Has the B word been uttered in your house lately?
B-O-R-E-D. As in, “Mooooooooooom, I’m booooooooorrreeddddddddd.”
It’s usually accompanied with an eye roll and a dramatic fall on the floor. Or a plea for screen time. Which, yes, I cave to sometimes, but honestly, there is so much to do in life … boredom should never be a concern!
With my big kids in mind (an almost 9 year old girl and an almost 7 year old boy) I’ve been compiling a list of ideas to cure their boredom. Many of these ideas they can do with their younger siblings too.
I’m pretty sure they’ll never say, “I’m bored!” again! I know I wouldn’t be!
- Draw your favorite book character
- Color code a bookshelf
- Wash the sliding glass door
- FaceTime a friend (with permission from both parents, of course)
- Search Pinterest for a craft to do
- Post it note mom’s cookbooks for dinner, side dish, and dessert ideas
- Help a younger sibling finish a puzzle that is technically too hard for them
- Lay down and listen to music
- Find something outside to look at under the microscope
- Weed a flower bed
- Sweep the garage floor
- Run around the outside of the house
- Put library books on hold through the library website
- Make homemade play dough
- Ask a neighbor if they need help with anything
- Vacuum the car
- Memorize a poem
- Write a play with parts for each sibling and perform it after dinner
- Write a story and illustrate it
- Dust the baseboards
- Do a math practice page
- Or a math game
- Bake cookies for a parent’s coworker or a neighbor
- Attach a homemade card to the cookies
- Organize your closet – pick out things that don’t fit or that you don’t love
- Find leaves outside for a leaf rubbing
- Follow a watercolor tutorial (our favorites are from Let’s Make Art)
- Read aloud to a sibling
- Plan your next summer adventure – include an itinerary and budget
- Create a collage from old magazines
- Set up the sprinkler for outside water fun
- Turn on music for a dance party
- Start your Christmas list
- Build a tower with toothpicks and marshmallows
- Create an ABC list … ABC animals, ABC of things you love, ABC of favorite foods
- Go on a walk
- Sort everything under your bed
- Pick a bouquet
- Read a book in a dark room with a flashlight
- Set goals for the summer, next school year, in 5 years, etc.
- Write a letter to an older relative
- Take a bubble bath
- Create a fairy village
- Play a board game
- Teach a younger sibling how to do something new – skip, tie their shoes, do a fancy hairstyle, jump rope, count to ten in a different language
- Declutter a room
- Fold laundry … or match socks
- Plan a family outing
- Watch a movie from your parent’s childhood
- Spend ten minutes being quiet and observing with your five senses
- Make greeting cards
- Find something to sell
- Find something to give away
- Change your bed sheets
- Write an animal report (my kids love this free one)