Getting your teen to enjoy an outdoor activity can be very challenging if he or she was born with a smart phone or video game controller in his/her hand! Of course, no one pops out of the womb with a XBOX controller in one’s hand, but sometimes you wonder if perhaps your teenage son came programmed to sit on a couch destroying zombies.
It’s important for all of us, including your teen, to enjoy an outdoor activity or two, especially in the summer in which we can all benefit from the extra vitamin D.
If you are up for a challenge and would like to see your child not turn into a vampire or zombie, try these tips to get your teen to participate in an outdoor activity that doesn’t involve standing outside texting his or her friend.
Bribe Your Teen
First, try bribing your teen with extra computer time if he or she goes outside for an hour to do anything– BUT one caveat: your teen cannot bring the phone!
Offer to Embarrass Your Teen
In order to get your kid outside to enjoy an outdoor activity, offer up the suggestion when his friends are over and if he says no, ask him if he would like your friends to see your cool new dance moves and review your old high school yearbook, Your teen will die of embarrassment and be more than happy to go outside for an outdoor activity. To up the ante, put on some embarrassing clothes. This could make the process happen more quickly.
Hide All the Technology
Hide all the gadgets and phones…unplug the video game box…and tell your teen if she wants to get these items back, she’ll have to earn them by going out and doing something in the great outdoors, whether it’s going for a walk or hitting the local community pool.
Offer to Hang Around
If your teen won’t enjoy an outdoor activity, offer to hang around. And then, don’t leave. Just sit there and talk to your teen. Don’t go away. This is bound to annoy your teen so much, he or she will run outside so fast, you’ll wonder whose kid that really is!