See our other posts on Boredom Busters here and here…
1. Playdoh. Another crafty-thing that is not an everyday item around chez moi. So it is a special treat.
2. Sidewalk paint. Buy some or make your own… all I know is this is super fun! You can even thin down your homemade version and put it in a spray bottle for more fun!
3. Board games. You might have some kiddie games laying around that you play with all the time… so break out some of the “ages 8 and up” games and let your little ones at ’em! Closely supervised, of course. We’ve spent some fun rainy days “playing” Battleship, sorting Scrabble tiles, and just laughing at the noises that the Bop-It makes! We haven’t broken out Cranium yet, but that could give you some cool ideas – draw something for your pre-schooler to guess, whistle easy tunes for them to figure out…
4. Train Tables. We have a train table, and even a really cool train set to go on top of it. But Donovan has a penchant for destroying things at this point in his life… so there is nothing recognizable as a train set on our train table. So when we go to our local Barnes and Noble, the train table with the train set screwed down to the table is a huge hit! We all get out of the house, the kids get a free play time, and if I hit it right, we get there on time for story time!
5. Playing in the sink. Grab a big plastic bowl, spoons, cups, and whatever else might help make a good “sink soup.” I remember using apples and toothpicks for my sink soup as a kid – I haven’t broken those out yet, but Elias will play at the sink for hours if I let him. I fill up the bowl with water, and when the water is gone, sink time is over.
6. Home movies. Oh my goodness – Elias and Donovan get such a kick out of seeing themselves on TV! Grab your old camcorder or your new Flip and record something fun with the kids – even if it’s 5 minutes of your oldest saying, “Momma, can I do it? Can I do it NOW?” Then plug it in to the TV and let them watch it. It’s so fascinating to them! And you’ll catch some fun memories, too!
7. Dance party. Turn on some fun kid’s tunes and dance yourselves silly!
8. Rotate toys. I honestly thought that this was an unrealistic thing to try with my kids, because they love all their toys, and they would know if something was missing, and how in the world am I going to remember to actually rotate the toys out, anyway? I put away some blocks that were driving me crazy by being poured all over the place and never being picked up… and lo and behold, they forgot about them! And then when I get them out on occasion, the blocks are the best things ever! Why didn’t I follow that advice sooner?
9. Flashlights and shadow puppets. Even better if they are in your boredom-busting fort!
10. Pop ’em in the bathtub. So many water activities to help fight boredom… but when the temperature’s 100 outside, I don’t want to step outside even to turn on the hose. So we play with water inside, and get clean at the same time!
For more Top Ten {Tuesdays}, visit Amanda’s blog here.
OK. Seriously, this is so great. I want to do all these today! And yes, on the home movies. Lydia will play with my Flip for HOURS. Ok, well, at least a half hour! 🙂
.-= oh amanda´s last blog ..Top Ten {Tuesday}: Quotes =-.
When my daughter was younger – toddler age – I actually had four large tubs of toys that I rotated through. I tried to remember to trade them out every two to three weeks. What was great was we had every educational toy imaginable (first grandchild) so we had a different shape sorter and alphabet thing for each tub. The newness of the toys every few months kept her learning.
We discovered the train tables at the bookstores this summer. It’s great when it’s too hot to play outside but you need to get out of the house!
And I LOVE the idea of putting sidewalk paint in the spray bottle. Might have to do that for my nieces!
Great list!
.-= Heather @ Not a DIY Life´s last blog ..Bible Verse Craft – C =-.