Ideas for kid activities...

[Jen D]

I found this great idea on pinterest and am currently making my own jar for the summer. "I am bored" is uttered frequently and drives me nuts!


Bored Jar: if a kid complains of boredom they have to pick a slip & do the activity, good or bad. It might be going for ice cream, it might be cleaning their room.

I have a bunch of ideas but need more to stick in the jar... good or bad

Thanks in advance for your ideas

[grandma lynnie]

I usually look for things that don’t require much effort on the adult’s part. Here are some ideas I have used:
Blow bubbles
Play in the sprinkler
Write a letter to thank someone
Count something, ex doors or electric outlets in the house, shirts in the closet, pickets on a fence
Learn about an animal and then draw it or make it of clay, share what you’ve learned with someone
Make a new kind of sandwich
Run around the house (outside!) a certain number of times. Get a small prize for each 5 or 10 times, like a small piece of candy, nickel, etc
Make a list of everything in the house that is red or blue or triangular or cold, etc
Design a restaurant style menu for dinner
Hide a treasure and write clues to find it
Learn a new song, practice and perform for family
Build a house of playing cards
Wash your bike or scooter (water things are always good!)
Pull weeds
Make a list of your favorite foods to give Mom some ideas of what to get at the store
Make a list of places you’d like to visit some day
Send for brochures of places to visit, colleges (even when they are young!), local places of interest
Design a notebook to hold some of these items to show what you did this summer!

[Jen D]

Great ideas Lynn! Adding them now

[Kayleigh]

What a cool idea! And Lynn, those ideas are awesome!
- paint with water
- write a letter to someone
- go for a bike ride
- go through toys/clothes to donate a few unwanted ones
- make some christmas tags for gifts down the road

[PaulaSG]

Great ideas everyone! I'm definitely going to do this!

[Jen D]

Awesome... keep them coming I have eight days to fill up for three kids

[echogirl]

play with playdough
sweep the kitchen
make a story up (picture book with words) with 4 blank pieces of paper.
play a game (the kids typcially play Zingo, Candyland together or Rush Hour by themselves)
practice piano
make birthday card (always a birthday coming up isn't there!)
pick a craft from one of the craft books to make
pick a recipe to make

such great ideas. can't wait to read more!

[dugarner]

these are great!!! i have a whole summer to fill up for my kids, in the 8 hours they're awake and not at the pool. when the thread is done i'm going to print this out & stick it on my fridge.

[esther_a]

Lynnie, you are so resourceful!
My kids have got too old, but here are some things we used to do:
Cut a potato to make a stamp and use it with paint.
Get a big piece of butchers paper, lie on the floor and have someone draw your outline. Paint/color/glue stuff onto your shape.
Collect flowers from the garden and press them.
Take photos of interesting patterns/colors in the garden.
Make a cubby house
Collect big leaves or cut out shapes to use as masks and paint over them with a toothbrush rubbed over a cake tray (spatter paint)

Much as I'd like to think I filled my children's lives with fun activities, I think my usual response was "go clean your room".

[tdavenport]

Esther, that's always been my usual too. (Or clean the bathroom; that's even worse.)

Love all these ideas. Here's a few more:

Sing a song. Videotape it and sent it to the grandparents.
Skype with an out of town relative
Make a puppet show
Make slime (My youngest just made this over the weekend, I'm sure there are recipes online.)
Do something nice for your (sibling/parent)
Try to see who can go the longest without talking (always one of my favorites)
read a book to one another

[Kirsty85]

What a great idea!! Love everyone's suggestions of what to put in there. I'll definitely be trying this with my two

[echogirl]

Terry I totally do the 'quiet game' all the time!! LOL!

[HeatherPrins]

i found these
summer bucket list. fun idea for summer activities!
http://pinterest.com/pin/24068219/--I did this one and Chloe loved it!
I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar: A Spring Scavenger Hunt
Digital Reflections: 100 FREE THINGS to do with your kids this summer

[Jen D]

I pulled together a list of 80+ activities in Word. I am just going to cut them in strips and fold them up.

If anybody wants me to send them the file please PM me... I am happy to share

[Aino]

These are great!!

Here are some of my things....

- waterpaint
- cut out shapes/things from paper/ newspaper/ magazines
- "paint" the outside wall of the house with large paintbrushes and buckets of water (this is a great summer hit)
- make fresh orange juice (when in season)
- playdough
- tidy up in toys and throw into various baskets: keepers, "babytoys", for donation, throw-away.
- water the garden

[senovia]

I love the idea of a photo scavenger hunt.
Have them find and photograph different things like "something red" or "a flower" (we dont have a lot of those in the desert- so it will be hard for us), a Pokemon (or another character) in a scene that they set up, a slug bug, the first letter of their name, etc (still making my list). They'll be taking pictures of the items, and I'll be taking pictures of THEM!!

I love all the ideas above & have added a few to my list.

At the end I wrote make a scrapbook (paper- so they can do it) of their SUMMER FUN adventures.

[HeatherPrins]

pinterest has been invaluable to me, we have done a tinfoil river, made fireflies with tea lights, coffee filter butterflies, made crates for stuffed animals out of plastic strawberry containers, banners, scavenger hunts, photo walks, and today i am spraypainting the old crib headboard with chalkboard paint!

[shhbabymine]

We are going through our list of 100 that Heather linked to above. Realized I might need to update that list, but its still pretty good. We do a jar as well, I think its on my blog from last summer. . . of course for us - our theme weeks are what we look most forward to.. lots of fun spending summer with kids..