Bucket List Ideas for Teens

Press for five things to do before you finish school, each with its cost and whether an adult is needed.

Done: Sled down the best hill in townSled down the best hill in townFree with a borrowed sled. An adult knows where you are. Ask around for the hill everyone uses.
Done: Organize a clean-up day on the school groundsOrganize a clean-up day on the school groundsFree. A teacher approves it. Pick a date and borrow gloves and bags.
Done: Phone to book an appointment yourselfPhone to book an appointment yourselfFree. An adult sits nearby. Write down the date, the time and the name you were given.
Done: Cycle to school every day for a monthCycle to school every day for a monthFree. An adult approves the route. Ride it once on a weekend to learn the way.
Done: Collect a line of advice from every teacher you have hadCollect a line of advice from every teacher you have hadFree. No adult needed. One notebook, one question, asked in your last term.

Next step Draw a skill to learn this week Want something for today instead?

How it works

These bucket list ideas for teens are 150 things to do before you finish school: pack a graduation box, read fifty books, change a car tire with an adult beside you. None needs a passport, a car of your own or an income.

Read the full guide

Five groups of thirty

With friends, On your own, At school, Outdoors and Learn it before you leave home hold 30 ideas each. The last is the practical one: cook five different dinners from memory, do all your own laundry for a month, plan a trip across town by bus and take it.

How to read a card

Each line starts with the cost in words: Free, Pocket money or Save up. Then it says whether an adult has to book, drive, sign a form or stay near the stove, and it ends with the first step. The list was written for ages 13 to 17, with no dares, stunts, dating or social media challenges.

Questions and answers

What should be on a teenager's bucket list?

Things you can only do while you are still at school: audition for a speaking part in the school play, go a full semester without missing a day, thank one teacher in writing before you leave. The At school group has 30.

What are good bucket list ideas for teens with no money?

96 of the 150 cards are marked Free, among them learn a poem of twenty lines by heart, find a planet in the evening sky and show a new student around for their first week. Another 45 need only pocket money.

Which ideas can a teen do without an adult?

70 cards say No adult needed, such as run a book club for one whole school year or fill a whole sketchbook. The rest name the adult's part: booking, driving, signing a form, or standing near the stove or the oven.

Does anything on the list need a car or a passport?

No. Where a card needs a ride, it says an adult drives; the farthest trips are a train to a nearby town and a family trip to an ocean. Two cards are about a car itself, both with an adult beside you.

All 150 ideas

With friends 30

Bowl a full game with no bumpers Pocket money. An adult drives. Book a lane and keep the score sheet.
Buy tickets to a show as a group and all go Save up. An adult books and may have to come. Read the venue's age rule before paying.
Complete a giant jigsaw as a team, start to end Pocket money. No adult needed. Find a table nobody needs for a week.
Cook dinner for all your parents at one table Pocket money. An adult near the stove. Plan the menu a week ahead and split the courses.
Crown a champion of one board game for the school year Free. No adult needed. Keep a running score sheet and build the trophy from cardboard.
Design matching shirts for your group Save up. No adult needed. One drawing, one color, ordered or painted by hand.
Enter a charity walk or fun run as a team Pocket money for entry. An adult signs the form. Train together once a week.
Fill a row at one friend's game, play or recital Free or the price of a ticket. An adult drives if it is far. Ask each friend for their dates.
Go ice skating until everyone can do a full lap Pocket money. An adult drives. Look up the rink's public session times and rent skates there.
Hold a picnic where everyone brings one dish Pocket money. An adult knows the plan. A park, a blanket and a list so no dish comes twice.
Learn one dance routine well enough to perform it Free. No adult needed. Choose the song and practice twice a week.
Pack a graduation box: one object from each school year Free. No adult needed. A shoebox, a label for each year and one person who promises to keep it.
Paint a mural on an old bedsheet Pocket money for paint. Ask an adult where. Pencil first, paint second.
Plant a flower bed and keep it going for a season Pocket money for seeds. Ask an adult where. Take turns with the watering.
Print a photo book of your friend group Save up. No adult needed. Choose forty photos and write a caption under each.
Record one episode of a podcast just for yourselves Free. No adult needed. One recorder, one topic you always argue about.
Ride a bike path from one end to the other Free. An adult approves the route. Find both ends of the path on a map and pick a day.
Run a bake sale for a cause you choose Pocket money. An adult helps with the oven and the permission. Choose the cause first.
Run a book club for one whole school year Free with library cards. No adult needed. Choose the first book and a monthly date.
Shoot a short documentary on the place you live Free. An adult knows where you are. Three interviews, ten shots of streets you know, one weekend.
Start a band and learn one song all the way through Free with your own instruments. No adult needed. Pick the song and a weekly practice.
Swap sealed letters to open in ten years Free. No adult needed. One envelope each, kept by the other person.
Take a day trip by train to a town none of you know Save up. An adult approves the plan. Pick the town and the train home before you go.
Teach each other one family recipe each Pocket money. An adult near the stove. One kitchen a month until all have had a turn.
Visit every park in your town in one summer Free. An adult approves the list. Mark them on a map and tick them off.
Volunteer together for one full day Free. An adult signs you up. Ask a food bank what age it takes helpers.
Watch a sunrise together from a hill near home Free. An adult knows the plan. Check the sunrise time and set two alarms each.
Watch every film in one series over a weekend Pocket money for snacks. No adult needed. Agree the order before anyone presses play.
Write a scavenger hunt for each other's streets Free. An adult knows the route. Ten clues each, swapped on a Saturday.
Write and perform a song about your friend group Free. No adult needed. One verse each, performed once and recorded once.

