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10 STAY HOME IDEAS FOR TEENAGERS TO BUILD THEIR INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY WHILE AWAY FROM SCHOOL

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, most schools have been forced to shut down to reduce its spread thus causing school students to stay home... sitting home and doing nothing profitably engaging can be mentally draining, boring and could negatively impact your intellectual capacity.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, most schools have been forced to shut down to reduce its spread thus causing school students to stay home. You are probably one of such students who have been affected by the pause of physical schooling be it at the secondary school level or at the university level. Questions that would continually plague your mind at these times include “how long before school begins again? What do I engage myself in while I stay indoors?” As you might have heard persons say, the idle mind is indeed the devil’s workshop and sitting home and doing nothing profitably engaging can be mentally draining, boring and could negatively impact your intellectual capacity.

It is with you in mind that we have prepared these top 10 stay at home ideas at these times to help build your mind and intellect while we pray and wait for these times to be over. Who knows? You just might be next student who would be recognised for doing something worthwhile during this time or the student who undergoes great personal development so much so that the improvement is noticed by family, friends and teachers. The ideas include the following:

  1. ONLINE LEARNING: One way to stay ahead at these times is to take online courses and skills to build yourself or a skill. More so, it is dedication to learning that will distinguish the wise from the foolish after the pandemic comes to a halt. You could learn skills and get certifications that is internationally recognized. This would help you get internship and jobs when school resumes fully. . University of Leeds also have free online courses that can teach you innovation and critical. You can also take online courses from the Young African Leaders initiative by the US Department of State. You will find below a list of free sites where you can learn digital marketing skills, content marketing, email marketing, time management, personal development, team management.
https://yali.state.gov/courses/

Start a course, aim to finish it, write the exam and get the certification before moving on to another course. It is tempting to want to get started with different interesting courses at the same time but stay discipline and stay true to the end. No fees attached, just your dedication and consistency.

2. READ UP YOUR COURSE WORK: Now would just be a good time to finish up courses that you are flanking on. It could be physics, chemistry, mathematics or English. This might just be a great time to finish your text book and watch learning videos for the course that seems difficult. Becoming a guru in that subject before this pandemic is over is very possible, it only takes giving yourself to learning.

3. DEVELOP THAT TALENT OR SKILL: There might be one skill that you have that you are an expert at or seeking to be an expert at. It could be writing, singing, playing the instrument. This could be just the time you could commit to developing that skill. There is enough time to practice, practice and practice.

4. LEARN A DIY SKILL SUCH AS COOKING, KNITTING, BAKING, CRAFTS: Simple Do it yourself such as craft, baking, knitting could be very useful. You could also learn how to bake or cook. Though caution should be taken as to usage of ingredients since most shops are in lockdown, so you can assist while your parent or guardian cooks or bake and learn faster that way.

5. WRITE A BOOK OR DO BOOK REVIEWS: You know that story that has been roaming in your head for a while, well this might just be the time to build that story and take it from your head to a book. If writing a book seems too hard or a really long-term plan, you could read lots of books both non-fiction or fiction and write a review on the book or your thoughts on how you feel it should have happened. You could publish this at a friend’s blog or site or simply have a blog dedicated to just book reviews.

6. START A YOU TUBE CHANNEL: If you have a passion for videos, journalism, talking, well you just could start a you tube channel. You could do music covers if you have a really great voice or discuss books or movies and give life lessons to it. Starting a you tube channel is very easy and if you stay committed and get lost of views and subscribers, you just might start making a fortune from it.

7. START YOUR OWN BLOG: If you love writing but do not now want to commit to writing a book just yet, you could start a blog and document your journey and experience during this corona virus pandemic, how you, your family and your nation have been coping through it. You could capture daily events and write it in a real yet interesting way to get readers to read it. A blog would be great at this time because more persons would be online and would long to read people’s experience too so they can feel connected and not alone at this time.

8. LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE OR YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE: How about whipping up some French lines or German or even your own native language. you could take these classes online. Start by learning words, simple phrases and then songs in that language and before you know, you are having a conversation with that language.

9. WRITE THE BUSINESS PLAN FOR YOUR DREAM BUSINESS: Who says you cannot start writing the business plan for your dream business. You could start doing little research on target market, competitions, your unique selling point and downloading business plan templates. Starting to work on your business plan early would keep you accountable to not forgetting the idea as time goes on.

10. WORK FOR YOUR PARENTS FOR SOME TIME:  What better way to learn office skills and having an idea of how working seems like than working for your parents? Most likely, your parents would be working remotely and it would be great to assist them as they are at home. Most likely, your ideas would be of great value to them and you get to build on real work experience too.

Conclusion:

 It is possible to define who you want to be at the end of this pandemic even if you are a teenager. You can decide to be better and grow or decide to be idle. Take one idea, work on it and who knows, you might come out of this pandemic having started a great idea that would change the world. Don’t underestimate the power of your ideas at this time. most importantly, whatever you chose to do, learning should be at the core because as Henry Ford, anyone who keeps learning stays young.

Picture of Stella Oyovwikefe

Stella Oyovwikefe

Ufuoma Stella Oyovwikefe is a Customer Relationship Manager, Business Developer and Content Creator. Because of her passion for education, teen mentoring and entrepreneurship, she is a volunteer with Teens Going for Gold Network.
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Board of Trustees

Dr. Waheed Awonuga

Member, Board of Trustees

Waheed Oyetola Awonuga is a trained Medical Doctor with five years of ongoing practice experience, specialising in Family Medicine. He is also an entrepreneur with a knack for developing ideas that are not only bankable but profitable.

