Be sure to stop by Shannon’s, over at Rocks In My Dryer , for Works-For-Me Wednesday. If you have a quandary, the folks who meet there have a solution!
This week’s theme is to share your ideas to keep the kiddos busy now that school is out and a bunch of mom’s are looking for ways to keep their kids from saying the dreaded phrase, “Mom, I’m bored!”
Me? Heck, I’d tell them if they are bored to go find something to clean. They could clean the dog’s bowls, clean their bathroom, do “poop duty” in the back yard, clean the baseboards, sweep tile floors, pull weeds in the flowerbed, go hunting for dust bunnies. I’m sure I could come up with something! 
Of course, I’ve found the best way to keep cases of “I’m bored” away is to keep them busy.
So here’s a list of things that my kids like doing or ones we’ll try this summer:
Geocaching
Bike riding
Scooter riding
Playing with sidewalk chalk
Painting cardboard boxes
Making forts/cars/castles/??? out of cardboard boxes
Make play dough
Make goop
Make blob crayons by melting pieces of broken crayons together
Make an “artistic creation” with paper, crayons, markers, scissors, glue, etc.
Make life size self-portrait by tracing body on craft paper
Make cookies or cupcakes
Decorate cookies or cupcakes
Make Popsicles
Plan a meal
Shop for the meal
Prepare the meal
Plan a surprise for someone else
Play with Leapster (time is limited)
Play Wii (time is limited)
Watch a show/movie (time is limited)
Play on Starfall website (time is limited)
Do a puzzle
Play a board game
Listen to a book on tape
Play with water guns
Play with bubbles
Play in the pool
Visit the park
Visit library at story time
Visit “Pump It Up” for open jump time
Visit local skating rink
Visit local theater for cheapie summer movies for kiddos
Pick one night to have ice cream for dinner
Have kiddos make ice cream
Have kiddos make butter
Make up a story, write and illustrate it.
Write a play and let the kids act it out (this could be a multi-day to multi-month project)
Visit water park
Beg children’s friends to come over and play
Work on learning a foreign language and designate an hour or two a day as “Italian Speech Only” or Chinese, Spanish, etc.
Friday Night Camp Out – for my kids they have an indoor Cars pop-up type tent. They put their pillows and blankets inside and giggle until midnight before they fall asleep. For older kids they could set up a real tent in the back yard.
Check out local museums for kid-friendly activities
Find someone to bless in unexpected ways
One of my favorites – Sign them up for Vacation Bible School
Only to be topped by – Ship them off to Grandma’s!!!
Keeping them busy – that
works for me!
If you are interested in reading previous Works For Me Wednesday ideas, like Mess Free Painting, Doing It Every Day, Reading Suggestions, Toddler Travel Tips, and taming a Stinky Sink ~ click here.
Be sure to stop by Shannon’s, over at Rocks In My Dryer , for Works-For-Me Wednesday. If you have a quandary, the folks who meet there have a solution!
Lots of fun ideas! I’m glad I stopped by. I especially like the last two.
Great list, Tanya. We also like our local church’s VBS. It’s a lot of fun even for the parent volunteers.
If you want to post about your ice cream recipe that your boys make, I have an ice cream round up on July 18th. Come by my blog and see the details.
i am always welcoming of great ideas!