On your own 30

Bake a loaf of bread from flour, water, yeast and salt Pocket money. An adult near the oven. Give it a whole afternoon to rise.
Design a signature and stick with it Free. No adult needed. Fill a page with tries and circle the one you can repeat.
Embroider your initials on something you own Pocket money. No adult needed. A needle, a hoop and one stitch to learn first.
Fill a whole sketchbook from first page to last Pocket money. No adult needed. One drawing a day, dated in the corner.
Find five constellations without a chart Free. An adult knows where you are. Learn one a week from the same dark spot.
Finish a model kit of more than 500 pieces Save up. No adult needed. Clear a shelf where it can stay half built.
Go to a museum by yourself and see one floor fully Pocket money or free. An adult drives or approves the trip. Read every label on that floor.
Keep a journal for one full year Pocket money for a notebook. No adult needed. Three lines a night is enough.
Keep one houseplant alive for a full year Pocket money. No adult needed. Write its watering day on the pot.
Knit or crochet a scarf you would really wear Pocket money for yarn. No adult needed. Ask someone who knits to cast on the first row.
Learn a poem of twenty lines by heart Free. No adult needed. Two lines a day, said aloud on the way to school.
Learn all fifty states and their capitals Free. No adult needed. Ten a week, tested on a blank outline.
Learn one piece of music from start to end Free with an instrument at home or school. No adult needed. Four bars a week.
Learn three magic tricks and perform them for family Free. No adult needed. A deck of cards, a coin and a mirror to practice in.
Listen to one album in full from every decade Free from a library. No adult needed. No skipping, and write one line about each.
Master one yo-yo trick beyond up and down Pocket money. No adult needed. Pick one trick and practice daily until it works ten times running.
Order a meal in a language you are learning Pocket money. An adult drives or comes along. Practice the sentence until it is easy.
Paint one picture and hang it on your wall Pocket money. No adult needed. Buy three colors and a small canvas.
Perfect one recipe until people ask for it Pocket money. An adult near the oven. Make it six times and change one thing each time.
Read fifty books before you finish school Free with a library card. No adult needed. Start a list and write the first title on it.
Record an interview with your oldest relative Free. No adult needed. Ten questions about their life at your age, saved as one file.
Save up for one thing and buy it with your own money Free to start. No adult needed. Write the price down and mark each week's savings.
Sew something you carry to school every day Pocket money for fabric. An adult shows you the machine. A pencil case is a good first one.
Solve a twisting cube puzzle without a guide in hand Pocket money. No adult needed. Learn one layer a week.
Start a collection and keep it for a year Pocket money. No adult needed. Postcards, coins or stamps: choose one and a box to hold it.
Swim a full length of a pool without stopping Pocket money for a lifeguarded pool. An adult drives. Ask about lessons if you cannot swim yet.
Take a photo from your window on the first of every month Free. No adult needed. Same window, same time of day, twelve pictures in one folder.
Watch one well-known film from every decade Free from a library. An adult checks the ratings. List ten decades and fill them in.
Write a short story and enter it in a contest Free. An adult signs the entry. Ask a librarian which contests take your age.
Write a song with a verse and a chorus Free. No adult needed. Hum the tune into a recorder before you forget it.

