or other materials. Or maybe they want to work towards a collection of photographs that they've taken themselves.

Volunteering

If possible, your kids can also volunteer to do some activities in your local community. It's a good way for them to meet new people, learn new skills, and keep themselves busy.  Here are some ideas:

• Helping out with local charity campaigns,
• Spending time with the elderly in nursing homes,
• Helping out at a homeless shelter,
• Helping to clean up the streets,
• Working on conservation projects,
• Working with younger children e.g. helping them to read,
• Volunteering at a local library.

Volunteer placements are usually very flexible, though there may also be programs that last for a fixed period of time or require a certain amount of commitment every week. 

Some volunteer schemes will even provide their volunteers with qualifications after working with them for a certain period of time. Although your teen is unlikely to be seriously considering their future career prospects at this stage, the experience will inevitably pay off in the future.

How have your teen kids been spending time during this summer vacation?