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🌞☀️ Summer Fun Alert! 🌞☀️ Are you ready to banish those dreaded words, “I’m bored,” from your kids’ vocabulary this summer? 🎉 I’ve put together the ultimate list of activities guaranteed to keep young minds engaged, bodies moving, and creativity flowing all season long! From outdoor adventures to indoor escapades, there’s something for every kid to enjoy. Let’s dive in and make this summer the most memorable one yet! 🚀
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Note: I put this list together during the 2020 lock down and it came in handy when my son and got Covid and had to spend two weeks in quarantine. When we were finally ‘free” he said:
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“Mom, I’m sad that quarantine is done. We made so many memories.”
Luke, age 7
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Thankfully, the lockdown is long gone, but this list remains incredibly useful for those moments when boredom strikes and you’re in need of some inspiration! Plus, it’s an added bonus that you’ll make ‘so many memories’ along the way!!
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1. Draw a Picture and/or write a letter
Set out Pencils, markers, water color, or crayons and blank paper or coloring books.
Draw pictures and write letters to family and friends!
Click here to purchase a “How to Draw” book on Amazon.
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2. Read a book
- Go to the library and allow your kids to explore!
- Find books that will pique your child’s curiosity.
- Most early readers (and pre-readers) enjoy comic-strip style books.
- Set a timer so your kids know that it’s “reading time.”
- Ask an older child to read to a younger child – or –
- Read a few pages of a chapter book to your kids. The “Who Was” series is great!
- My 12 year old son and I recently finished Front Desk and he LOVED it and kept asking me to read more.
- We read Little House on the Prairie in 2020 and laughed at how similar the “little house life” and “quarantine life” are!
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3. Tell/ write a story
- My fourth grade teacher once gave us the title “The Entire City Lends a Hand” and had the class each write their own story. Read a rendition of that here.
- Give your kids a title and let them write!
- Title ideas: The first day of school! Best Vacation Ever, If I were President, Undersea Adventure, You Won’t Believe what Happened!
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4. Make a book
Buy blank books from amazon or use a notebook you have on hand.
Have your kids write a little each day about what they are doing during the summer. (It will be interesting to look back on these journals in the future!)
Another option: Have your kids write 1 thing they are grateful for each day.
Be sure to have them add the date and their name.
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5. Start a Gratitude Journal
Thinking about our blessings and what we are grateful for is extremely helpful in building resiliency! I researched journals a few months ago and decided to purchase this simple one for George. I’ve loved watching him open this up (without prompting), and write what he’s grateful for!
Research suggests that keeping a gratitude journal can boost your health and happiness.
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6. HOME EC – Cook together
- My boys love helping make any type of dessert. But they are also good “sous” chefs – peeling potatoes and carrots, etc.
- Teaching kids how to cook builds confidence in them and is a huge help once they know what to do.
- Here is an easy recipe for – Personal Pizzas
Here’s a post about the benefits of cooking together
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7. Balloon games
- It’s crazy how much joy a simple balloon can bring.
- Blow up balloons and work together to keep them from touching the ground.
- Use a string/rope/crepe paper across the living room and play “tennis” or “volleyball.”
- Use a tennis racket outside with a balloon.
- My son’s love this balloon rocket from amazon!
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8. Go Park Hopping!
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9. Clean together
- There are so many benefits to giving your kids household chores and teaching them to clean!
- Some bigger things we are working on together – the basement, baseboards, and cleaning our cars.
- Smaller things the kids can do – a junk drawer, the pantry, baseboards, wiping lower cabinets, all door handles, appliance handles, pulling weeds, folding and putting away laundry, bathroom, bedroom, their closet, and loading/unloading dishwasher.
- I offered my kids a quarter to whoever could wipe down the baseboards and bring me back the dirtiest wet wipe.
Click here for a “chore chart” idea!
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10. Dino Dig
My boys love uncovering a treasure, your kid will too!
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11. Make some homemade gifts
Friendship bracelets are back! (Thank you T.Swift)
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12. Play Hide and Seek
Take turns hiding – or – Hide a stuffed animal. Say “hotter/colder” when they are getting closer or further.
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13. Play bean bag games
- Toss back and forth
- Toss in buckets, pans, or boxes
- Play “keep away!”
- For bean bag toddler games, CLICK HERE.
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14. Scavenger hunt
- Print the list pictured above for an indoor hunt
- Write a list of things to find or print a list from Pinterest for an outdoor hunt
- Kids can create their own hunt around the house with “clues”
- Here’s a list I created.
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15. Puzzles
- Do a Puzzle together
- Puzzle races: 1. Time your kids and see how fast they can put a small puzzle together. 2. If you have two 50-100 piece puzzles, race to see who can put them together faster.
- Optional Money-saving tip: Trade puzzles with your neighbors or buy some used ones! Dollar store sells some too!
- Get a new puzzle from Amazon, or trade with friends.
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16. Paint by Sticker
This sticker book has over 5000 5-star reviews! I got this for my son for Christmas and I see why it has so many positive reviews. We love it! The pictures turn out so pretty you could frame them!
