8 Unique Hobbies for Teens to Keep Boredom at Bay

Boredom is the worst, but you don't have to deal with it when you have a hobby you love. With these super creative and interesting hobbies for teens, we're going way beyond the basics. Get ready to have some fun!

Cooking is way more than a life skill you'll need to survive someday. It's also a form of creative expression, especially when you get into the gourmet end of things. You can take a class or just a deep dive into the cookbook aisle at the bookstore. Your kitchen at home probably already has most of the tools and supplies you'll need. Choose to specialize in a specific cultural cuisine or tour the world in your kitchen. No wrong answers here.

Bonus: Being able to cook a gourmet meal or two is going to come in handy if you ever want to have a dinner party with friends or impress a date.

Sure, you can use a film filter on your Instagram posts, but it's way cooler if you really take the photo with a film camera. This is one of our favorite hobbies for teen girls, boys, or non-binary kids. Your parents or grandparents may have an old camera lying around, or you can pick up a single-use camera like the Ilford HP5 35mm black and white camera to try out the hobby before you buy a camera. (We like HP5 because it's versatile for a lot of lighting situations and an easy film for beginners).

When you're ready to have your film developed, take it to a local lab or camera store. You can even have them scan the film for you so you'll be able to post your photos to Instagram right away.

Okay, hear us out on this. Imagine you're playing cards with friends and just suddenly start doing cool card tricks. It's one of those life skills that basically everyone finds impressive (and it's a fun way to surprise people). You can specialize in funky shuffling methods, guess-the-card-type magic tricks, or whatever you want.

You'll need a really good deck of cards (or a few) to get started. You can either watch tutorials or use a book to learn the magic tricks or shuffling you want. Then, it's all about practice.

Ever dreamt of finding a hidden treasure? Time to break out the metal detector! You can wave it over the ground and find metal objects like old nails, jewelry, and other interesting things. This is especially awesome if you live in a place where there's been a lot of human activities over the years.

If you don't have access to a metal detector (check with people you know who might have one stashed in the garage), you can find some affordable options. We like the Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker Metal Detector because it's light, affordable, and well-made.

If you love getting creative, dioramas are for you. This is a great hobby for teen girls, boys, non-binary kids, or anyone! We're not talking about the kind of thing you used to submit for the science fair, either. You can make them as detailed as you want and on any subject or period that strikes your fancy. Your dioramas don't even have to be about something real. Bring on the dragons or fairies.

Basically, you just need a box or crate to contain your creation, and then the materials you use are up to you. We like using clay to sculpt exactly what we need, but 3D printing is also a good option if you have the tech.

If you're ready to get addicted to a hobby, start collecting rocks. It sounds boring at first, but when you get good at identifying them, you won't want to stop looking. You can do this anywhere — on walks in your neighborhood, around town, even in landscape rocks outside of stores and offices.

You don't need much to get started — just a basic idea of what kind of rocks you can find in your area and what they look like. You can also add to your collection by buying specimens at rock shops.

Who says toys are just for little kids? Radio control cars have always appealed to teens and adults, but you can make that into a full hobby if you get into racing. You'll need a good car to get started, which you might already have. We like Hyper Go H16DR if you want to upgrade.

Add in a few friends who also want to get into racing. Build a track in your backyard or race the cars in your driveway or an empty parking lot. Even more fun happens when you modify the cars yourself to have them go faster or handle obstacles better. You can find out if your tinkering made your car the winner of the next race.

Mocktails, or non-alcoholic cocktails, offer tons of room for creativity and fun. If you like mixing things or trying new flavors, this is the hobby for you. Start with some club soda, juices, fruit purees, and other great ingredients, and you'll end up with custom mocktails you'll love to share with friends and family. You don't even need any special ingredients.

Related: Mocktail Magic Made Easy With These Simple Mixology Ideas

You're not like everyone else, and there's no reason your hobby should be either. Experiment with any hobby that sounds fun. It's all about playing around to see what you might enjoy.