The Prefect Pasta Sauce

The ability to cook is an invaluable skill for teens to learn that will help them establish their independence in later life, despite the fact that it might be messy in the beginning. There are lots of places to start, but why not ask them to work on their own signature sauce?

A dash of purée, fresh or tinned tomatoes, onions, garlic, and oregano all go into making a delicious sauce. You can let your child’s imagination run wild from there. Try letting them play around with the measurements and then tell them what they could add – basil, pepper, or chili powder, for example. The first couple of attempts might be a bit questionable, but they’ll soon find their footing.

It might be necessary to supervise the chopping, blending, or boiling, depending on their age. Sauces are also an easy way to make children eat vegetables – even if you don’t get them to do the dishes as easily.

Learn sketching

You may think that drawing well is a talent that you are born with or without, but that is not true. With practice, you can learn this skill within a few weeks.

Get your teenager a large pad of paper and a set of pencils with different degrees of softness so that he/she can experiment and find out which pencils work best for drawing and which ones work best for shading. Grades of pencils range from 9H, a very hard pencil that leaves a light mark, to 9B, a very soft pencil that leaves a dark mark. Grade HB is around the middle and is a grade you may have heard of.

You might want to consider downloading an app to make your life easier. From there, it’s just a matter of practicing. If they know what subject they want to practice – people, animals, or landscapes, for example – there are plenty of tips and exercises online to get help from.

Storytelling

Teenagers with the ability to tell a good story will be able to take advantage of all sorts of opportunities, and not only for those who dream of becoming the next Mary Shelley or F. Scott Fitzgerald.

It doesn’t matter if they write scripts for TV shows or video games, an online campaign for a marketing agency, or the next big story for a newspaper or magazine — employers need storytellers. As they gain confidence in their writing, they will also learn other work-related skills, such as how to write a CV and compose emails – essential skills for the future.

To become proficient in writing, they need to practice, and the best way to do that is to find something they are passionate about and write about it. This could be a short story, a comic book, or writing a film or music review. Remember that storytelling doesn’t have to be limited to fiction!

Some people believe writing is an inherent skill, but with practice and a lot of reading, anyone can become a skilled storyteller!

Learn to play Harmonica

It’s too expensive to buy a French Horn or a saxophone, everyone plays guitar, and who has space to keep a piano? Harmonicas are the real deal.

If you are young and have not yet picked up an instrument, the harmonica is a great inexpensive way to get into music, and anyone can get an excellent grasp of the instrument within a short period of time.

There’s nothing like diatonic harmonicas to get your teen excited about the harmonica! They’re easy to play and sound great in blues, folk, and rock music, so it’ll be easy to get them interested in the mouth organ!