Island Parent Magazine Winter 2023

30 Things
to Do with
Your Teen
…that won’t bore them to tears or scare you to death
Peruse Music Stores for Old Records
and Reminisce. Okay, you might not
want to reminisce too much, but chances
are both you and your teen(s) will have
a blast searching through the long-forgotten-but-then-revived
LPs. Seeing the
price of these collectibles now will make
you—and your kids—wish you’d hung
on to your old N’Sync and Spice Girls
records. Or not.
Embark on a Stand-Up Paddle Tour
of the Inner Harbour. Learn the basics
of stand-up paddle-boarding in the Inner
Harbour during a 3-hour introductory
course at Ocean River Adventures
(oceanriveradventures.com) that will
teach you the Hawaiian cultural history
of stand-up paddle-boarding, the differences
between board and equipment
styles, and how to manoeuvre your paddle-board
using different strokes.
Join a Running Clinic Together and
Enter a Race. Your local community
centre, along with various Frontrunners
(frontrunners.ca) and Running Room
(runningroom.com) stores offer Learn to
Run programs that will have you running
a 5km or 10km in no time. Well, in 10 to
12 weeks. At the weekly sessions, you’ll
learn all you need to know about running
in all kinds of weather, biomechanics,
nutrition, goal setting, injury prevention,
motivation, pacing and more. Classes
usually start with a 20 to 30-minute
group seminar followed by a group run.
Practice Your Swing at a Driving
Range. Not enough time for a full game?
No problem. Improve your long ball
drive, iron play, or wedge shots—oh,
okay…just swing really hard—and
keep your game up to par at one of
the Island driving ranges. As Arnold
Palmer says: “The more I practice, the
luckier I get.” For a list of ranges, visit
golfvancouverisland.ca.
Try Climbing. Take the $25 “Taste
Test” at Crag X and sample climbing in
an indoor gym. There is no safety system
instruction during the Taste Test, just
climbing. Staff manage all your safety
systems for the one-hour visit. After
starting on some easier routes, you’ll get
a chance to push your limits on the more
advanced terrain. No experience is required.
cragx.ca.
Hang 10 in Tofino. As beautiful in
summer as winter—with water temperatures
that vary only between 1-2˚—Tofino
is the perfect place to learn to surf.
For a list of lessons, visit tourismtofino.
com.
Go Ziplining. If ziplining by daylight
isn’t scary enough, try the full-moon zip
at Adrenaline in Sooke (adrenalinezip.
com). Or in Nanaimo at WildPlay (wildplay.com),
try two flights of 91 and 182
metres, spanning the entire length of the
park.
Build Something Together. A go-kart,
a skimboard, a skateboard ramp, a chicken
coop. Find plans for almost anything
on YouTube.
Get Matching Tattoos. Haha. Okay
not likely, but worth the laugh, watching
your teen squirm at the thought. So, too,
34 Island Parent Magazine IslandParent.ca