11 Ideas to Make Back-to-School Fun for You and Your Teenager

The freedom, fun, and relaxation of summer vacation is over for most teens in Phoenix and a busy school year has just begun. While many teens are excited to see their friends, learn new things in their classes, and participate in extracurricular activities, your teenager might also be feeling anxious or even resistant about returning to school.

Here is a list of things you can do with your teen to make the back-to-school season fun and exciting, while easing any tensions they might have about starting school again as Fall approaches:

1. Treat your teen to a Back-to-School makeover complete with a haircut, a new outfit, and lunch out at a restaurant of their choice.
2. Make school supply shopping fun by dividing your teen’s supply list in half, and have a race to see who can find all their items and come up to the checkout first.
3. Make a breakfast menu and take turns making a quick, healthy breakfast in the morning.
4. Talk with your teen about the classes they are taking and see which ones they are most looking forward to, and which they might be nervous about.
5. Create a reward-based grading system you can use to celebrate good grades on each report card, such as treating your teen to dinner out or paying for them to go see a movie with a friend.
6. Ask your teen to create a list of their goals for the school year, and have them hang it on their wall to keep track of how they are doing. Celebrate when any new goal is achieved.
7. Have your teen write down the extracurricular activities or electives they want to take during the school year. Encourage them to try one new thing this year.
8. Challenge your teen to practice kindness by doing or saying something nice at school. Talk about it over dinner each evening.
9. If your teen is expressing interest in dating, have them make a list of the qualities they think make a good boyfriend/girlfriend, and use it to guide conversations about dating.
10. Help your teen make a collage of their favorite pics of family, friends, and pets to hang up in their locker or in their room.
11. Host a Back-to-School party and let your teen invite over a few friends for dinner and games to celebrate.

Back-to-School can be a very busy time adjusting to new schedules, classes, and activities each year. However, by using ideas like these, you can spend some time doing special things to prepare and help your teen feel confident, excited, and ready to successfully tackle the school year ahead.