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For our final DIY video of the series, we’re sharing how to make something that will keep your teenager driven and inspired. Plus, keep reading to discover a few ways you can encourage them to stay motivated. 🙌
How to make your very own Inspiration Board
It’s so important to surround ourselves with positive people and positive things, which is why we’ve created a piece-of-cake DIY video that shows you and your teen how to make an inspiration board. What do you put on an inspiration board, we hear you ask? Anything you want! Photos of family and friends, snaps of places travelled to or yet to be visited, motivational quotes, ideas, to-do lists, goals, mementoes… the choice is down to your teen and whatever makes them feel happy, motivated and, well, inspired! 😀
Maybe you feel like making one for yourself? As you can see from our video, it’s super simple and we think they’re great to use as memo boards. ✔️
For your inspiration board, you’ll need:
- Cardboard or a thin cardboard box
- Decorative wrapper paper
- Tape
- Scissors
- A glue stick
- A hot glue gun ⚠️ be very careful when handling the hot glue gun ⚠️
- Jute thread
- Clips
OK, let’s go!
- Place the cardboard/cardboard box in the middle of the wrapping paper.
- Apply the glue stick all over one side.
- Place the glued side down onto the paper.
- Cut the paper along the longest sides of the cardboard stopping at the corners. You should still have a large flap of paper at each side of the cardboard.
- Apply the glue stick all over the second side of the cardboard.
- Fold the wrapping paper down at the top and bottom end and press it down onto the glued cardboard.
- Coming back to the big flaps of paper left on each side, cut both so that they line up with the top and bottom end of the cardboard.
- Fold those over and secure them with the glue stick.
- Take the thread and use the hot glue gun to secure the loose end at the top of the cardboard along the narrow edge.
- Wind the thread around the cardboard unevenly making sure to apply hot glue at each contact point between the thread and cardboard.
- When you get to the bottom of the cardboard, cut the loose end and glue this down.
- Take your clips, place them wherever you like onto the thread and et voila, start clipping your favourite photos, pictures and notes onto your inspiration board. 💫
How do you motivate an unmotivated teenager?
Finding motivation on a daily basis isn’t easy, and that doesn’t just apply to adults – teenagers can feel lacklustre in that department too. Therefore, it’s so important for them to find achievable ways of staying motivated, because not only does motivation provide them with goals but it also helps them solve problems, change habits and cope with challenges and opportunities.
Using our easy-to-make inspiration board will help, but there are other ways to get your teen to stay on track…
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Set attainable goals
From learning a language or musical instrument to mastering a skill or improving in an academic subject, if your teen makes small, attainable goals instead of expecting to be the best straight away and, inevitably, being disappointed, they’ll be much happier in the long run because bite-sized objectives are much easier to achieve. Plus, there really is something to be said about enjoying the process. Encourage your young one to keep track of their progress by keeping a diary or by making a simple chart that can be clipped onto their new inspiration board. 😉
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Stay positive
It may sound obvious but maintaining a positive mindset is key to motivation. Teach your teen to speak kindly to and about themselves because, sometimes, we can be our own worst critics. This is easier said than done but it’s not impossible!
Firstly, surrounding ourselves with positive people can help us stay optimistic. With that in mind, think about how you communicate with your teen, and how you talk about things when they’re around you. If you’re speaking negatively, it could rub off on them so make sure you’re being a positive influence and it’ll create a knock-on effect.
Secondly, words mean a lot! Encourage teens to start using daily affirmations, or to write powerful quotes on post-it notes and stick them to places they see every day such as their mirror, wardrobe or around their laptop. 📝
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No distractions
While technology is surely transforming the world we live in, it’s also hindering us in some ways – especially when it comes to staying focused! Suggest to your teen that they try and have some digital-free time every day where they can focus on something that they want to achieve without being distracted.
If that’s met with resistance, something like the Pomodoro Technique could be a solution where they work/study/practice for 25 minutes, take a five-minute break, work/study/practice for 25 minutes, take a five-minute break and so on. We think this is a much more manageable way of staying focused – all you need is a timer! ⌛
We really hope you and your teen enjoyed making an inspiration board, and if that awakened your arty appetite, we’ve got plenty more DIY videos for you to love! Choose from a laptop stand, friendship bracelets, a tornado in a bottle, a stress ball, speakers, a Mason jar tumbler, a Kawaii bookmark, invisible ink, or a pencil holder – and enjoy!
Before you go, if your kids and teens need some help with studying, we are at your service! Our super tutors are ready to meet you and your kids so book a free trial today!
