subject: Summertime Fun Box For Kids [print this page] School is out for the summer. Your kids are past the first week of having fun and feeling the freeness that the summer break gives. They are coming to you and complaining they are bored. There's nothing to do. What can you do? They have lots of toys, some hardly played with, so you suggest they play with those. They don't want to.
You have laundry to do, dinner to make, and bills to pay. Feeling overwhelmed your ready to throw up your arms and do nothing. You just wish you had a little time of boredom on your hands. You can think of lots of things you would like to do, if only you had some extra time.
Back to the kids, what can they do? When you have a break in your schedule, sit down with your kids, and brainstorm together things they can do when they get bored. Write all their ideas on paper. Brace yourself for some odd things to come out, but write them down anyway. This is a brainstorming activity and no idea should be dismissed, or made fun of. Explain that when you are done brainstorming all of you will go through each item to see if it is possible to do. Encourage them to think of things that don't cost money. This will be challenging for some. I expect that a trip to Disneyland will be top on their list. But write it down even if you know it's impossible.
If they are having a hard time coming up with ideas, start them off with something fun like making a tent out of old blankets in the back yard, make sock puppets, and put on a puppet show. Once they understand what you are after it will become easier for them to come up with ideas.
Encourage them to think of things to do as a family and things for them to do by themselves. This list will help you plan weekend family outings that you might not have thought of. This list might become quite long.
Once you have a list of items, start at the top and talk about each one to understand what the child meant when mentioning it. There will be quite a few ideas that won't make the cut, and you will need to explain to them why. For example, it might be something that costs too much money or you don't have the time to go on a trip to visit an out of state relative. If a trip to the moon is in order, explain that's not possible but you can take them to the library to find out more about the moon and what it would be like to visit it. Be creative with their ideas, even if they sound way out there.
Once you have a list made, have your children write them down on index cards. (This will give them writing practice.) If you find there are several outside items and several inside items, you can teach your kids how to categorize the cards. Some categories might be; sports/games, garden/nature, food, short trips/vacation, and beach.
Find a sturdy box, perhaps a shoe box and have the kids decorate it. This will be their special place to keep their cards. They may want to give the box a special name to identify it.
Just the fact that this will take a little time will keep them from being bored. They will be excited to decorate the box and look forward to the activities they helped plan. The summer will now be more fun and exciting. By doing this you have provided a real learning time by teaching them brainstorming techniques along with list and category making. These are skills they will use for a lifetime.
by: Donna Randol
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