Battling the "I'm bored" Whine's of Summer

   Summer vacation..... A time that children insist to wake up earlier than they have to during the school year, that all my plants die because I forget to water them for one day, the electric bill and grocery bills increase from the extra people home during the day, the "I'm bored" whines begin and cabin fever sets in because it's too hot to play outside as temps reach 90+ degrees at 7 a.m. The glorious summer time!

   During the summer, I change my curriculum around with work as I have to accommodate both preschool and school aged children. The problem with this is that my children have already done a lot of the projects as it's not their first summer with me and I like to use them as guinea pigs before I try a project with the other children to make sure it actually works and is doable. This means that my kids often opt out of participating when we do things.
 Already my kids have started the "I'm bored" whining.... What to do? What to do?
I turned to www.pinterest.com and I found the perfect idea!

Presenting our "Boredom Bucket"-


    The mother who came up with this is genius! Take a container (I used one that had craft supplies in it originally that a friend gave to me), and fill it with paper or popsicle sticks with things to do written on them. This is everything from reading a book, building a pillow fort, having a tea party, plan a family dinner to chores like dust downstairs, clean the upstairs bathroom or do a load of laundry. Whenever one of your children begins whining about being bored, you have them randomly pick a paper or stick out of the container and they must do what's listed on it. They don't get to pick which one they want but they no longer have an excuse for being bored either. Bonus- you get a little extra help with chores too!

    My kids thought this was a great idea and my husband couldn't agree more. And this is just one of the ideas to keep the kids happy and entertained during the long hot summer....

More things on our agenda include-

-Having water play days in the back yard
-Visiting the Arizona Natural History Museum
-Making volcanoes and erupting them
-Making home made geodes and crystals
-Making home made fossils
-Visiting the Phoenix Zoo as the hours change for the summer so it opens at 7 a.m. and members can enter at 6 a.m. and beat the heat. Plus they have a couple of splash pads there to cool off in.
-Making "Clouds in a Bag"
-Visiting the local water parks/aquatic centers
-Have the kids help plan out a few meals that they can make
-Arts and Crafts
-Pick a different country on the map randomly each week to learn about and make at least one meal that is native to that country
-Write and make our own books
-Make balloon powered rockets and race them
-Pajama Movie Days (because hey, we all need a lazy day once in a while)

   Plus a little boredom here and there can be beneficial as it encourages imagination and creativity in young minds.

What are some things you like to do to help keep your kids entertained during this time of year?

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