Boredom Busters: 5 Indoor Activities For Foster Families With Teens

While it is easy for a teenager to fall into the same pattern of self-isolating and playing video games alone at home, there are ways to help break up the monotony. Talk to your foster teen to gain insight on their particular interests. What would they like to do as a family? What kind of crafts could they see themselves making? What are some of their favorite social games they have played in the past? Here are a few boredom busters to help you and your teen engage in fun indoor activities together.

1.Redecorate

Is your foster teen sleeping in a generic or childish bedroom? Perhaps you never had the chance to personalize the space to their unique tastes. You may consider redecorating as a way to keep busy — and to make them feel more comfortable. Paint the room in their favorite color or search Pinterest for ways you can update old lamps or refinish worn desks. Even changing the layout of the furniture in the room can help to create a fresh perspective.

2. Craft Together

Check Pinterest for ideas to create fun crafts together, based on your teen’s interest. While some may enjoy painting rocks with you or making yarn letters, others may be more interested in creating a painting to hang on their bedroom wall or building cool items from recycled materials. Search around and talk to your teen about what may meet their specific interests.

3. Game Night

Go classic and bring out the family board games like Monopoly or Clue. Want something new and different? Ticket to Ride and Catan are two newer family favorites. If your foster child seems overwhelmed with all the rules, start off with something simple, like a game of UNO or Crazy Eights. Not only do card games and board games bring feelings of nostalgia, they are a great way to gather everyone around the table together and encourage bonding.

4. Virtual Fun

When you need to change it up, consider tapping into their favorite video game devices to create family fun. You might consider playing MarioKart together on the Nintendo Switch. The Jackbox Party Pack, available on The Switch, Steam, Amazon TV or other devices, has a TV mode allowing you to play in the living room. Participants answer questions on their cell phones, keeping members from other cellular distractions.You may also consider inviting another family member or friend virtually via Zoom to play a game, such as HQ Trivia.

5. Movie Night

Even if you can’t make it to the theater, you can still bring the theater home to you. Universal Pictures is letting families rent new movies, such as Emma, Trolls World Tour, and The Invisible Man, on-demand for $19.99 each. Consider streaming family-fun movies on Netflix, Disney+ or Amazon Prime, depending on your streaming services. Share your classic favorites or enjoy something new together.

Listen to your foster teen’s interests to help guide you when creating family fun indoors. While they may give you a hard time at first, you are sure to see some smiles and laughs once they start participating. Use these boredom busters to help engage your foster teen today.

Every child needs and deserves to grow up safe and protected from abuse and neglect, and caring foster parents offer children support and stability when they need it most. At Camelot Care Centers, we specialize in higher-level foster care for children and adolescents that need extra support. We partner with our foster parents/homes to provide trauma informed care and additional services, including in-home counseling, parent support and training, tele-psychiatry, and therapeutic mentoring, to maintain children at the least restrictive, yet most appropriate level of care. Camelot Care Centers (“Camelot”) is a Child Welfare Agency