Summertime is everyone’s favorite time of year! The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, the swimming pools are open and BBQ’s are going on in every neighborhood. Yet, with so much free time from school, what parents haven’t heard the dreaded words, I AM BORED!
Bust summer boredom with these awesome, fun and easy ideas. Any time kids start to complain, an activity will be ready to help them get creative and pass the time!
Summer Boredom Busters:
#1- Creative Kids in Action
For this fun activity, kids will draw out of three envelopes. Each envelope gives them a different direction to create a fun, artistic afternoon. Don’t let them redraw! Once they have picked out of the envelope, they have to keep it. Here’s how it works:
-You will need three envelopes. In the first envelope write on five strips of paper each phrase – Write a story, Make a movie, Create a dance, Draw a picture, or Write a play.
-Next, take your second envelope and write phrases such as – About a pioneer that rides in a wagon, About an ogre that loves flowers, About an evil witch that eats candy, About a famous race car driver that is only 12, About an old lady that lives in a treehouse…or whatever you choose!
-Lastly, take your third envelope and write action phrases such as- Who gets to meet the President, Who travels across the world, Who is being chased by evil dragons, Who can never remember their name, Who sleeps all day and is awake at night…you get the idea!
This concept can be adjusted however you like and create hours of fun entertainment for any child.
#2 – Create a Summer Game Basket
Games are a great way to spend the day! Find an empty basket and place dollar store card games such as Old Maid, Go Fish or Crazy Eight inside of it. Buy a few decks of regular cards as well, some dice, maybe a chess board and some checkers. Any games you like! Check out this website for Kid Classic Card Games. Print out some rules for classic card games or dice games and your kids will have hours of fun prepared.
#2 – Boredom Jar
Take an empty Mason Jar and have your kids decorate it for summertime. Make a list of fun, easy summer activities that can be outdoor, indoor or around the neighborhood. Once kids start to complain of boredom, have them draw an activity and fulfill it!
IDEAS FOR YOUR SUMMER ACTIVITY JAR:
-Paint a picture
-Sidewalk chalk a mural of your family
–Make homemade playdough and build a zoo out of playdough
-Write a book of poetry
-Start a journal
-Bake brownies
-Climb a tree
-Dress up like a clown and perform some tricks to friends
-Make sock puppets and put on a puppet show
-Grow some sunflowers in a cup or outside in your garden
-Make a baking soda volcano
-Go on a picnic
-Visit an elderly person in your neighborhood
-Paint animals on rocks
-Start a bug collection
-Pick your mother a wildflower bouquet
-Make a time capsule
-Make a no-sew fleece blanket
-Build a birdhouse and leave some bird seed inside
-Make a scavenger hunt for your friends. Send them on it!
-Write a book and illustrate it
-Learn to play an instrument
-Play Simon Says
-Make up a board game
-Bake a cake
-Go to a foreign restaurant
-Read a book about someone your age
-Read a book about someone much older than you
-Find a pen pal and write real letters to send through the mail
-Walk your dog or your neighbors
-Make homemade popsicles
-Open a lemonade stand
-Have a handstand competition