100 Things to Do When You're Bored as a Teen
Because scrolling TikTok for three hours and then wondering where your day went does not count as having plans. Here are 100 things you might actually want to do — alone, with friends, at home, outside, at night, or when you're completely broke.
You're bored. Now what?
We've all had those days where you want to do something, but every idea sounds boring the second somebody suggests it. That's exactly why this list is different.
There are no “read the dictionary” suggestions here. Some ideas are spontaneous, some are ridiculous, some are actually useful, and some could turn into one of your favorite memories.
Pick a section based on your mood, text your friends, or close your eyes and randomly choose a number from 1 to 100.
Things to Do When You're Bored With Friends
For when everyone keeps saying “I don't care, what do you wanna do?”
Have a $10 thrift-store outfit challenge
Everyone gets a tiny budget and has to create the funniest, cutest, or most unhinged outfit possible. Then do a full fashion show.
Go on a snack taste-test mission
Buy a few drinks, candies, chips, or weird snacks nobody in the group has tried before and rank everything from elite to absolutely terrible.
Make a ridiculous PowerPoint night
Everyone makes a short presentation about something random — ranking your friends' future careers, fictional crushes, conspiracy theories about your friend group, anything.
Do a blindfolded makeup challenge
Pair up and attempt a makeover without being able to see what you're doing. The final reveal is the whole point.
Create your own drive-around playlist
Everyone adds five songs. Get drinks, roll the windows down, and take a completely unnecessary drive somewhere pretty.
Recreate your oldest photos together
Find old school pictures, childhood photos, or embarrassing group pictures and recreate the poses as accurately as possible.
Host a mini backyard Olympics
Make events like water-bottle flipping, dizzy races, basketball shots, sidewalk-chalk challenges, or whatever else you can invent.
Do a photo scavenger hunt
Make a list of weird things each team has to find and photograph around your town or neighborhood.
Bake something without following the directions perfectly
Grab a boxed cake mix or cookies, divide them up, and let everyone customize their portion with whatever toppings you can find.
Have a themed movie night
Don't just watch a movie. Match the snacks, outfits, blankets, decorations, and drinks to the movie you're watching.
Things to Do When You're Bored by Yourself
No plans required. Sometimes solo days are actually the best days.
Make the ultimate everything shower playlist
Pick songs, grab your favorite products, put on clean pajamas afterward, and turn a normal shower into a full reset.
Teach yourself one TikTok dance
Even if you never post it, learning the whole thing is way more entertaining than watching the same dance twenty times.
Start a ridiculously specific playlist
Examples: “songs for driving home after the best night ever” or “main character walking into school music.”
Give yourself a mini photoshoot
Find good lighting, try outfits you never wear, use the timer on your phone, and take pictures simply because you feel cute.
Watch the first episode of three random shows
Give each one exactly one episode to win you over. Continue whichever one leaves you wanting another episode immediately.
Try a hairstyle you've always saved but never attempted
Braids, heatless curls, a messy updo, slick-back ponytail — use boredom as your practice session.
Take yourself on a little solo date
Grab a drink, wander around Target, go to a bookstore, get ice cream, or sit somewhere outside with headphones.
Redo your phone's entire aesthetic
New wallpaper, lock screen, widgets, photo folders, playlist covers, and contact pictures.
Make a “things I want to do this year” note
Skip boring goals. Add concerts, outfits, foods, places, people to hang out with, experiences, and tiny things you want to remember.
Learn one oddly impressive skill
Learn to shuffle cards, solve a Rubik's Cube, juggle, whistle loudly, moonwalk, or do a cool braid.
Fun Things to Do at Home
You don't have to leave the house to make the day less boring.
Turn your bedroom into a movie theater
Shut the curtains, pile every blanket and pillow onto the floor, make popcorn, and put your phone away for the movie.
Build the most unnecessary blanket fort ever
Being a teenager does not make blanket forts illegal. Add fairy lights, snacks, pillows, and a laptop.
Make restaurant-style drinks at home
Try homemade iced coffee, flavored lemonade, soda mixtures, mocktails, milkshakes, or whatever you can make with what's already there.
Have a “cook with whatever we have” challenge
Open the fridge and pantry, pick a few ingredients, and figure out the best snack or meal you can make without going to the store.
Completely rearrange your bedroom
Moving your bed to the opposite wall can somehow make the exact same room feel brand new.
Have a childhood nostalgia night
Watch an old Disney or Nickelodeon show, eat a snack you loved as a kid, and look through old photos.
Create a snack board
Put little portions of whatever you have onto one big plate: fruit, chips, candy, crackers, cheese, cookies, dips — instant upgrade.
Try to copy a restaurant meal
Pick something you always order and see how close you can get using a recipe and ingredients from home.
Set up an at-home spa night
Face mask, nails, favorite show, fuzzy socks, skincare, hair mask, snacks. Overdo it. That's the point.
Have a family game tournament
Pick three or four games and keep score throughout the night. Winner gets bragging rights or gets out of a chore.
Things to Do Outside
For when you've been inside long enough that the walls are getting annoying.
