5 Free Activities to End The “I’m Bored” Complaints!
July 18, 2008 By Debbie Dragon
When I was a kid, I can remember looking forward to the “lazy days” of summer, and was pretty good at finding things to do to keep busy. My parents took my brother and I on several camping trips, but there would still be several weeks throughout every summer when we would find ways to entertain ourselves. As a parent myself now, sometimes I forget that activities and entertainment doesn’t have to cost a lot of money (or any money at all!) to be fun. Here are free activities that are sure to stop your kids from complaining they’re “bored” to finish out their summer vacations:
Make Your Own Slip and Slide
I know that there are a number of fancy slip and slide products on the market - some with splash pools at the end, some disguised in blow up slides and animal shapes. All you really need for a slip and slide is a piece of plastic (old tarp anyone?) and the garden hose. On a hot summer’s day, set the kids free in the backyard to get a little wet and slide around on the plastic for a couple hours.
Bike-In Movie Night
Invite the neighborhood kids over for a bike-in movie night. Pull the TV outside or set up your projection screen and watch a movie under the stars. It’s just enough of a change to keep the kids entertained, and it’s cheaper than going out to the drive-in theatre. Make your own popcorn, snacks and set up a cooler with drinks.
Make a Scrapbook
How many teachers start the beginning of each school year out asking the kids to write or share what they did over the summer? Probably all of them! On a rainy day, gather all the construction paper, stickers, crayons and craft supplies from their hiding places and set the kids to work on little scrapbooks about their summer vacations. If you have duplicate copies of photographs, let them add photos to their creations - if not, they can draw pictures to demonstrate what they did. Older children can practice their writing skills and include captions and short stories. Make it more fun by having a contest for “the most creative book cover”; “the most thoughtful journaling”; and other rewards - just be sure everyone wins something for their effort to keep it lighthearted and fun.
Clean Up The Environment and Cash-in
Take the kids (wearing rubber gloves) and some garbage bags around the neighborhood and pick up soda and beer cans and bottles. Not only does this help the environment and teach the kids the importance of picking up after themselves, but you can let the kids recycle the cans and bottles and spend the money on something from the dollar store.
Make A Lemonade Stand
Remember the days of the old lemonade stands? They are certainly not as popular as they once were, and it’s too bad because it’s a great learning activity for kids - and it’s fun! Make a “fancy” lemonade stand with cardboard:
1) Get a large cardboard box and turn it on it’s side so the opening is facing where the children will stand to sell their lemonade and the side of the box becomes the table top/sales counter.
2) Make two long columns with cardboard and attach them to the left and right side of the box. It should be tall enough that it’s well above the height of your children.
3) Across the top of the columns you’ve created, attach another piece of cardboard between them to make the sign- have the kids decorate the top with “lemonade for sale” or something similar so people know what the stand is. Kids can also paint or decorate the rest of the stand.
4) Pull your stand out in the front yard and set up shop!
Posted in children, education, entertainment, family, free stuff, friends, happiness, lifestyle, miscellaneous, parenting, recreation
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July 20th, 2008 at 8:58 am
[...] Debbie Dragon at American Consumer News has 5 Free Activities to end the “I’m Bored” complaints. [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
These are great ideas!
It’s timely too - my two nephews are visiting this week, and the older one sometimes says he is bored.
I remember my brother and I inventing our own games with empty cardboard boxes and things.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:29 am
[...] Paulson presents 5 Free Activities to End The “I’m Bored” Complaints! posted at American Consumer [...]
August 27th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I’m an artist and educator who backed into the reuse and recycle thing when I was teaching elementary art. My principal cut my budget from $1,000 to $250 per semester, so I resorted to using trash or solid waste as art materials. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it made me more resourceful and it stretched the kids’ imaginations, too. The following is background info about my children’s Web site, The Imagination Factory. I’d be honored for you to blog about the site or feature it as a link.
Thanks,
Marilyn J. Brackney
Artist/Teacher
In managing solid waste, the preferred order of handling it is to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Marilyn Brackney has reused materials since the beginning of her career as an artist and educator. While working as a public school teacher, she often resorted to using solid waste as art materials when she had no money to buy conventional supplies. She launched her art/reuse Web site, The Imagination Factory, in 1996, and since then, millions of people have visited, looking for inexpensive art ideas or ways to encourage kids to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Children’s Web Site Encourages Creative Reuse
If you were to search for the word imagination on Google, it’s likely that The Imagination Factory will be linked near the top of the millions of entries. Listed by the American Library Association as one of the best online resources for kids, the award winning site shows visitors how to make art using materials most people throw away. Some of the activities include drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, paper mache, marbling, and crafts.
A Trash Matcher links visitors with appropriate art activities that use the solid waste they have available, and a feature called the Badge Matcher allows Brownies, Girl Scouts and their leaders to quickly locate projects that help satisfy badge requirements. Visitors also learn how reusing materials can help save energy, natural resources, and landfill space. Trashasaurus Rex, a giant dinosaur made of everything from used toothpaste tubes to odd gloves serves as the site’s mascot.
Just introduced is a “Members Only” section, which includes twenty, new art/reuse activities, and a quarterly newsletter that provides ideas for saving money and Mother Earth. Members also have access to The Green Gallery, a showcase of art and fine crafts created by professional artists who reuse and recycle materials. Artwork featured includes assemblage, collage, dollmaking, fiber arts, furniture, jewelry, marbling, metalwork, mosaics, sculpture, and weaving.
Online for twelve years, The Imagination Factory was created by artist and teacher, Marilyn Brackney. A longtime advocate of reuse, she’s encouraged children to create art from solid waste since the first Earth Day celebration in 1970. She thinks teaching kids to reuse materials is a fun and entertaining way to foster environmental responsibility.
Brackney says, “I’m pleased to see that adults are starting to reuse and recycle, but I focus my attention on children, because they will more easily adopt these habits and incorporate them into their lifestyles. Kids are the ones who will make a difference in helping to save the environment.” The Imagination Factory is located at http://www.kid-at-art.com/.