Friday, June 13, 2014

A post for Moms: I'm bored

Even though we’re bookies, we’re also moms.  Most of the time spent not reading, is spent with our families.  So I know we are not the ONLY ones who constantly hear the dreaded phrase I’m bored from our kids. 
Working in the public school system, allows me to stay at home during the summer with my two daughters (ages 7 and 3.5).  I LOVE the time I get to spend at home with them and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, but I am constantly trying to find new activities to keep them busy and entertained.   So, I decided to list a few of them here for you.  All of these are super easy activities and are cheap to do.  I’ve tried out all of this with my kiddos and they are 100% kid approved.  Enjoy and I hope it provides you and your kids with countless hours of entertainment!

A Water Blob!

I have seen these online for a while and they are kinda expensive if you buy them straight out, so I was SUPER excited when I found this tutorial on how to make your own!  I bought the giant roll of painter’s plastic from Walmart (I think it was a 10x25ft roll, I would recommend going a little smaller since it took FOREVER to fill up with water) and the parchment paper for about a total of $10.  My girls ABSOUTELY loved it and I must say I enjoyed it too!

Your very own lightning bugs!
I can remember countless summer evenings spent outside after dark chasing lightning bugs, catching them, and putting them in jars!  They are one of my absolute favorite things about summer.  My girls love being able to go outside and watch them and were thrilled when we made their very own lighting bugs that they keep in their room.  We made 2 and the only thing we had to buy was the battery tea lights and they come 2 to a pack at the dollar tree.  So this fun little craft comes in at a grand total of $1.

Frozenthemed slime!
Let’s be honest, what kid is not completely infatuated with the movie Frozen?!?! I know my girls are.  So when I saw this, I knew we just had to make it.  They absolutely LOVED it and the awesome thing is, it keeps, so just put it in a Ziplock bag and they can play with it again and again.  This craft cost only about $5. 

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Paint
My girls absolutely LOVE to get outside during the summer and play with sidewalk chalk.  Our driveway is constantly their giant canvas filled with colorful flowers, hearts, and squiggles.  They absolutely LOVED being able to make their own paint for this activity and then being able to paint the driveway outside was SO much fun.  All this activity calls for is cornstarch ($1 a box), food coloring ($3), and paint brushes (which we already had).  So this is another awesome activity for under $5.

I’m Bored Bucket
I know I am not the only one who has heard this countless times (usually multiple times in the same minute).  I came across this little gem while browsing Pinterest and decided to give it a go.  Let me just tell you, it has possibly saved my sanity (or what’s left of it anyway).  Making the I’m Bored Bucket and writing out a list of activities that the kiddos can do without my help was even a wonderful boredom buster.  They LOVED making this and I must say, I LOVE the fact that they aren’t running to me every 5 minutes wanting something to do.  And I’ll go ahead and admit, I’m guilty of slipping in a few chores (sweep the kitchen, vacuum the living room, fold up clothes, 5-minute tidy, etc.) to keep them on their toes.  To keep them from running through all of the activities in 1 day, we made a rule that they are only allowed to draw from the I’m Bored Bucket 5 times during the day, and whatever they get, they HAVE to do, no skipping.


I hope you have enjoyed some of these ideas and it helps to keep the kids happy and occupied so you have more free time for reading!
~*~  Lauren ~*~

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