You hear it every summer. Your kids are done school and suddenly have all this time off. Then comes the dreaded 3 words… “Mom, I’m bored!” So, today I’ve put together some Summer Boredom Buster ideas to avoid those three words, or give them something to do when they say those three words!
My favourite is the “Are You Bored?” poster. It’s an acrostic using the word BORED.
Have you…
Been Creative
Outside Play
Read a Book
Exercised
Done your Chores
Repeat as necessary.
I love this because it’s like a list of things kids can do (and decide what that looks like on their own… independence!) before they come to you and say they’re bored. It gives them ideas and allows them to figure out what to do when they’re bored on their own. So important!
Inevitably, kids will go through this list and do all five things in about five minutes and come to you complaining of being bored again. Here’s some more ideas to keep them occupied this summer!
Sidewalk Chalk
This can be hours of fun!! I remember when I was little, we would design whole road ways with stop signs and one-way streets all the time. It was so much fun! You can create a whole town if you wanted to (and have the space!)
Hopscotch is another fun game to make with sidewalk chalk. Just make the squares with numbers in them, toss a rock and hop from one end to the other without touching the square the rock is on.
For little kids, you can draw a big, long, twisty line and have them follow the line from beginning to end. It really helps with their balance and coordination and it’s a lot of fun!
Ice Block Treasure Hunt
This game is great for playing on a hot day. It’s a ton of fun, can take up a good chunk of time, and keeps kids cool with a giant ice block!
Basically, you go to the Dollar store and buy some little toys that your kids would like (make sure they’re plastic because they’ll be getting wet!) Fill a bucket, or container or whatever you can find with water. Put the toys in the water and freeze the water over night. The next day, if your kids want those toys, they have to figure out how to get them out of the ice! You can be really mean and tell them they aren’t allowed to use tools or anything to help, just their hands and bodies!
Water Balloon Pinata
I think this one is fairly self explanatory! Fill up a bunch of balloons with water. Find somewhere to hang them (a tree works well). Have your kids take turns whacking the balloons with a bat or stick and see who gets soaked the most! Again, a great game to play on a hot summer day.
Backyard Obstacle Course
Use your imagination on this one!! You can use hula hoops, pool noodles, cones, sidewalk chalk, benches… just about anything. Make an obstacle course (based on your child’s age you can make it easier or harder) and have your kids race through it while you sit in the sun and time them. Have them try it over and over to see if they can beat their personal record. Be sure to have lots of water on hand for this one so your little ones don’t get dehydrated. And treat yourself to a nice beverage while you sun bathe for all the hard work you did in putting the obstacle course together!
Pool Noodles
These aren’t just for the pool anymore! Your kids can use the for jousting. You can blow up balloons or use a light weight ball and they can play pool noodle hockey. Another excellent game is to put out a basket (the laundry basket works fine) and the kids have to try get all the balloons into the basket using just the pool noodles. You can do a javelin toss with them and see who can throw it the farthest. Pool noodles are also great for making targets. Make them into a circle and play frisbee golf or bean bag toss with the targets.
Scavenger Hunts
You can do these in your own backyard, or at the park, or while you’re out for a hike with the family. Another idea would be to do a scavenger hunt inside on a rainy day. Make a list of things your kids would be able to find like pinecones, a dandelion, a leaf from a tree, coolest colour rock they can find etc. If you’re doing it inside you can get them to find a bouncy ball, a Barbie shoe (does anyone else loose these all.the.time!) They’ll have fun and help clean up at the same time without even knowing it!
These are just some of the ideas I came up with. It’s summer time and letting kids be outside in the fresh air using their bodies and imaginations is so important! So, just get out there and have some fun with your kids!! You can find a ton more ideas, just Google Summer Boredom Busters and you’ll find enough to keep your kids busy every day of summer holidays!
