Favorite Mother and Teen Daughter Activities

In honor of my September 2021 Encouragement for Today devotion, I’m sharing favorite mother and teen daughter activities with you, plus a giveaway and news about my upcoming book for teen girls, plus a free discussion guide!

Favorite Mother and Teen Daughter Activities

Your activities together don’t need to be fancy. But they need to involve quality time and good listening skills. The more your daughter feels loved and listened to, the more she will feel free to be herself with you. Make sure you’re building in lots of time with your teen daughter to improve your connection. Take this quiz to learn the ways both you and your teen daughter feel most loved.

These are the favorite ways my 13-year-old daughter and I connect through fun activities. They meet my top love language of quality time, which is one of her top love languages too.

Morning Devotions

While we both eat, I read a short devotion out loud. These three books are our favorites:

I can usually cover these devotions in about three minutes, which is good because mornings are always pressed for time. I’m praying that she’ll start her day with God as an adult, after having this rhythm with me for a long time.

Watching Older Movies

It’s fun to watch older movies with my daughter. They are brand-new to her, and fun for me to revisit. Some of our favorites have included:

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Turner and Hooch

While You Were Sleeping

You’ve Got Mail

We use our critical thinking skills by discussing these movies together afterward, especially about the not-so-squeaky-clean parts of these movies. It’s a great way to open up broader talks about related topics, and it’s fun to laugh together.

Shopping

My daughter’s primary love language is gifts, so she loves going shopping with me. I usually let her pick something small out when we go shopping. Even if it’s only worth a few dollars, it makes her happy. Sometimes we take her friends along, like we did on this fun day:

Our favorite local stores are Target, T. J. Maxx, J. C. Penney, and Kohl’s. I’m teaching her to be a bargain shopper by always using coupons and/or shopping the sales. We both snagged great bargains this weekend at the secondhand store, where she found a North Face winter coat for only $50, and bought it with her own money. Big win!

She is also very helpful with grocery shopping. Sometimes we split up in the store, both with our own mini carts, and divide the work. Shopping is a good way to teach her about budgeting and meal planning…more on that in a minute.

Baking and Cooking

We both love to exercise our creative skills in the kitchen. We listen to the same CD every time – Hall & Oates Greatest Hits.

Then we put on our aprons and get to work, both working on recipes side by side. Sometimes she’s the head chef and I’m the sous chef, or vice versa on other nights.

She feels empowered by cooking a whole meal herself. With the skills she honed during quarantine, she baked for her own fundraiser to pay for her trip to Washington, D.C. last year. I’m glad she sees the kitchen as a way to be creative and enjoyable, even profitable too.

Going Out to Eat

As much as we both like to cook and bake, it’s so much fun to eat out too. We try to look for bargains, often going to Sonic for happy hour or Burger King with coupons. Our favorite place is Don Carlos, a local Mexican restaurant with the best lunches for only around $7 each – with tip! Going out to eat is a great time to have quality conversations with one another.

Decorating the House

My daughter enjoys helping me decorate for the seasons. She is eager for us to get our fall decor out this week. I’m so thankful for her help after doing this myself for years! It’s an act of service that I thank her for each time.

She’s perfecting her interior decorating skills by putting up decor. Sometimes I just let her do it all without my input. She’s doing an amazing job, and I can’t wait to decorate the house for Christmas with her later this year.

Here’s a wreath she made herself, since she noticed a gap in our Independence Day decor:

Art Sunday

In January, we started making art together as part of our Sabbath rest. You can head over to THIS POST to see photos and more info on one of our favorite projects, which is related to the giveaway below!

Here’s a video of our project:

7 ways to spend quality time with your teen daughter. #inspiration #christianparenting #qualitytime Click To Tweet

New Book for Teens and Free Discussion Guide

I have a new book for teen girls publishing on Oct. 12. Head HERE to preorder your book and get special bonuses for ordering it now!

Also, if you sign up for my Tea on Tuesdays devotions below, you’ll instantly receive a free discussion guide you can use for faith-based conversations with you and your teen daughter, based on my two books. It’s great for one-on-one use or with a small group.

New book for teens, plus free discussion guide! #bookforteens #transformingyourthoughtlifeforteens #newbookrelease Click To Tweet

Giveaway!

One person will win a copy of Emily Lex’s beautiful Flowers watercolor workbook, as shown in our video and post above!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway! Emily Lex's Watercolor Workbook: Flowers, a great tool for mother-daughter time! #giveaway #watercolor #bookgiveaway Click To Tweet

Prayer Requests

Do you have a prayer request for me? I’d be honored to pray for you, and I hold your prayer requests in complete confidence. Send me your request HERE.

Special insider opportunity!

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