Waheed attended Santa Maria Private School in Mushin and Government College Ikorodu. He holds a Diploma in Data Processing from Olabisi Onabanjo University and completed his medical education at the University of Sierra Leone, graduating with MBChB (Medicine and Surgery). He passed the West African College of Physicians Primaries Examination at UCH, Ibadan.

Waheed is an alumnus of the Young Africa Leadership Initiative (YALI), Africa Cohort 2. He owns Infinity Creative Media, a media consultancy firm in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Infinity Print House, a general print firm also based in Sierra Leone.

Waheed is an avid reader and writer who enjoys travelling and spending time with his family.

Management Team​

Hon. Tobi Olatunji

Executive Director

Hon. Tobi Olatunji serves as Executive Director of Teens Going for Gold Network, providing strategic leadership across TGFGN’s programmes and institutional partnerships.

He oversees programme delivery across all five active states and drives the organisation’s evolution into an institutional peace education body, ensuring that TGFGN’s work remains responsive to the complex social realities facing Nigerian youth today.

Management Team​

Ola Olaoluwa

Co-Founder

Olawumi Olaoluwa is a graduate from the Economics department of the University of Benin, Nigeria. He is also the Creative Director of JOSEL kolektionz, a clothing line.

Vocationally, he is a writer, content developer, actor, and leadership enthusiast. One of the pioneer volunteers of Teens Going for Gold Network, Olawumi has over five years of experience in teen mentoring and coaching. He currently serves as Director of Human Resources.

In his own words: “The opportunity Teens Going for Gold Network presents me with to impact teenagers with qualitative and sustainable education is the main attraction the organisation holds for me.”

Board of Trustees

Dr. Mala Mustapha

Member, Board of Trustees

Dr. Mala Mustapha is an academic and development professional with deep expertise in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and institutional governance.

His scholarly and practitioner experience spans multiple Nigerian states and regional contexts, providing TGFGN with critical insight into the structural dimensions of peace and security in Northern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region.

Board of Trustees

Idayat Hassan

Chair, Board of Trustees

Idayat Hassan is a leading expert in security, governance, and democracy in West Africa. She serves as the Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), one of the region’s foremost policy research and advocacy organisations.

Her work spans election monitoring, conflict prevention, and democratic institution building across Nigeria and the broader West African sub-region. She brings decades of governance expertise to TGFGN’s Board of Trustees.

Management Team​

Godsgift Chayil Obi

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Godsgift Chayil Obi serves as Deputy Director of Teens Going for Gold Network, supporting organisational management, programme coordination, and operational delivery.

In this role, she works closely with the Executive Director and management team to ensure that TGFGN’s programmes achieve their intended impact across all active states, maintaining the quality and consistency of delivery that has defined the organisation’s 12-year track record.

Board of Trustees

Dele Olomide​

Member, Board of Trustees

‘Dele Olomide currently leads the Human Resources and Admin function of Clarke Energy Nigeria, the largest authorised distributor and service partner for Jenbacher gas engines and a leading brand in the power and utility sector in Nigeria. His interests are Leadership Development, People Development (Coaching and Mentoring), Organisational Development and Change, Strategy and Growth.

‘Dele is an HR professional with approximately 10 years of generalist experience spanning Manufacturing, IT, Gaming and Energy. He is also an Associate Pastor with El-Shaddai Covenant Church, Lagos. Before now, he has worked with two multinationals, three start-ups, and a Secondary School.

He graduated from the University of Ilorin where he studied Mathematics/Statistics and holds an MBA in Marketing Management. He is an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Training and Development and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management.

Board of Trustees

Adedolapo Osuntuyi

Member, Board of Trustees

Adedolapo Osuntuyi is a children and education advocate. She is the founder of Dolly Children Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that equips the African Child to adopt twenty-first-century skills through education, capacity building and advocacy programmes.

Inspired by her upbringing, she has a passion for empowering and creating equal opportunities for children from low-income backgrounds. Dolapo has developed organisational strategy and management processes in the Foundation that have impacted over 22,000 children in 25 communities in four states.

Dolapo has over a decade of experience in child protection, early childhood and community development programmes. A graduate of Botany from Lagos State University, she also holds a master’s degree in Child Health and Social Care from the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom.

In 2015, she received an Africa-America Institute Scholarship to study Social Sector Management at the Enterprise Development Centre, Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria.

Board of Trustees

Adebanke Ilori Oyeniyi

Secretary, Board of Trustees

Adebanke Ilori Oyeniyi is a lawyer and development professional. Her professional experience spans across politics, inclusive governance, and legislative reforms. She serves as the Executive Director of Raising New Voices Initiative and as the Managing Editor of Lawyard, a platform for interactions around the practice of law in Nigeria.

In 2019, Adebanke led New Voices to conduct the national #BreakTheHold campaign providing resources to competent young people under 35 contesting to be members of the Federal House of Representatives. As a woman in politics, she was appointed as the National Publicity Secretary of Kowa Party — making her the youngest female to occupy the position in Nigeria.

As an advocate for social equality, she has championed the right of prison inmates to education in line with the UN Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and has worked for the implementation of laws to promote the rights of children and prevention of violence against persons.

As a Pan African, she has facilitated extensive deliberations at the African Union on the importance of youth integration in the actualisation of Agenda 2063.

Adebanke holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, a Certificate in Public Management from Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts, and is pursuing her Master’s in International Development and Policy at the University of Chicago. She is a 2019 Mandela Washington Fellow.