Go watch the sunset somewhere pretty
Get a drink or snack first and find a field, overlook, park, dock, or parking spot with a good view.
Have a picnic that isn't aesthetic at all
You do not need a fancy basket. Grab drive-thru food, a blanket, your friends, and somewhere outside.
Go on a photo walk
Walk somewhere familiar but make it your goal to find ten things that would actually make cool pictures.
Play pickleball or tennis badly
You don't have to be good. Half the entertainment is chasing the ball around and arguing over whether something was in.
Take a bike ride with no destination
Pick roads based on which direction looks more interesting and see where you end up.
Find a new walking trail
Search for a nearby park or trail you've never tried and bring a friend, headphones, or your dog.
Play HORSE at a basketball court
The worse your group is at basketball, the more ridiculous the trick shots become.
Set up an outdoor movie
If you have access to a projector, use a sheet or garage door and make your own backyard theater.
Go get ice cream and eat it outside
Simple plans are underrated. A five-dollar ice cream run can turn into a two-hour conversation.
Lie outside and find constellations
Bring a blanket, turn off your notifications, and see how many stars, satellites, or constellations you can spot.
Creative Things to Do
Even if you don't consider yourself an “art person.”
Paint tiny canvases for your friends
Make each one match that person's personality, favorite color, inside joke, song, or aesthetic.
Make bracelets
Friendship bracelets, beaded bracelets, letter bracelets — put on music and make a whole stack.
Decorate a pair of cheap sunglasses
Use gems, beads, stickers, paint, or tiny charms and make something you'd actually wear to a concert or party.
Make a physical photo wall
Print your favorite pictures instead of leaving every memory trapped in your camera roll.
Paint something from the thrift store
Find a cheap frame, little table, mirror, vase, or jewelry box and give it a complete makeover.
Make a scrapbook page for one specific memory
Concert tickets, screenshots, pictures, receipts, funny quotes — save all the tiny things you'd normally forget.
Draw portraits of your friends from memory
The goal is not accuracy. In fact, it is probably funnier if nobody can tell who the drawing is supposed to be.
Customize an old T-shirt
Crop it, tie-dye it, add fabric paint, cut the neckline, or turn something you never wear into something new.
Make a vision board that isn't cheesy
Use pictures of outfits, concerts, places, cars, bedrooms, hairstyles, friendships, hobbies, and experiences you actually want.
Write your own magazine page
Make a fake fashion spread, advice column, celebrity interview, “what's in my bag,” or page about your friend group.
⚡ Need an idea in 10 seconds?
Choose your current situation and steal one of these:
Do #3
Do #58
Do #73
Do #97
Things to Do When You Have No Money
Because somehow every plan starts with spending $30.
Explore somewhere in your town you've never walked around
A downtown area, public park, campus, neighborhood, or trail can feel surprisingly different when you actually walk through it.
Have a clothes swap with friends
Everyone brings pieces they don't wear anymore and trades. Free new outfits without actually buying anything.
Make dinner out of what you already have
Pretend you're on a cooking competition and can't buy any extra ingredients.
Have a photo challenge
Give yourselves themes like album cover, paparazzi shot, 2000s photo, awkward family portrait, or movie poster.
Go to the library and pick books for each other
Even better: choose the book based entirely on the cover and don't read the description first.
Play childhood games again
Hide-and-seek, tag, four square, sardines, capture the flag. It feels stupid for approximately two minutes and then gets weirdly competitive.
Make a time capsule
Write down favorite songs, current crushes, friend drama, predictions, pictures, and things you think your future self will laugh at.
Make a “yes day” using only free things
Each friend takes turns choosing the next activity and everybody else has to agree unless it's unsafe or completely unreasonable.
Make your own trivia game about your friend group
Include old memories, ex-crushes, embarrassing moments, favorite foods, and things people have said.
Watch the sunset and rate everyone's music
Take turns choosing one song nobody else is allowed to skip. Everyone has to give it a rating.
Things to Do When You're Bored at Night
When it's too late to start a whole adventure but you're nowhere near sleepy.
Go on a late-night snack run
Pick somewhere open late, pile into the car if you have a safe ride, and let everyone choose one snack.
Do each other's hair while talking about everything
Somehow braiding hair at midnight leads to conversations nobody would ever have at 2 p.m.
Play flashlight hide-and-seek
If you have a safe yard or house where you're allowed to do it, turn the lights off and make regular hide-and-seek ten times better.
Make midnight pancakes
There is absolutely no reason pancakes have to be breakfast food.
Watch a terrible movie on purpose
Pick something with awful reviews and make fun of it together the entire time.
Tell your most embarrassing stories
Everybody has to contribute one story. No pretending you “can't think of anything.”
Do a blind ranking game
Rank five songs, celebrities, foods, movies, or people before you know what the remaining choices are.
Make predictions about your lives at 25
Where will everyone live? Who gets married first? Who becomes rich? Save the answers somewhere and revisit them years later.
Have a late-night baking competition
Divide one batch of cookies or cupcakes and see who can make theirs look the most impressive — or most cursed.
Make a sleepover question jar
Everyone writes random, funny, deep, or embarrassing questions on scraps of paper and takes turns pulling them out.
