Fun activities for teenagers with disability
4 October 2024
Planning fun activities for teens with disability can take time and creativity. But like all young people, teenagers with disability can enjoy doing things with a friend, older sibling, grandparent, or with a support worker, which is often more fun than doing the activity with a parent!
You know best what will work for your teen, although trying new things can be good too.
Here are some suggestions for fun activities that are quieter, less crowded, accessible, and low-cost:
Follow your child’s interests
- Spend a day as a family doing what they’re interested in. For example, a family Lego or Minecraft day
- Google your teen’s interests and see what comes up
- Try an activity they enjoyed at school camp. For example, archery
- Look for peer group activities for young people with disability, including special interest groups
Out and about
- Look up what youth activities your local council is running, particularly in the school holidays
- Go to an art gallery, museum, or the zoo
- Take a bike ride, using bike tracks if they don’t have road safety skills yet
- Head to playgrounds with basketball courts or table tennis tables
- Try bouldering or geocaching
- Check out Melbourne’s street art
- Go op shopping — set a budget and a few things they need to find
- Catch a train, bus, or tram somewhere new
- Your local library may also run activities for teenagers such as drawing or craft sessions
- Parks Victoria have a range of inclusive programs
Indoor activities
- Make pizza or bake a cake
- Put board games and card games on the table and play them together
Purposeful activities
If your teen isn’t ready or able to have a casual job, think of things they can do to build skills and create a sense of achievement:
- Cook dinner for a neighbour or family friend
- Make dog biscuits for friends with dogs
- Collect and donate things for the op shop
- Collect old towels from friends and neighbours for your local animal shelter
- Mow your neighbour’s lawn or water their garden
Useful links
Melbourne Playgrounds — this includes some outside central Melbourne
Get out and about with a travel pass
Accessible Chef – Accessible Cooking for Budding Chefs
Melbourne’s top family friendly bike trails — Bicycle Network
Read more Inclusive fun