On Friday, June 5, summer officially started for my family. I’ve been waiting for this day since March 30, the first day of distance-learning for our family's school district. That’s a lot of learning from home for us. Some called it homeschooling, but I know that this was not homeschooling. (Do I get an amen from my homeschooling families?) This was crisis-school. And honestly, I didn’t like it. It was hard!
But it’s over now (woohoo!) and summer is here. So now what?
Everything is closed/canceled/called off or modified in such a way that summer is just not the same. I see the blessing in this: nights and weekends are freed up and there’s not much of a need to coordinate schedules and carpools to get kids to day camps.
But there are still challenges. And one big one - the one that is like nails on a chalkboard - is the statement, “I’m bored.” (Oh, what I would give for some boredom myself!)
Usually, I reply, “Boredom is a choice. Find something to do.” Then I give a list of all the things they can do: Legos, puzzles, read, clean their room, fold the laundry, pick up sticks in the yard, ride their bikes, clean the toilets, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I’m pretty proud of that list, but my kids ... well, they want me to do better.
Break the Boredom Blues
So, in an effort to “do better,” I’ve compiled a list of things to break the boredom blues this summer. Don’t be overwhelmed. When distance-learning started a couple of months ago, I was inundated with suggestions of what do to with the kids. And maybe you were like me and just needed to get through their school work and my work. So these suggestions of what else to do did not help.
This is not that kind of list. And I fully realize that you can Google “what to do this summer with my kids” just as easily as I can. But here are 20 of my favorite ideas.
-
If you don’t already, bring back nap time. I suggest for 2 hours.
-
Create your own slip n’ slide. Get a big roll of plastic and make it happen. Like this: https://www.bobvila.com/articles/diy-slip-n-slide/
-
Have a bonfire. Ask kids to pretend they lived long ago and needed to gather firewood to help keep the house warm and cook food. Basically, this makes picking up sticks in the yard a bit more fun. Then celebrate their hard work by trying out new recipes for S'mores like these: https://sharedappetite.com/recipes/15-creative-smores-recipes/
-
Learn something new. Challenge everyone in the family to learn something that they are interested in but haven’t taken the leap to learn, such as calligraphy, making balloon animals, solving a Rubik's cube, learning about personality types, creating macaroni art. Set a goal and have fun!
-
Beach time in the bathtub - Get in swimsuits and take a bath.
-
Lego challenge – Every day challenge your kids to build something with Legos. This website has a downloadable calendar and other really cool ideas: https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/lego-challenge-calendar-ideas-kids/
-
Create a comic book with your family as the superheroes. You can find a lot of templates on Amazon. Don’t forget to go through Amazon Smile and choose Berean as your charity!
-
Visit as many playgrounds as you can and create a bracket for the best park in the area.
-
Go to Berean Kids YouTube to watch the Berean Kids Family Devotional. For additional content, open the Parent Prep email for links to videos and devotional guides.
-
Drive to Duluth. Eat lunch at Canal Park. Go back home.
-
PJ and Movie Day – watch movies from when you were a kid with your kids. All Day.
-
Save a bunch of cardboard boxes, pull them out and let your kids go wild with making cardboard creations. Give them tape and scissors too.
-
Celebrate a country - Select a country to “visit” for dinner. Research what food to make and what the ambiance should be. Then, do it!
-
Create a meme. Brainstorm a list of ideas, ask your kids to take selfies for those themes, and then make them.
-
Afternoon quiet (if naps don’t work) - Find some audiobooks for your kids to listen to while you take a break. My family is old-school, so we get books on CD for the kids to listen to from our library.
-
Create a “How Many?” list and ask your kids to find the answer. Suggestions: How many windows, light bulbs, doors, corners, cans of soup, shoes, doorknobs, etc do we have? This could keep them busy for a long time depending on how many items you have on the list. Reward them with a Popsicle afterward, but only after they count how many you have.
-
Go on a walk and pick up trash that you find. Wear gloves!
-
Bedroom Fort - Let your kids make a fort in their bedrooms or one bedroom using all the blankets, sheets, and card tables. Helpful hint: Use chip clips to hold blankets together. You could really go all out and string up Christmas lights inside!
-
Online learning - Yes, I know that we just spent a couple of months with online learning, but we need to keep these skills sharp. Ask your kids’ teachers if the apps that they used are still available in the summer or find your own. (I want to find one that teaches keyboard skills!)
-
Object Challenge - Give kids four items and challenge them to create something with them or write a story about them. Give them a set amount of time that they need to use to do the challenge. For an increased challenge, give them another object after they’ve been working for a bit.
Pinterest has tons of ideas. Local museums have ideas. The zoo has ideas. There are so many ideas out there. The most important thing to remember is this: Don’t freak out. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Boredom is okay.
Give your kids hugs. Tell them that you love them, that you’re proud of them, and that if you had the choice, you would always choose them to be your kids - every time. Tell them that you are so glad that God gave them to you and that God loves them more than you ever can.
Solidarity, parents - we got this!
