I recently read an article about kids needing to be bored during the summer. I totally agree! They need to understand that there will not always be an agenda or something fun to go do every.single.day. They can use their imagination and come up with fun things to do. My kids will do this quite often. Here are some things they have come up with along the years, or just things I can think of to give you some ideas when they say, “We’re bored…….” Some of these are a given, and some are dependent on the weather. There’s a few ideas on here that my sister and I did when we were kids. We used to spend the summer with my mom or at Grandma’s house and would come up with all kinds of fun things. With Fibro fog we know that lists and ideas are important. I hope this helps if you’re stuck on ideas to keep them busy. 🙂
1. Blind-Folded Taste Test: My kids came up with this one day so I made a tray of different foods that they could use. It was a variety of foods with different textures and flavors. Then they took turns blind-folding the other and feeding them different foods. It was fun and hilarious to watch.
2. Package Delivery: There are so many creative and fun things you can do with boxes but one that my kids came up with recently is to take the boxes that may be laying around from UPS or whatever and they can put things in them (toys, books, maybe some picked flowers from outside?). Then they would tape up the boxes or just close them as best as they can, and leave them out for different family members. Like in front of their door, their place at the table, on their chair. They would even put it outside sometimes and ring the door bell.
3. TV Land: Another idea for using a big box is to cut a square to make a TV and they can take turns pretending they’re on TV. They can do the news, or just a show. It’s really fun to watch. My kids would play dress-up and be different characters.
4. Grocery Store: If they have a play shopping cart or basket they can use that but if not, it’s still fun. Get out the canned/packaged food and line it up on the counter or table. If they have a cash register, great, but if not just use a calculator and they can pretend to ring up the items. Get out your reusable bags or paper bags. One can go through and shop and the other can ring up their items and bag them. It would be the perfect time to do this right when you get home from grocery shopping. Then they can put everything away when they’re done too. 🙂
5. Restaurant: They can make little tables for their stuffed animals. Grab a pad of paper and a pencil and they can take their orders. If they have a little kitchen and some play food they can make their food and serve them. Don’t forget to do the dishes and clean the tables! 😉
6. Coloring Contest: My kids like to compete with each other. What sibling doesn’t, right? So sometimes they come up with different things to draw or color and want me to be the judge. They always say that I have to tell the truth and not just be nice. Ha! So I really do try but I know that every single time, the one I don’t pick has their feelings hurt. So I try to make sure I’m not always picking the same kid, of course.
7. Bubble Station: I save all those bubble wands you come across with the different sizes and shapes, and I save the smaller containers. Then I buy a big container of bubbles and fill the smaller ones. Each kid can have their own and dip the different wands into them. This is also good for when they spill so they aren’t spilling a huge container of bubbles.
8. Kiddie Pool with a Slide: We have always had a little kiddie pool with a slide going into it and the kids just love it. So do their friends! 😉 When you fill the pool, the water is usually cold and the kids complain. With a slide my kids like to slide into the cold water and jump out real quick, then do it again and again and again… So much fun!
9. Miscellaneous Outdoor Activities: Riding Bikes, Hide and Seek, Tag, coloring with chalk, playing ball.
10. Going on Walks and Exploring the Area: They could collect different things they find along the way.
11. Painting: Set-up a paint station outside (or inside). Just a little table with chairs. Put on some old t-shirts and paint away! We save all the papers from school during the year that have one side that is blank. Then we use that paper to draw on or paint.
12. Play-dough: In addition to the usual things you do with play-dough, my kids have also made clothes with it to put on their Barbie/Ken dolls.
13. Building with Legos/Lincoln Logs
14. Sumo Wrestlers: Stuff pillows in their shirts and wrestle.
15. Build a Fort (inside or outside): All you need is some chairs and blankets, or you can use a table with a blanket over it. You can also setup a tent outside that can be their fort.
16. Playing School: My daughter loves to pretend she’s the teacher and give her brother schoolwork. LOL Then they were eating their lunch together and she says, “Let’s pretend we’re in the cafeteria and we want to trade stuff in our lunch.” Hmmm… 😉
17. Scrapbooking: We love to take old magazines and go through cutting stuff out that we like. Then you can put it together to make a scrapbook. Just paste/glue the stuff you cut out onto construction paper and staple the edges to make a book. Then can also write and draw in it. Maybe give it a title and sign their name too, if you want.
18. Tea Party: Gather up all their stuffed animal friends, the play tea cups, and they can pour some water into them.
19. Board Games: We have a variety of different board games the kids like to pull out and play sometimes. They know where to find them and I just make sure they pick up all the pieces and put the game away before starting a new one. Some of those games have some tiny pieces that are easy to lose! And we have lost some pieces along the way, of course. Sometimes they will just make up a new game with one of the board games instead of playing by the rules. That is fun too. 🙂
20. Bird Watching: We have some play binoculars and the kids like to go around the backyard and look for birds sometimes. My son even knows the names of the different kinds of birds from his grandma teaching him, and it’s also in one of his books.
21. The Zoo: When we got home from the zoo one time, my daughter got out all her stuffed animals and pretended they were in the zoo. She lined them up in different sections and was talking about the different kinds of animals, as if she was a tour guide. It was really cute.
I’m sure there are many MANY more ideas out there and I will probably keep adding to this list but hopefully that gives you some ideas for now. Next time my kids say they’re bored, I’m going to refer to this list to give them some ideas. If you have any other ideas please add them in the comments below. Thanks! 😀