As the school year comes to a close, it seems impossible that your children will run out of things to do. After all, they finally are able to play all those games that they weren't able to use during the school year to their heart's content. However, those games and toys that seemed so exciting just a few days ago quickly lose their appeal when there is no homework to put off. How are you going to keep your children busy and happy during the long months ahead? Try a few of these simple boredom busters to entertain your kids.
Summer Craft Activities
Fill a box with craft supplies and simple summer themed craft instruction sheets. Some supplies you should be sure to include are paper towel and toilet paper tubes, tissue paper, construction paper, glue, scissors, crayons, markers, old magazines and popsicle sticks. For older children, buttons, ribbon and other embellishments are a big hit.
A few ideas for summer craft activities for kids are:
- Making toilet paper friends. Print out free toilet paper character templates from Enchanted Learning or DLTK Kids.
- Using magazine pages to make paper beads. Colorful pictures cut into a long, tapered rectangle, a wooden chopstick and glue are the only supplies you need to make some wonderful, creative beads. This activity is great because the kids can string the beads for a second craft.
- Popsicle stick picture frames can be a really fun project. Coloring them with markers and using glue to add plenty of fun embellishments is a great way to make this craft fill more time.
Family Museum
Get the kids excited about natural history by encouraging them to set up a museum of things they've collected on vacation trips or from the yards. Labeling shells, rocks, feathers and other little items and setting them up as displays and then offering tours to friends and family can really be fun.
Put on a Show
Suggest that your children fight boredom by entertaining others. Puppet shows, plays, circus acts, or game shows are all events that can keep them busy with script writing and rehersals for quite a long time. Of course, you'll have to be sure to provide an audience, either by watching yourself or inviting friends and family for the event.
Scavenger Hunt
Set up a scavenger hunt or hide a treasure and have them follow clues to find the map to the treasure. Even small items, like a few stickers and pieces of candy are really exciting when they are belonged to the pirates!
Remember, boredom busters don't have to be elaborate to be entertaining summer kids' activities. Sometimes the simplest things can be fun.