Things to Do Without Your Phone
For when scrolling somehow became boring too.
Make cookies completely from scratch
Find a recipe first, put your phone away, and actually do the whole process without checking notifications every thirty seconds.
Start a puzzle and refuse to quit
Put on music in the background and see how much of a 500- or 1,000-piece puzzle you can finish.
Write letters to your friends
Not a serious formal letter. Write the things you love about them, favorite memories, and jokes you'd usually just send over Snapchat.
Go for a walk and leave your phone at home
Only do this somewhere familiar and safe, but notice how different a walk feels when you aren't checking a screen.
Learn a card game
Try Speed, Spoons, Rummy, Egyptian Rat Screw, Solitaire, or another game you somehow never learned.
Read an entire magazine
Fashion, sports, celebrity, gaming, music — pick something you'd normally skim online and read the physical version.
Make up your own board game
Use paper, dice, cards, random objects, and your own rules. It does not have to make sense to anyone outside your friend group.
Color while listening to an album all the way through
Pick an album you've never actually listened to from beginning to end and don't skip songs.
Play 20 Questions with someone
Choose a person, place, or thing and see how quickly the other person can figure it out.
Sit outside with music and do absolutely nothing else
No multitasking. Sometimes boredom disappears when you stop trying so hard to fill every second.
Productive Things That Aren't Completely Boring
For when you want to finish the day feeling like you did something.
Sell clothes you never wear
Pull out everything you've ignored for a year and make a pile to sell, donate, or give to friends.
Clean your room while pretending you're filming a reset video
Put on a playlist, open the blinds, make your bed first, and go full before-and-after mode.
Delete 500 useless photos
Screenshots from three years ago, accidental ceiling pictures, duplicates, blurry concert videos — goodbye.
Create outfits for the next week
Try combinations you normally wouldn't and take mirror pictures so you don't forget which ones actually worked.
Learn how to make your favorite coffee order
If you can make it at home, future-you might save a surprising amount of money.
Plan a dream weekend with your friends
Figure out where you'd go, what you'd do, what it would cost, and whether you could actually make it happen.
Clean out your car
If you drive, remove the receipts, empty cups, jackets, mystery fries, and everything else that has slowly taken over.
Learn one meal you could actually cook for yourself
Not cereal. Pick pasta, tacos, chicken, stir-fry, breakfast, or something else you'd genuinely eat.
Make your own mini budget
Figure out where your money has actually been going lately. The snack and drink category may be humbling.
Plan something you're excited about
A birthday, concert outfit, sleepover, trip, football game, fall weekend, senior year activity — anticipation makes regular weeks way more fun.
Random Things to Do When You're REALLY Bored
The slightly chaotic section. You're welcome.
Let your friend choose your outfit
Give them full access to your closet and wear whatever they create for at least an hour.
Try to recreate a celebrity red-carpet look
Use only stuff you already own. The less similar your closet is to the original outfit, the funnier this gets.
Make a tier list of everyone you know
Maybe don't rank actual people if it could hurt somebody's feelings — rank your inside jokes, school lunches, teachers' assignments, trends, or songs instead.
See who can make the best outfit using one random color
Spin a color wheel or randomly pick one and give everyone ten minutes.
Make a fake music video
Choose the most dramatic song possible and film scenes around your house, yard, or neighborhood.
Interview your friends like they're celebrities
Ask red-carpet questions, fake scandal questions, “what are you wearing?” and overly dramatic questions about completely normal situations.
Use a random-number generator to control your afternoon
Number six snack options, six activities, or six places to go. Let chance decide what happens next.
Make a “who knows me best?” quiz
Write 20 questions about yourself and make your friends compete. Add one or two questions nobody should reasonably know.
Have everyone dress as a different decade
70s, 80s, 90s, Y2K — use clothes you already have and take pictures like you're actually from that era.
Text your friends “we're doing something today” and figure it out after
Sometimes the best plan is simply deciding that you're not spending another Saturday saying, “We should've done something.”
Questions Teens Actually Ask When They're Bored
What can teenagers do when they're bored at home?
Try making themed drinks, rearranging your room, having an at-home movie night, learning a new hairstyle, baking something, making bracelets, starting a scrapbook, or giving yourself a full self-care night.
What can teens do when they're bored with friends?
Try a thrift-store challenge, PowerPoint night, photo scavenger hunt, late-night snack run, blind ranking game, friendship quiz, sunset picnic, photo challenge, or make your own backyard competition.
What can you do when you're bored but have no money?
Go on a walk, swap clothes with friends, visit the library, have a photo contest, make something using food already at home, watch the sunset, play childhood games, make a time capsule, or explore a new part of your town.
What should I do instead of scrolling on my phone?
Start with something that keeps your hands busy: bake, make bracelets, draw, rearrange your room, play cards, do a puzzle, go outside, cook something, or write a real letter to somebody.
Being bored might actually be a good thing.
Some of the funniest memories happen because nobody had a plan in the first place. Pick something from this list, text somebody you like being around, and make the day more interesting than another six hours of scrolling.