At school 30

Audition for a speaking part in the school play Free. No adult needed. Ask the drama teacher for the audition date and a script.
Collect a line of advice from every teacher you have had Free. No adult needed. One notebook, one question, asked in your last term.
Compete for your school on an academic team Free. A teacher enters the team. Quiz bowl, math league or debate: ask which exist.
Found a new club and get it a room Free. A teacher has to sponsor it. Find five members and ask the office for a room.
Get your name printed in the school paper or yearbook Free. No adult needed. Offer the editor one article or three photos.
Give a speech to a full room without notes Free. No adult needed. Volunteer for the next assembly or class presentation.
Go a full semester without missing a day Free. No adult needed. Mark each day on a calendar inside your locker.
Go to one game of every sport your school plays Free or pocket money. No adult needed. Copy the season schedules into your planner.
Go to the first meeting of a club picked at random Free. No adult needed. Close your eyes, point at the club list and stay to the end.
Go to tryouts for a school team Free. An adult signs the sports form. Ask the coach when tryouts are.
Hang a piece of your work in the school art show Free. No adult needed. Ask the art teacher for the deadline and the size limit.
Join the band, orchestra or choir for a year Free or a rental fee. An adult signs the form. Ask the music teacher what is open to beginners.
Learn the name of every adult who works in the building Free. No adult needed. Start with the office, the kitchen and the custodians.
Make the honor roll for one term Free. No adult needed. Ask what average it takes and which class is pulling yours down.
Make the video shown at your class's last assembly Free. A teacher approves the cut. Collect clips from the first week of the year.
Organize a clean-up day on the school grounds Free. A teacher approves it. Pick a date and borrow gloves and bags.
Organize a food drive in your grade Free. A teacher approves it. Choose the charity and a two-week window.
Present a project at the science fair Pocket money for materials. A teacher signs the form. Pick a question you cannot answer yet.
Read every book on one year's reading list, start to end Free. No adult needed. Borrow the first one today.
Read the morning announcements Free. No adult needed. Ask the office how students get a turn.
Run for student council Free. No adult needed. Collect the form and write three things you would change.
Show a new student around for their first week Free. No adult needed. Tell the office you are willing before one arrives.
Sign every classmate's yearbook, and get every signature Pocket money for the book. No adult needed. Start on the day they are handed out.
Sign up for the talent show and go through with it Free. No adult needed. Choose an act of three minutes and sign up early.
Take one elective that scares you a little Free. An adult signs the course form. Ask last year's class what it was really like.
Take the same photo on the first and last day of each year Free. No adult needed. Same door, same pose, saved in one folder.
Thank one teacher in writing before you leave Free. No adult needed. One page, by hand, saying what you still remember.
Tutor a younger student for a term Free. A teacher pairs you up. Offer the subject you find easiest.
Win an award at the end-of-year assembly Free. No adult needed. Ask which awards exist and what each one is given for.
Work backstage on a school production Free. No adult needed. Sets, lights or props: ask the director what is short of hands.

Outdoors 30

Build a birdhouse and see who moves in Pocket money for wood. An adult helps with the saw. Hang it before spring.
Build a snow fort big enough to sit in Free. No adult needed. Pack the walls from the piles that shoveling leaves.
Camp a night at a real campground Save up for the site fee. An adult books and stays. Reserve early for summer.
Collect and name a leaf from twenty kinds of tree Free. An adult knows where you are. Press them in a heavy book and label each one.
Cross a park using only a paper map and a compass Pocket money for the compass. An adult knows the plan. Learn to set the map first.
Cycle to school every day for a month Free. An adult approves the route. Ride it once on a weekend to learn the way.
Find a planet in the evening sky Free. No adult needed. Look up which one is out this month and where to look.
Finish one level of an outdoor award with a youth group Pocket money for fees. An adult signs you up. Ask which groups near you run one.
Go fishing and land your first catch Pocket money. With an adult who knows the local rules. Ask whether you need a license.
Go on your school's camping or outdoor trip Save up for the fee. An adult signs the form. Ask the office which trips run this year.
Grow a sunflower taller than you are Pocket money for seeds. Ask an adult where. Sow after the last frost and measure weekly.
Hike a familiar path by moonlight Free. With an adult. Look up the next full moon and bring a flashlight each.
Hike a marked trail to a lookout Free. With an adult. Choose the trail together and set the day.
Join a trail or beach clean-up Free. An adult signs you up. Search for one run by your parks department.
Look after a neighbor's yard for a whole season Free. An adult knows which neighbor. Offer one job: raking, weeding or shoveling snow.
Name every bird that visits one feeder for a month Pocket money for seed. No adult needed. Hang a feeder and keep a dated list.
Photograph twenty different wildflowers Free. An adult knows where you are. One season, one folder, each flower named.
Pick fruit at a farm and eat it the same day Pocket money. An adult drives. Phone ahead to ask what is ripe.
Plant a tree you can visit after you graduate Pocket money for a sapling. Ask an adult where. Photograph it on the same day every year.
Run a mile on the school track without stopping Free. No adult needed. Add one lap a week until it is a full mile.
See a street or orchard of trees in full blossom Free. An adult drives. Ask a garden or parks office which week is the peak.
See a waterfall from its marked viewpoint Free or a park fee. An adult drives. Ask the park which month it runs fullest.
See a wild deer, fox or owl and keep still Free. An adult knows where you are. Dawn or dusk at the edge of a wood, watched from far off.
See fireflies on a summer night Free. An adult knows where you are. A field edge at dusk in early summer.
Sled down the best hill in town Free with a borrowed sled. An adult knows where you are. Ask around for the hill everyone uses.
Sleep under the stars with no tent Free. An adult at home or beside you. A backyard, a mat and a dry forecast.
Stand at the edge of an ocean you have not seen yet Save up. A family trip an adult plans. Ask to add one beach stop to it.
Stay up for the peak night of a meteor shower Free. An adult drives to a dark place. Look up the next shower's date.
Track down the oldest tree for miles around Free. An adult knows the plan. Ask the parks department or a local history group where it is.
Watch a sunset from first color to full dark Free. An adult knows where you are. Face west with nothing in the way.

