Summertime Boredom Busters |
Cure those summer blahs!
Is your family experiencing summer blahs? School and after-school activities tend to fill up everyone's time during the winter, but during the summer, boredom can set in pretty quickly. Here are some ideas guaranteed to delight your youngsters!
Make a Summer Memory Book
Use a large spiral notebook or scrapbook. Record dates of special outings, family activities, unusual events, etc. Paste or tape into the book ticket stubs, pamphlets, programs, maps, or other souvenirs that will fit. Write stories about certain things you did, or any specific highlights of the season. Record the height and weight of each member of the family"..At the end of the summer and for years to come, look back and enjoy the memories you have created!
Backyard Miniature Golf
Using croquet mallets and balls, set up a miniature "golf" course in the backyard.
- Make flags to mark each hole out of small dowel sticks and bright plastic or construction paper. Number the flags with a marker.
- Make a gravel or sand trap by putting down plastic sheeting and covering it with sand or small rocks from the driveway. (pick up and replace later)
- Use boards and a brick, log, or cement block to make an incline to go up and over. Make a tunnel to go through from half a hollow piece of log.
- Make an obstacle course from old paint cans set in rows.
- Use an old piece of guttering as a trough to go through. Drive small stakes on each side to hold it upright.
Make a Boredom Box
Cut up 10-20 strips of paper and write a different kids activity on each one. Keep them in a "boredom box" that your kids can reach into when they're looking for something to do. Whatever the paper says˜could be a chore, a bike ride, curling up with a book˜becomes their next assignment.
Home and Neighborhood Map Making
Encourage your children to draw maps of places they know best: your house, the neighborhood, even the whole town. Have kids create the maps from memory first, adding as many details as they can recall. Then take a walk around the area to see what they've missed.
Make a Time-Capsule
Using a clean, airtight container (such as a coffee can), have your children put together a capsule to remind their future selves of what they were like in 2007. Plan the selection process carefully; start by making a list. Have them include items such as a page from the newspaper or TV listings to provide a glimpse of what was happening in the world, coins, along with more personal items, such as a favourite T-shirt or popular toy. The children might even set a date on which to recover the capsule. Above all, be sure to mark the spot where the time capsule is buried so it can be easily found later.
