Tuesday, June 7, 2011

"I'm bored!!" - Part one

















~~~~

Summer is upon us! At least in the Northern Hemisphere! Most kids are off school for at least 2 and a half months … what to do with all that extra time? We often hear “I’m bored” from kids at this time of year. How do we fend that off?

We asked the women of PAI, and this is what they told us:

Terry:
-Give the kids water guns or spray bottles (filled with water) and let them squirt each other
-Check your library for their summer activities, and join in!
-On days that are too hot or rainy to go outside, let the kids paint the windows or patio doors with window chalk. (Available at many stores, and amazon.com)
-After a rain, put on galoshes and splash in the puddles!
-Heat coals on the grill and toast marshmallows to make s'mores


Allison:
-Go to the lake
-Go to the park
-Blow bubbles inside (it cleans the floors!)
-Make brownies, cookies or cakes.
-Paint
-Tie dye shirts

Laura Beth:
-Go swimming and splash each other!
-Pick tomatoes from our garden!
-Water our flowers!
-Fly our ladybug kite!
-Dance at the free concerts in the park, while eating ice cream cones!

Julie:
-make use of the Blue Star Museums Initiative for military families
-Have Fashion Show Friday (cleaning out the closets)
-Water balloon fights
-Hang out with cousins (from the sound of it... break up fights)
-Hang out around the house - camp style
-Kitchen Duty = clean the kitchen
-Arts & Crafts = well... arts & crafts
-Cabin Clean Up = straightening the bedrooms or whichever room needs it
-Music = well... music (and dancing around the house)
-Rec Time = play time (and exercise)

Adriana:
-Summer is the perfect time to try your hand at something new. We are going to try our hands at melt and pour soap. I hope to make enough to give out for Christmas this year.
-When my kids were younger I used to collect their small plastic waterproof toys and put them in a large bowl of water and freeze overnight. On a hot summer day, they loved chipping away at the ice to free their toys. I think they would still do this.
- also freeze big blocks of ice and give them to them just to see what they will do.

Terryl:
-I'm hoping to get my 9-year-old (almost 10) to do a "reading journal" of the books he reads this summer.
-Vacation Bible School ... our kids will go to our church's this week, and another church in town at the end of June.
-Check with your local Visitor's/Tourism/Convention Bureau ... then do the "tourist" thing. Do the activities and stuff that tourists do when they come to your city that you usually don't do, or think "I'll do that one of these days." Make it "one of these days." When we lived in Dallas, we found lots of fun things to do that way, including "50 Free Things to See and Do in Dallas!" Lots of fun.
-Make an "ABC scrapbook" with your kids. Give them a camera and go on a hunt for photos of things that start with each letter of the alphabet. (It CAN be done ... my oldest did all 26 letters in one excursion, including his "X-men" posted for the dreaded letter "X" ... let them take pictures of anything and everything ... people, parts of buildings, toys, other pictures ... it's neat to see how they see the world. And don't worry if the photos are crooked or out of focus. Then compile the photos in a small scrapbook/notebook, with one page for each letter. Kids can use stickers, write the words, etc. It's a fun activity - and they can learn about taking pictures, their alphabets, words, writing, etc ... all while having lots of fun

4 comments:

  1. love it, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great ideas and a beautiful picture of Ruth!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These are GREAT ideas! I get chills just thinking about some of the cool things. BUT, I can't focus. It's so hard for me! How do I do that? I just don't know where to start. Start by collecting some water proof toys, I guess!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amy, start by going to the dollar store :)

    Kim

    ReplyDelete