Boredom Busters
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive June 2007:
Boredom Busters
These are some of the ideas I came up with for the inevitable "I'm bored's" or the crankies that signal boredom around here this summer. My dks are 6, 8, and 10yo so some of these might not be appropriate for all ages. We're also sticking to a loose daily schedule so that their mornings are still pretty structured but the afternoons will be wide open. If you have other ideas, please offer them up!
Read on the exercise ball
Read to a sibling or parent
Free movies (one of the nearby theaters, Regal Cinemas, is offering free g and PG movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays)
Concert in the Park (Thursday Nights)
Visit the local museum
Have a picnic, either in the backyard or at the park
Play at the school playground
Swimming in the park pool
Walk to a not-so-nearby neighbor's house
Play a board game
Take a trip to the Dollar Store
Make a flashcard flipper and practice your math facts (flipper is made out of a milk carton, I'll look for a link if anyone is interested)
Memorize a Bible verse
Play with the hose
Deadhead my flowers
Make and excavate dinosaur icebergs (plastic dinosaurs in colored frozen water in Tupperware containers)
Make Rock Candy
Make an egg-drop container
Pick a meal, plan it and cook it with Mom's help
Make ice pops
Use the easy-bake oven
Go to the Farmers' Market (Thursday and Saturday mornings)
Playdough or Moonsand
Make ice pops for the dogs (frozen chicken or beef broth)
Draw a self-portrait
Silly string fight
Get frozen yogurt
Make snowcones
Write a letter to one of your friends
Tell a story with shadow puppets
Make ice cream in a bag
Wash the car
Draw and play hopscotch
Make an obstacle course
Rearrange your bedroom furniture
Build a fort
Wash the dog
Play tennis
Paint the patio with water
Play with the hula-hoop
Blow bubbles
Draw a mural with sidewalk chalk
Write a story
Make silhouettes
I think that's most of my ideas. I can think of a few others that just aren't feasible for us, like setting up a lemonade stand.
Wow. That might keep us busy for a while! I'm gonna print these out. Thanks!
Cori you are much nicer than me
when I hear the dreaded, I'm bored phrase, it is immediate yard work. My kids mostly entertain themselves now, they will come to me with ideas.
However my dd, last year her big thing was crafting, she would buy those cheap crossstitch kids (with the frame and all) and stitch away.
My boys both have various card collections that they spend a lot of time sorting and writing lists.
Wow, that's an amazing list of activities. Thanks for sharing!
Kaye, I'm with you. I love to hear the "I'm bored." whine. It means ALOT less work for me. The kids have plenty of things to entertain themselves and we do have a fun life. There is no reason to hear that here. I don't think I heard it at all last year. LOL
I've tried putting them to work when I hear "I'm bored" but it ends up being more complaining and means I have to go find something for them to do and then follow up with "Was it done correctly?" and it just isn't worth it, IMO. I'd rather tell them, "Check the list" the first time and they know if I hear it again, there will be chores involved. This will also serve as a reminder to my ds that there is life beyond a screen (TV, computer or Nintendo DS). I also struggle with creative play and finding spontaneous things to do with them so I need this as a plan of action when I want to be spur of the moment.
Those are great ideas, i have a 6 and 8 yr old so it's perfect for my family.
How about,:
Blow bubbles, see how big you can get them
play basket ball at the park
go down to the river (if you have one) and skip stones or look for tadpoles
run thru the sprinkler
pull weeds of course thats no fun, but it would help me out!
Teach your dog new tricks (if you have a dog)
I tell my kids to get what ever toys they want out of the garage and make an obstacle course in the back yard (example: throw the foot ball through the hoop, jumprope 5 times, run in and out of the orange cones, hula hoop 5 times, run and touch the tree, go to the swing set and slide down the slide.
see how fast you can do it!
go for a walk in the metro park
the Zoo
Draw a picture and give it to grandma
Mine rode their bikes to a nearby park, to try to see the newly-hatched ducklings. They didn't see them, though. Sarah saw them the other day.
Thanks for all the great ideas, it really helps to have a list to refer to. Here's a few of our favorites -
I like to challenge my 9yo to write backwards - lots of giggles and fun. I also started a question journal with him - I write a question and he writes his answer.
For the younger ones - a dish tub or large container full of soapy water or rice/oatmeal and some utensils to play with; making books with construction paper, old magazines, safety scizzors and glue sticks; tub painting (you can make your own paint & use an egg carton or icecube tray to hold it).
All of them like to play 'office'. I just save the junk mail, and grab the toy phone, tape, paper clips, etc. They'll play this for at least an hour.
And going down to the appliance center and asking for a big box guarantees hours of fun. Setting up the tent in the back yard does the same thing
Newspaper fights - save the paper, roll it into balls and throw at each other outside.
Emily just taught herself to knit, so she almost always has knitting needles in her hand. Sarah loves to take pictures and almost anything can be a photo op!
I loved playing in appliance boxes, as a kid! It was a special prize, since you don't get new appliances too often. We didn't start getting new appliances around here, until the kids were bigger and the appliance store never brings the boxes. My kids got to play in big cardboard boxes, at my girlfriend's house, since her DH had a HUGE box from work! They made it into a little playhouse and it lasted a long time.
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