Teens are usually the toughest group to please while on family vacation, but New York City is a virtual treasure chest of enjoyable, safe activities for teenagers. While they are at an age where they don’t want to do many of the activities designed for kids, this gives you the opportunity to share with them more ‘grown up’ entertainment. If your kids are like most, they won’t want to let on that there are having a good time, but there is so much to do they will soon forget their cool front and start really enjoying themselves. It is almost like New York was created with teenagers in mind with activities that range from amusement parks to cyber cafes, from bookstores to malls and video arcades, to sporting events and sporting complexes.
The real trick to making sure that your teen has a good time is to compromise with them. You might want to agree to go watch the skateboarding in the park in exchange for them suffering through a visit to a museum with you. You and your teen may both discover some thing to appreciate about the other’s activities. Compromise is something you should do on all your vacations with your teen. It not only exposes both of you to new experiences, it gets them involved in the planning of the activities during the vacation. They learn to weigh the options of the things they would like to do and pick the ones that matter most to them. This is an excellent skill for them to learn as early as possible in life. You might try this same technique with younger children and allow them a voice in what’s going on the vacation. If you offer age appropriate choices to them and allow them to select the one they want, they will feel included.
There are more interesting things to do in New York than you will ever have time to do and the great thing is you don’t have to spend a lot of cash to have fun. If you do a little research before leaving on vacation, you will find many events that are free of charge or cost very little. You can also buy passes that permit free entrance to several attractions for a single low fee. By reviewing these events and destinations, you will find that there are several that will appeal to your teenagers.
Teenage girls often want to go shopping and New York City has some of the trendiest, and expensive, boutiques in the world. A great alternative is to visit a few of the consignment or secondhand shops that abound in New York. While you may not get a good reaction at first, you should persist in offering this alternative. Many times you can find awesome deals on ‘vintage clothing’ items that have hardly been worn at all. Once your teen realizes she can pick up several nice additions to her wardrobe for a tiny fraction of the price of new, you will have won her over. There are also fantastic outlet malls in New York that offer discounts on new items you can’t get anywhere else.
Teenage boys can have a great time at places like Game Time Nation where they can play video games for endless hours. You can even try your hand at a few of them, or play a few games with your teen if you are feeling brave. This is a great activity to share with your teen, but don’t expect any mercy in the latest battle game. You may want to find out what their current favorites are and have them familiarize you with them before you leave for New York. Even if you can’t stand playing these games, your boy will really look forward to spending time with you at the arcade.
Always remember that you want your teen to have some fond memories of the family vacation. This makes it necessary to do what they want to do for at least part of the time, but involving them in the planned activities pays many dividends the overall success of the vacation. The vacation can be a great time to have your teen learn more about making choices and compromising with others. Who knows, they may even discover some things they enjoy doing while going with other members of the family on their selected activities.