Teenagers getting bored

[rode2nowhere]

I have 2 teens, 16 and 15.....when we go camping all they do is lay around because they have no internet for their games or youtube videos. Any good ideas for something I can do or bring to occupy them or should I leave them at home?

[bout2buy]

I think it totally depends on the teenagers. My own kids haven't hit the teen years yet, but we have several different varieties of teens in our family. My husband and I had guardianship of 2 teenaged cousins (they're still with us, but 18 and 20 now so technically adults). I also have teenaged nieces. They are worlds different.

The teenaged cousins hate camping and all things outdoors. The nieces are fishing fanatics and we all recently bought some inflatable boats (totally recommend!!) and have been having a blast taking them to every local pond to try.

Since the cousins were not into camping, we let them bring friends and pick/design our last vacation and it still didn't go well. Some teens just go through a phase where they have rotten attitudes, aren't that pleasant to be around, and are determined not to have a good time anywhere :W Thankfully I think many of them outgrow it!

The fishing teens could tent camp in a swamp, never catch a fish, come home covered in mosquito bites and still say they had the best trip ever. Go figure.

If there is somewhere else they'd rather go, like an amusement park or water park, by all means give it a try, but unfortunately allowing them to pick the destination and bring friends didn't do the trick for us. I hope you find a solution though. I know what a bummer it is to suffer through a bad vacation.

[D_E_Bishop]

Just a quick PS; Aren't you glad you have thousands of years experience to draw from? There are some really great solutions to choose from, Bless the Parents that have responded, so experienced and intuitive.

[D_E_Bishop]

Seattle Steve wrote:
Perhaps you're looking at it the wrong way. They obviously don't look forward to camping. Rather than forcing them to do something you enjoy, why not ask them what they want to do? You'll only have them in the house for a few more years. Make the most of it.

Plenty of time for you to camp after they move on with their lives.

X2

We Have two girls, they are now 53 and 52, the DGK's are 14 and 15 1/2, all four of them became bored at the same age. We were tent campers with the girls and when make up and the teen scene became part of our life, no more tent camping. We chose to give up camping for awhile and started renting beach houses and letting the girls each take a friend.

With our DGK's, the boy is 14 and verrrrry active in Scouting. His summers are taken up by activities with his Troop and working at various day and residence camps. At 12 he received his BSA Archery Instructors Certification and several Councils use him as an instructor for Cub Scouts. No time for "G"Dude and Nana's trips. During school breaks is different.

The DGD, oh boy, that is fun. Never know what's going on in her head. Boys, girlfriends, some day camp counseling and if she can fit it in, she loves travel for travel's sake and loves the MoHo.

We're just coasting as far as they are concerned, they have a life now and are welcome for most trips but they are growing up and need to experience the Teen Scene and their friends.

Just my experience. Good luck no matter what you do.

[FunnyCamper]

ams, yes it was so simple back then 🙂

[ams1130]

FunnyCamper wrote:
...or take this little bucket and fill it with pine cones LOL 🙂 🙂

...and then make a little craft with them. Sniff.

[FunnyCamper]

yes you are dealing with tough ages there 🙂

WHY do you need to entertain them constantly? pffft. Ask what they want to do, if they want to continue to camp, maybe bring a friend along but honestly, let them do what they want now. You can't invent fun all the time or entertain a kid 24/7.

I remember when younger I would say to Mom--I am bored and she would answer--THEN be bored. There are tons of things to do, choose or be bored 🙂 🙂


I let my 10 yr old daughter bring all her electronics and she loves them. we are out and about at the beach swimming, nature centers, tourist stuff, biking etc all day long---at night when she is super tired she does 'her thing' on what she likes, IPAD, phone, tablet etc. laid up in the toyhauler doing her own thing.....parents don't need to control 24/7 of each kids trip at all.

good luck on this tho cause this is the age when they are changing alot more and not our little darlings we can control and fascinate with saying, oh watch that squirrel or take this little bucket and fill it with pine cones LOL 🙂 🙂

[rode2nowhere]

ams1130 wrote:
We quit camping with the kids when they were about that age. Just so you know, they remember all the childhood trips with fondness and lots of laughs. I think we did good. Our oldest has her own husband and baby boy now and can't wait to get a unit and get out.

I think you are right,,,,,

[ams1130]

We quit camping with the kids when they were about that age. Just so you know, they remember all the childhood trips with fondness and lots of laughs. I think we did good. Our oldest has her own husband and baby boy now and can't wait to get a unit and get out.

[davosfam]

My oldest son quit camping with us for a while because we wouldn't let him bring video games. We had a TV when they were younger so they could watch a movie while going to sleep. Then had no TV all through their teenage years. Now that they are grown and gone, we have a large flat screen in our 5th wheel. And when they come camping with us, it never gets used.

Hang in there and keep trying!

[rode2nowhere]

Samsonsworld wrote:
I pack the Playstation, 2 TVs, movies, board games ipads and go somewhere that has wifi. Not much different from them being bored at home.

They do too, but not always wifi, I bought some good squirt guns,,,,we will see

[davosfam]

When our boys were young, we let them bring friends and they had their own large tent. Our youngest enjoyed camping a lot more than our oldest. And it is that way to this day, at ages 26 and 22.

Maybe let your boys pick out board/card games to take with you. We brought a plastic bat and wiffle balls which drew other kids to our campsite like crazy. It still does. Now we have to wrap all the wiffle balls with duct tape because they hit them so dang hard. Horseshoes is another thing they are starting to enjoy.

BTW - We left the oldest home alone ONCE. We had to come home to get a few things we forgot and were able to stock our cooler with a lot of beer and wine coolers that my son and his friends had leftover from their first night alone. 😉 Never left him home alone again.

Good luck to you!

[Samsonsworld]

I pack the Playstation, 2 TVs, movies, board games ipads and go somewhere that has wifi. Not much different from them being bored at home.

[2gypsies1]

We were long-time campers. When the kids got in high school we gave it up for a few years. No big deal.

Definitely don't push them going. If you don't think any of the above suggestions will help then perhaps just don't go for a couple years and enjoy the time you have with them in other ways.

If they're responsible kids, leave them at home - with lots of rules. Perhaps they even might realize how much they missed you and will go willingly next time. 🙂

[Chock_Full_o__N]

Seattle Steve wrote:
Perhaps you're looking at it the wrong way. They obviously don't look forward to camping. Rather than forcing them to do something you enjoy, why not ask them what they want to do? You'll only have them in the house for a few more years. Make the most of it.

Plenty of time for you to camp after they move on with their lives.

I totally agree~! This is not a fight. If they aren't enjoying camping you need to understand why. Do you need to bring a couple friends? Would that re-engage them? Do you need to do destination camping, where there is a lot of stuff to do? Do you just need to set it aside for awhile and do something else?

We went through this with our two oldest. The DS28 fell out of love with camping around age 16 and nothing we did could make him love it again. So we started leaving him at home. He never broke our trust, BTW. DD loved camping but missed her friends. So we started inviting her friends, most of whom we had to teach how to camp. DD22 went on to get her own equipment and she & the friends are still camping together.

One of the things we learned along the way is that the high school years are very short. Do whatever you can to stay connected, even if that means limited camping. Once we gave ourselves permission to do something else, our kids really responded. This summer we're not getting much camping in. But we're going to fly up to DC for a family reunion and our kids actually *want* to join us! How great is that?!