Learn it before you leave home 30

Address an envelope and mail a real letter Pocket money for a stamp. No adult needed. Write to a relative who would answer.
Bake and decorate a layer cake for someone else Pocket money. An adult near the oven. Choose the person and the recipe a week ahead.
Change a car tire with an adult beside you Free. With an adult. Find the jack and the spare and do it once in the driveway.
Check a car's oil and tire pressure with an adult Free. With an adult. Do it once a month until you need no reminding.
Clean a bathroom well enough to pass inspection Free. An adult shows you the products once. Work from the mirror down to the floor.
Cook five different dinners from memory Pocket money for food. An adult near the stove at first. Learn one a month.
Cook rice and eggs three ways each Pocket money. An adult near the stove. One new way every weekend.
Cook Sunday dinner for the whole family, start to end Pocket money. An adult near the stove. Write a timeline for the afternoon.
Do all your own laundry for a month Free. An adult shows you the machine once. Read the label on each thing first.
Fill in an official form without help Free. An adult checks it after. A library card or a volunteer form is a good first one.
Fix a flat bicycle tire Pocket money for a patch kit. No adult needed. Practice once at home before you need to.
Get yourself up and out on time for a month Free. No adult needed. One alarm, across the room.
Hang a framed picture straight on the first try Free. An adult approves the wall. A hammer, a hook and a pencil mark.
Introduce yourself to an adult with a handshake Free. No adult needed. Name, eye contact, one question about them.
Iron a shirt so it looks pressed Free. An adult shows you the iron. Collar first, then the sleeves.
Keep your own important papers in one folder Pocket money for the folder. An adult hands them over. Ask which ones you should know about.
Know five important phone numbers by heart Free. No adult needed. Two family members, a neighbor, your school, your doctor.
Pack your own bag for a trip from a list you wrote Free. No adult needed. Write the list by day, then pack by the list.
Phone to book an appointment yourself Free. An adult sits nearby. Write down the date, the time and the name you were given.
Plan a trip across town by bus and take it Pocket money for the fare. An adult approves the trip. Read the timetable the night before.
Read a bill or a receipt and check it adds up Free. No adult needed. Ask to see this month's phone bill.
Replace a lost button and stitch up a split seam Pocket money for a sewing kit. No adult needed. Practice on a shirt nobody wears.
Run the house for one weekend while the adults rest Free. The adults stay home. Meals, dishes and laundry, planned on one sheet.
Shop for a week of family meals from a list Free: the family budget pays. With an adult. Write the list from seven planned dinners.
Take a first aid course Save up or free. An adult books it. Ask a local first aid provider what age it takes.
Tie a necktie without a mirror Free. No adult needed. Borrow a tie and repeat one knot until your hands know it.
Track every dollar you get and spend for a month Free. No adult needed. One page, two columns, filled in every evening.
Wash a sink of dishes by hand, start to end Free. No adult needed. Glasses first, pans last, everything rinsed and put away.
Write a formal email and get an answer Free. No adult needed. Ask a museum, a college or a company one real question.
Write a one-page resume Free. No adult needed. List every club, job and award, then ask a teacher to read it.

How this list was compiled

All 150 lines were written for this page; nothing is copied from another list. 23 of the ideas are also, in other words and for other readers, on the bucket list generator or the teen birthday page of this site. The rule for getting on the list: a person of 13 to 17 can do it before finishing school, with no passport, no car of their own and no income. Each line gives the cost in words (Free, Pocket money or Save up; no prices are given, and a card that names two takes the first), then says whether an adult has to book, drive, sign a form, approve a plan or stay nearby, then the first step. Every line was read for readers of 13 to 17. Left out on purpose: dares, stunts, driving alone, dating, social media challenges, alcohol, gambling, dieting, cold-water dips, breath-holding, trespass and pranks. A card with an oven, a stove, a saw, a car or a trip out names the adult's part; the page does not call anything safe. No place, price, date or rule is stated as a fact, so nothing here needed a source. Groups: 30 ideas each for With friends, On your own, At school, Outdoors and Learn it before you leave home; by cost, 96 Free, 45 Pocket money and 9 Save up. 70 cards say no adult is needed. Read and counted on 2026-10-02. Licence: own work