Summer Boredom Busters

There is a month of summer break left and the time has flown by. I have no idea what to do with the kids for the rest of the summer. And quite frankly, hearing them say, "I'm bored!" leaves me speechless and cringing for something for them to do. It's hard to keep them completely entertained, and it's even harder to keep my son from getting roped into his video game. Every time, I search on the web for things to do this summer, or easy boredom busters, it's always thing to do at the beach. We aren't at the beach all the time and at the beach they are entertained by the sand and the water. So what are some things we can do at home? I'll give you our top ten boredom busters and after you read these, leave a comment and let me know what you like to do around the house or to break up the boredom routine.

1. Sidewalk Chalk goes a long way. I back the car out of the driveway and let the kids have their way with the concrete. A little sidewalk chalk and their very imaginative minds , go a long way. Join in on the fun and draw a hop scotch game. I often find that once I get drawing, it's hard to stop.

2. Stage a movie day/night. Rent a movie or even better check out a free one from your local library, heat up some popcorn and watch a movie with the kids. They always love this one.

3. Make pizza. Not necessarily from scratch either. You can buy already made pizza dough from your local grocer or pizzeria, and then the sauce and cheese. The kids love flipping it,  rolling it out and putting on the topping. Get creative and use some meat and veggies, most kids are almost certain to eat what they make.

4. Get a blank canvas or poster board and let your kids make artwork for their rooms. They can splash the canvas with paint brushes, or even using their hands. This one can get messy and is a great one to do outside, but usually makes a fun craft project.

5. Play board games. If you have younger kids you may have to let the rules go out the window and just have fun. But there is nothing like breaking up the monotony of the summer with family game night, my kids love memory, and trouble, but they aren't great a rules so letting go is key! And this is a great way to create life long memories and maybe a weekly/monthly family tradition.

6. Create a scavenger hunt. Write clues that send them around the house, inside and out leading them to a small prize, like stickers or small pieces of candy.

7. Make tents of out blankets. I used to do this as a kid and my sister and I had so much fun playing in our "secret hideaway", so when my kids got to the age they would enjoy this I couldn't resist. They love this one and literally keeps them entertained for hours.

8. Create a boredom box. Use an old show box or tissue box and have it decorated by your child. Put small slips of papers with activities for them to do, as easy as ride your bike, put together a puzzle, color a picture or read a book. And when they get bored have them pick an idea from the box.

9. Let your kids play photographer. My daughter loves to take pictures. So of course, supervised, I let her walk around the house or the yard with an old camera taking pictures. We download them onto the computer and print some out. She then takes construction paper and yarn and makes her own little photo book.

10. Print out pages to color. This one is easy. There are a lot of websites that have printable color pages. I have a basket that we use for these pages and when I have time, I print a couple out and add them to the basket, so they always have some to choose from. Some of the ones we use are Coloring Book Fun, Kids Color pages, and DLTK-Kids.

What are your ways to beat the summer boredom?