Gearing Up for Summer Boredom

My kids have only 8 days of school left and they can’t wait until school is done for the summer!

If you’re like us, the kids are happy and occupied until about mid to late July. Then, boredom hits.

What to do?!

After scouring the Internet and looking through activity books, I came up with this little bucket last summer:

It’s filled with craft sticks that each have an activity written on them.

Whenever the kids complain that they’re bored, I tell them to take out a stick from the bucket — no peeking!

You’ll notice that most of the activities are fun but there’s a chore or two in there as well. There are even some educational activities. The addition of those have made my kids think twice before they tell me they’re bored.

Here’s what’s written on my “boredom sticks”:

Build a fort
Play a board game
Ride scooter or bike
Make book marks
Have a dance party
Hot rock art
Make kool-aid Popsicles
Draw pictures
Paint
Water balloon pinatas
Pencil mosaic art
Play “Hide the Thimble”
Make your own board game
Make home-made snow cones
Plan a field trip
Balloon ping pong
Make paper airplanes
Play with the cat and/or dogs
Hopscotch
Raise money for charity
Tie-dye shirts or pillow cases
Marshmallow gun fight
Use binoculars (go to park, etc.)
Nature scavenger hunt
Art Project
Nerf war
Make water balloons
Drive-in movie night
Jump rope
Lemonade stand
Sport of your choice
Go Ice Skating
Sidewalk chalk
Learn magic tricks
Go swimming
Go on a picnic
Learn origami
Build something
Play catch
Blow bubbles
Find a snack recipe and make it
Run through the sprinkler
Find good dinner recipes
Play on the swing set
Read a book
Go to the library
Do a science project
Write a letter
Do the dishes
Wash your bike
Vacuum
Learn how to type
Scoop poop in the backyard
Weed the garden
Clean your bathroom
Dust
Wash car
Clean litter box
Practice spelling
Practice math facts
Clean your room

A few of these chores have opportunities to earn money. For example, we pay our kids $1 for every grocery bag they fill with weeds when weeding the garden.

This year, I will be adding “puppet show” to the jar. Last year, my son found a site that taught me how to make home-made muppets and I ended up making 5 or 6 of them and they put on a lot of puppet shows.

(I plan to share about muppet making in another post. It’s actually very simple!)

Another idea to add to the bucket is to make a movie. The movie programs on iPods and iPads are amazing. My son has made some very cool movies. I think I’m also going to add “pitching a tent” or “camping in the backyard.”