If your kids are like mine, then spending time in their room, on the phone, or on the computer instant messaging is their idea of a great time.

Here are many activities I’ve participated in with my teens over the years:

•Starbucks – My daughter would do this daily if I said yes. We will buy our coffees and then sit and chat. No more taking them home, as home means either on the phone or on the computer.

•Walks – We have some great paths where I live. I invite my younger daughter to join me at least a couple of times a week on a walk.

•Renting Movies – We go to Blockbuster and my daughter gets to choose what we watch. We can’t always finish the movie in one night, so often we’ll watch it over two nights.

•Plays – My daughter loves plays. We have gone to many junior high, high school and college plays. We do catch an occasional adult performance also, but often our attendance is at a student production.

•Cooking – My daughter loves to bake. We’ll often bake cookies or brownies that she can take to school the next day.

•Shopping – What teenage girl does not like to shop? We know every store in our town and two towns over.

•Crafts – We love to crochet and scrapbook. We try to find one night a week or sometimes one night every other week that we can scrapbook. My daughter works on her album and I work on mine. We are together, sharing and laughing.

•Old Sit Coms – We really enjoy old sit-coms. We joined Netflix and will rent old sit-coms like Friends, Laverne and Shirley and others.

•Lunch Out – A few times a year, the high school has minimum days. I work my schedule so that when I pick my daughter up from school we can go have lunch together.

•Garage Sales and Flea Markets – My older daughter loves to get up on Saturday mornings and hit the local garage sales. We leave about 7:45 a.m. and get back about noon. Often we’ll stop and have lunch as part of the day.

•Open Houses – One of my daughters loves to visit open houses on the weekends and see what’s for sale and view the many floor plans available.

I believe it’s important to spend time with your teenage daughter, and so I’ve found many creative ideas to help them say yes.