?I'm so bored!? blues | Bing Note | Inspiring Children

50 solutions for the??I?m so bored!? blues ? Guest Post by?Shara Lawrence-Weiss

With various school holidays always around the corner, I like to keep a list of ideas handy for when my kids say, ?I?m so bored!?

Here is the list of possible budget-minded (primarily) ?Things to do on school breaks? :

1. Wake up and make breakfast together (my kids love crepes and bacon)
2. Have a family read-a-thon
3. Play board games or card games or work on puzzles together
4. Visit a museum ? art, historical, etc
5. Plan a scavenger hunt at a local park, or around your home
6. Plan a play-date with friends
7. Go to the mall to play at the play-center, and later share and pretzel and drink at the food court
8. Go to Starbucks and enjoy a cold vanilla frap
9. Go fishing (my favorite thing to do!). Every state has a different rule regarding the age limit for free fishing. Check your state website for details.
10. Sign your child up for a basketball, flag football, baseball or soccer camp
11. Sign your child up for art, music, or drawing lessons (many local Rec Centers offer classes for a nominal fee)
12. Collect pine cones and make peanut-butter bird feeders (visit enchantedlearning.com for an example)
13. Plan a ?date? with each of your children, rotating parents, allowing your child to choose the location (within reason, of course)
14. Attend a symphony or musical or play (not so budget-minded!)
15. Go to a cheap movie at a discount cinema
16. Go on a bike ride and explore a new area
17. Play basketball, football, or soccer at a local park or greenbelt
18. Plant an herb garden together with things like parsley, basil and chives
19. Visit a farm or petting zoo
20. Buy a disposable camera and allow your child to take photos around your home, or during an outing to the park or farm, etc
21. Visit various kid-friendly websites to find games and interactive activities
22. Get a bug catcher and go outside to explore and find bugs (we got one at Wal-Mart for about $4. You can purchase higher-end ones at the Discovery Store)
23. Tape record you and your kid/s singing silly songs (they will love playing them back later on!)
24. Go to the library and check out books together, or use the computers there for no charge (of course, there may be a waiting list)
25. Visit a local college to explore and explain to your child/ren the value of a good education
26. Go swimming (there are lots of large local pools located at local Jr. Highs and other schools, many with water slides. Most of these pools charge about $1-$2 to get in)
27. Have a ?write your own story? day where each family member creates a book using household items, personally written and illustrated
28. Volunteer at a local homeless shelter or a shelter for battered women or pregnant teens (some of these shelters are looking for volunteers to come in and teach a craft or trade).
29. Start a diaper drive with friends, neighbors or church members (call your local crisis pregnancy center for ideas)
30. Start up a canned food drive and donate items to a local shelter or food bank
31. Go to garage sales (my son?s all-time favorite thing to do!)
32. Have your own garage sale to get rid of the extra clutter
33. Finger paint or have a ?Craft Day?
34. Build sand castles in a sandbox or sandlot
35. Visit a local craft store to purchase sale items, good for creating homemade crafts
36. Give your child a set amount of cash and go to the Dollar Store for a lesson in budget spending. Be sure to explain if each item has tax, and allow your child to figure out how much they can get with the money you have given them (or that they have retrieved from their piggy bank)
37. Sort coins or noodles or buttons for a lesson in counting
38. Put together a family collage of photos to hang on the wall
39. Cut out a large star from poster board. Using your child?s name, title the star, ?Katy is a STAR!? etc. Work with your child to decorate the star with photos and words that describe your child and what they like to do. Hang the star wherever you like.
40. Go to the zoo (one of the not so budget-minded ideas, unless you have a membership)
41. Go to your local Science Center (again, not so budget-minded without a membership)
42. Visit the batting cages at a local facility (another not so budget-minded idea)
43. Plan a tea-party for your child and their friends
44. Sit and relax while watching a movie together
45. Have a slumber party night with your kids; complete with junk food, movies, and games
46. Make homemade soap together (we get the glycerin at Michael?s Craft Store and small toys to put inside the molds at the Dollar Store ? you can usually find a pack of small plastic toys with a count of 5-10. You can also find packs at Big Lots and Wal-Mart)
47. Build a Lego-town with Legos
48. Run through a sprinkler in the back or front yard
49. Go roller-skating or roller-blading
50. Have a sack-race in the backyard

About the Author:?

Shara Lawrence-Weiss is a dear friend of mine and the owner of Mommy Perks, Kids Perks and Personal Child Stories. She has a background in early childhood, nanny work, published freelance, marketing and special needs. ?She has three beautiful children with a 4^th?one on the way soon.? She also runs ??www.EarlyChildhoodNews.net?and?www.ReliableBloggers.com?.

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