Amanda had a wonderful craft project that she did with Lydia right here – a Boredom Buster Jar full of ideas and activities to do when the “Mommy, I’m bored…” starts. Elias actually does not tell me he’s bored – he shows me by acting out and disobeying. So…. here begins my list of Boredom Busters (summer edition) that work in our house. And it’s great to surprise these things on him – because he doesn’t come to me to tell me he’s bored, it’s like I’m the coolest mommy in the world who just happens to have all these neat tricks up her sleeve right when he needs them!
1. Wash tubs. Somehow, we have avoided getting a kiddie pool for the kiddos for the past 3 years. Nice, but sometimes not so nice. In its place, we have 2 wash tubs that we fill with water, and the kids go crazy in them with cups and bottles and brushes. So much fun!
2. Finger paint. As a… erm, control freak… I have a hard time just letting the boys get messy for fun. So it is a special treat for them to finger paint.
3. Bubble machine. This is the best. invention. ever. Mr. Bubble Machine Inventor, you have my thanks.
4. Play in the sink. I remember doing this as a child – and the boys love it, too!
5. Build a fort. Oh, I’ve gotten good at forts! Big or little, in dining room, living room, or bedroom, sheets or just pillows…
6. Pop in a movie. …ahem. This works very well at our house… too well, in fact. We often have to do another Boredom Buster after a movie, just to get us out of a movie-frame-of-mind.
7. Walk to the store. Not everyone can do this, but we have a great fresh market less than a mile away from us (just past an ice cream shop. danger!). Walking to the store with the kids is great exercise, plus we each grab a piece of fresh fruit – so it’s a special treat for snack, too!
8. Playing beach ball volleyball. We move our coffee table out of the way and Elias and I sit on opposing sofas, and try to keep the beach ball off the floor.
9. Open up the hose on ’em. Gently, of course… we have no need for sprinklers to water our lawn. In fact – lawn is a very loose term when it applies to the huge patch of weeds that consists of our yard. So I guess if we had sprinklers, this would be “run through sprinkler.” But without a sprinkler, the hose works very nicely! Both Elias and Donovan like to get wet, and of course, Elias loves to spray both Donovan and Mommy, too.
10. Paper airplanes. So simple… I’m always shocked at the amount of time the boys will play with paper airplanes.
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Look at this fun way to organize Boredom Busters! Better for older kids, but I’m keeping this tucked away as an option one day…
And stay tuned for more… there are tons of posts with fun ideas out there right now, and I’m going to be adding some more to the idea pool.
For more Top Ten {Tuesdays}, visit Amanda’s blog here.
Wow. I really needed this list. Summer is starting to lag for my kiddos. I can really see them getting into a bubble machine and wash tubs!
Great list! We love to do most of these things, as well. I’m with you on the finger painting… it’s scary, lol.
I really love oragami. I think I’m going to have to break that out as a boredom buster! Great list!
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Great list!
Andrew is taking a class in the fall at our homeschool co-op called, “The Aerodynamics of Paper Airplanes.” I can only imagine the paper airplanes I will be seeing!
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Great minds think alike! I’m posting about a tub activity Lydia and I did this week. But yours is waaay cuter! 🙂
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