Please help with ideas for spending quality time with my teenagers

Do they like laser tag? Since they like to play video games, it's really kind of like being in one. It's pretty fun, even though I was no good at itIt's a lot of running around; so you'll work up an appitite. Maybe y'all can go to their favorite resturant afterwards?

hiking, bike ride, picnics, fruit/veg picking, crafts from dollar stores (little dorky ones), a long term summer treasure hunt (finished as a collage or mobile maybe) of ____ (sticks, shells, red things), tour your town like you've never been there, canning/pickling, take a fave movie/game and figure out how you can act it out (alice exploring wonderland? hunting for aliens?)

if nothing else, play the games with them. i have fond memories of playing games w/ my whole family

I realize some of these sound a bit young but they're what i do with the 12-year-old i know and things i tried to get my mom to do with me when i was a teen.

Lazer tag is a good idea!
Also try bowling, or miniature golf, Go-karts are fun and most teens LOVE them.
If you have access to paddle boats you could make a day of it with a picnic and everything.
Maybe explore a new restaurant with food you have never tried before. Example, Mediterranean, Asian, Ethiopian, ect. ? When I was a teenager I loved trying new experiences and learning about other cultures.

I'm with Felecity food is a great motivator with teens !
Don't plan anything before 11am-just not worth getting off to a bad start.
My teen and I have always walked.We walk,he talks,I listen.
This summer we'll be walking lots as he is in rehab from a shoulder injury.Driving over speed bumps is sore.
Teen seconds working your mouth muscles as long as you take snack !
Aim for accompanied airing on alternate days for a realistic goal.

my dad took an interest in Harry Potter when I was a teenager, it gave us something to bond over.

When I was a teenager, my mom would do a lot of things with me that I thought were pretty fun.

1. Amusement parks - if your kids are thrill-seekers, take them to a rollercoaster park or a theme park.
2. The zoo - if your kids like animals, you can't go wrong with a few hundred of them.
3. Stores they don't get to go to often - pick a mall they like but don't visit regularly.
4. Fun restaurants - go to a place that has foods your kids love. Maybe even just burgers and milkshakes would be fun enough.
5. Bonfires - have some of their friends over, have a big fire, and make some smores and roast hot dogs.
6. Visit a new place - if you can, make a short, 1-day, out-of-state trip to a cool place like a national park (or even a state park)
7. Arcades - if video games are their thing, an arcade is family-friendly and packed with games upon games. Some place like Dave & Buster's would probably be a good bet.

Hope all that gives you some ideas.

Some of my fav times with my mom was she would invite some of my friends over and we would rent the entire psycho series and all of us (mom included) would stay up all night watching them. The same with inviting some friends and we would goto rock and bowl also known as midnight bowling. I loved that my mom included my friends and because she did everyone thought she was the cool mom and that made me feel like I could goto about anything cause she was so cool. Granted we still had issues but that's another story. My kids are young still 6, 2, and 2mnth but I do crafts and make movies goto the park and act silly... I am also a youth group leader and I bond with my group of teens by hosting game nights...sleepovers...dinner parties...and every wed. Before youth I play cards with them..=) I'm also an avid video gamer so I have no problems with getting down and playing some halo or super smash brothers and other such games

sorry tripe posted

thanks guys for all the suggestion, it will be good to get the craetive juices flowing with them. Love all the suggestions, love my COAK friends!!

Hmm. My daughter is almost 20 so here are some of the things we like to do.
1. Museums. She's totally addicted to them and would spend hours, days, weeks I think in one. Especially hands-on kinds like Natural History museums or tech ones.
2. Zoos. We always maintained zoo passes when she was growing up so she still loves going to them and will spend an entire day just wandering around watching the critters.
3. Letterboxing/Geocaching. A bit more recently introduced but a great way to find new places. She likes the hunts and hikes much more than the actual find-and-log.
4. Hiking/bouldering/caving. She does this more with her dad than with me because sometimes I wonder if that child even has healthy fear!
5. Theater. She loves Shakespeare, adores Cats, and would marry the Phantom of the Opera if given half a chance. lol Her graduation gift from me was a trip to see the closest production of the Phantom tour.
6. Amusement Parks. She's a rollercoaster fiend!
7. Concerts. Any kind, any genre. From the classical Ballet with the Beasts that's an outdoor concert at the local zoo to Flogging Molly's mosh pit, the child loves music.
8. Volunteering. She loves to volunteer with the local Christmas team packing food boxes and picking toys. We do this together at least one or two days every year. For the past five years she's been a class leader for the family orientation program for the 1-2yr old children of temporarily stationed foreign officers. This year she has a class of 15 toddlers who don't understand English. I don't see how she does it, tbh.
9. Old/Bad movie night. Having gotten her addicted to Monty Python, Danny Kaye, and Katherine Hepburn, sometimes just sitting down with a movie that came out even before I was born can be great fun. Some really bad movies can be fun -because- they're so bad. Like Cannibal Women from the Avacado Jungle of Doom. No kidding...it exists and it's horrible!

Anyway, these are just a few things we enjoy doing.

I'd love to know the answer to this one! My 19 year old only comes out of his room for food and the pre-teen girl only wants to go shopping!

I would suggest that you give each the opportunity to choose an activity to give less reason to moan!

Have to share-
We tried geo-caching this morning.Failed to find the cache.The teen destroyed loads of cobwebs scrambling through the brush was walking down slope.Slipped 2 feet from me.Put my hand out to stop the slide,didn't want to grab his bad shoulder,so slapped him straight in the face.
Think watching Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy will be safer !

Ouch! I've had some interesting cache hunts too I've broken my toe twice, fell into a creek, almost lost the car (thank god for the track-back feature!), and had hydration issues too many times to count But I've also found the coolest tree carvings, a beautiful park nearby, and some nifty friends The child likes it ok but I'm the one who likes it best.

oh Deb....SMACK!!! But really, every once in a while, they need a slap to get their attention......kidding of course!!