I've got the boredom blues. And I'm not even the one that's bored.

This post was written in June, but for some reason I forgot to publish it.

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We've had one day of summer vacation so far.
Let me share with you what the kids got to do:


1-Spend an hour at the Public Library. Check out 16 books and 4 movies.
Had a textbook case of FUN!
2-Go to swimming lessons.
Had a soakin' GOOD TIME.
3-Eat lunch from Wendy's Value Menu
(in their world, so much better than every-day PB & Js).
4-Go to the Dollar Store, giggling up and down the aisles.
Mom bought a hula hoop.
The joy went round & round.
5-Go Home & Rest. A couple hours later...
6-Invite friends over to play for an hour until dinner time.
Socializing with people "cooler" than Mom is AWESOME!
7-Plans are made to watch one of the library movies together after dinner.
The kids love movie nights!


Not a bad day for a kid, right?

And yet! As I made dinner (spaghetti & meatballs: one of their favorites, by the way), both of my children approach me with my LEAST FAVORITE 6-WORD COMBINATION ON THE PLANET: "We're bored. What can we do?"

Seriously? You're seriously asking? After an action-packed day like today, you are actually ASKING me to provide yet another activity for you? Do you realize how close you are to losing years off your lives right now?

Lately Brett and I have been very sensitive (annoyed) with the fact that our children expect (yes, EXPECT) us to entertain them every hour, every minute of the day. We've found ourselves sounding much like those who've come before us with responses such as, "When I was a kid we didn't always have somewhere to go or something to do. We had to use our imagination. We played outside. We read books. We drew pictures. We..." (I'm positive if our parents are reading this, they'd say our kids are mini-me's of how we used to be, but that's a different post all together.) I understand that at some point children crave structured activity or crafts or whatever. But why do they feel it is MY responsibility to provide something like that for them ALL. DAY. LONG?

Anyway, like every summer, I've tried to come up with yet another idea that my kids can turn to before they turn to me. This year (let's hope it's more successful than last year's boredom bags, which worked for about a week before they lost their novelty), I've made a BOREDOM BOX. Inside are strips of paper with ideas of things to do. They're color-coded, so depending on the current circumstances (how much time we've got, how busy I am doing other things, etc.) the kids know which kind of activity to pursue. If I have time to help organize or supervise an activity, I'll instruct the kids to choose an ORANGE slip. If I'm preoccupied and cannot help, they'll need to draw a BLUE paper. If we know we're going to the library (we usually go every Monday), they can pick a yellow paper, which will give them a topic on which we can base our library selection to learn about something in particular. I tried to make a shopping list of all the supplies we'd need for them to do any of the BLUE activities, so things are ready to go. I have a lot of the ORANGE stuff on hand, too, but some of the ORANGE activities are actually outings we can plan on doing sometime that day. As they choose activities, those slips will be put in a separate place so they are not repeated any time soon.

Here's the list of ORANGE (supervised) activities:

Go to the Library and find books about one of the yellow cards

Explore the bike path & look for unique plants or rocks

Go for a bike ride

Go to the Children’s Museum

Check the Home Depot children’s class schedule.

Check the Michaels Craft Class schedule.

Go to the Children's Floor of the Church History Museum.

Check the Dollar Movie schedule

Go to the Rec Center & Swim

Play with Play Doh

Make cookies & take them to someone

Visit Grandma B.

Make sock puppets. Put on a puppet show.

Go to the Library and rent a movie

Build dirt castles outside with Tupperware containers

Dig for worms

Do sidewalk chalk out front

Look for bugs in the back yard and draw pictures of them.

Find rocks and paint them.

Hang a sheet on the swingset and paint it.

Fly kites

Throw a Frisbee @ the Foxboro Park

Set up the tent in the back yard and pretend you’re camping

When Carson is asleep, make seashell critters. (see instructions)

When Carson is asleep, make a Sandwich Box Monster. (see instructions)

When Carson is asleep, make Marbled Clay Beads (see instructions)

When Carson is asleep, make Juicebox Dolls (see instructions)

When Carson is asleep, make pet rocks (see instructions)

When Carson is asleep, glue pasta to cardstock paper to make a pretty picture.

Help Mom wash the car.

Here's the BLUE (independent) activities:

Make a poster about farms and farm animals. Make plans to visit Wheeler farm later in the week.

Fill a balloon with air. Don’t let it touch the carpet!

Play charades. Guess animals or movies.

Play freeze tag.

Play pirates or George of the Jungle on the swing set.

Play a board game.

Do a big puzzle together.

Write a story about one of your summer vacations this year. Wyatt, you can tell your story to Halle and she will write it.

Plan an international dinner that you can have later this week. Make flags and decorations from that country.

Using construction paper, make the American flag with the stripes and stars.

Do a scavenger hunt inside (see the list Mom’s already made for you)

Run through the sprinklers

Play with water guns & sponges

Throw a Frisbee in the backyard

Blow bubbles

Lay on the grass and look at the clouds—what do they look like?

Make your own paper dolls.

Play with the Boredom Bags

Lay a blanket on the lawn and read books outside with a snack

Write a song by writing a poem and then add music from the piano

Play bowling by using a small ball and knocking over objects, such as Barbies, empty cups, stuffed animals, toy food, etc.

Plan a Mini-Olympics that you can do later in the week with friends: Make an obstacle course outside with stuff like hula hoops, orange cones, jumprope. Have jumping contests, wheelbarrow races, water balloon toss, pillowcase races, crawl under chairs, walk with basketball between your legs around a windy hose, .

Capture bugs.

Cut pictures from magazines and glue them on poster board.

Do silly jumps outside.

Play Throw The Dice.

Have pillowcase races on the lawn.

Use construction paper to color and cut out pictures that describe a book you like.

“Paint” the back patio with WATER and watch it evaporate

Make a poster about fruits and vegetables. Make plans to go to a Farmer’s Market later this week.

Play Simon Says.

Play Red Light-Green Light.

Invite some friends over and play Red Rover.

Practice a play or part of a your favorite movie. When you’re ready & Mom’s not busy, Mom will record you on the video camera.

Play Hide & Seek.

Make a Menu for Dinner. We’ll pretend we’re a restaurant when Daddy gets home.

Play Duck-Duck-Goose

Color a picture and glue it onto cardstock. Now cut it into large pieces to make a puzzle.

Play soccer

Play Store

Play Barbies

Play School Bus or Train with the kitchen chairs

Make a City with blocks

Pretend you are a photographer

Read scriptures or act out a scripture story

Use construction paper to make a garden

Play Beauty Shop (NO SCISSORS or HOT CURLING IRONS)

Write in your journal

Do the Exercise Video

Write a letter to Uncle Tanner

I'm up for any ideas to add to my list (inexpensive and simple are more warmly received) as well as any suggestions you have to help keep the boredom blues away...'COMMENT' away, people...I need your help!