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17. Sidewalk chalk
- Lay down and trace each other – then decorate with clothes, faces, etc.
- Write a verse or word of encouragement for passers-by
- Use tape and color in the spaces like stained glass (pictured above)
- Color rocks around your house
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18. Create an Indoor or outdoor Obstacle course
- Create one in your yard, basement or around your house.
- There are tons of games you can play with cones and bean bags!
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19. Have a Spa Day!
Facials, paint nails, do hair, etc.
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20. Spot It
This is a fun game for kids ages 4 and up!
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21. Don’t Eat Pete Game
Click here for instructions
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22. Play games with a Jump Rope
- Do competitions to see who can go the longest without tripping. It’s great exercize and FUN!
- I definitely recommend you purchase the segmented jump ropes (pictured above). We bought several so we could all jump rope together.
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23. Build with legos or megablocks
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24. Do a craft together
- Lots of ideas on Pinterest
- Paint by numbers are for sale on Amazon and Hobby Lobby
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25. Memorize a poem or verse together.
- Click here for a list of our favorites
- Print verses and hang around the house to practice and memorize.
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26. Build an arcade game out of boxes.
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27. Play with Cheerios
- Allow your kids to string Cheerios or Fruit Loops for an edible necklace
- Stack cheerios on Spaghetti noodles
- With older kids – turn this into a race!
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28. Play a board game
- How many board games do you have that you NEVER play? NOW is the time to blow the dust off and play!
- The boys received “No Stress Chess” as a Christmas gift a few years ago. This set helps you learn how to play chess. Now my boys love the game!
- We also enjoy Chutes and Ladders, Battleship, Monopoly, Life and Guess Who?
- Click here for a list of our family’s favorite games.
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29. Spike Ball
- My son Clark just got this game for his 11th birthday. My boys love it. It’s best for ages 8 and up.
- When it’s too cold to play outside, this game can be played in a living room or basement.
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30. Play charades or download the HEADS UP app
- Even little ones can play this game. Whisper what you want them to “act” out and let the sibling(s) guess.
- The Heads Up app is lots of fun.
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31. Build a fort
- Put blankets over your dining table – or
- Use boxes, or pillows and blankets.
- Read a story in the fort!
- “Go on a Bear Hunt“
- Decorate with Christmas lights!
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32. Create or Buy Kinetic Sand or Play Doh
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33. Exercise!
- Follow a youtube exercise video
- Family Bootcamp
- Run around your house for 5 or more minutes. I don’t know about your kids – but my kids NEED to burn energy in a healthy way or they start getting mischievous!
- If we are outside, I challenge my kids to a foot race so that we can BOTH burn energy and get exercise.
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34. Play some backyard games
- Duck Duck Goose
- Balloon Bounce – Kids lay down (or sit down) and have to work together to keep balloon(s) in the air.
- Red Rover, Red Rover
- Red Light, Green Light
- Tag
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35. Have a unique conversation
Has months of summer left you with nothing else to talk about than how bored you are? Then you NEED this set of cards.
Each card asks interesting questions for your family to answer or discuss. My kids ask for us to pull the cards out whenever we sit down to eat. One time my kids were eating alone and my oldest son pulled the questions out to ask his little brothers. I LOVED listening to their conversation!
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36. Have a “What’s in the Box?” Challenge
- Cut holes a in box
- Choose an item to put inside
- Allow someone to reach their hand inside the box and “guess” what it is.
- Take turns finding items to hide, then guessing “What’s in the Box?”
Click here to watch the Egly boys’ challenge. They’d love for you to subscribe to their channel.
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37. Homemade Tap Shoes
Sorry parents, this one’s noisy! It’s so easy, though, and will keep your kids busy.
Simply tape coins to the bottom of your child’s shoe. Voila, homemade tap shoes.
Get them to come up with a tap-dancing routine, rehearse it and record their final performance (bring your own earmuffs).
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38. Look at old photos
Take out your photo albums or pull up pictures on your computer and enjoy!
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39. Build a Marble Maze / Labrynth
Your kids can use an empty box.
Glue straws to the bottom to create a maze.
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40. Card Games
Play “War” with the classic deck of cards.
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41. Play “Minute to Win It”
Click here for 10 fun games to play with your family
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42. Practice an instrument
Piano, keyboard, xylophone, harmonica, recorder or drums…make it a family band. Look on Youtube for free lessons.
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43. Blow bubbles
Make some bubbles using dish washing soap, water, and sugar (for consistency).
Or check out these “bubble gloves” on amazon.
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44. Make a flip motion animation book
Kids can learn how to make a flipbook animation in less than 5 minutes. All you need is a pen and a stack of notecards, paper, or a sticky note pad. This video is a great and very quick tutorial.
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45. Play Simon Says or Follow The Leader
- Have each child take a turn being the leader
- Walk all around your house
- Do jumps, turns, stop to hug dad, etc.
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46. Ice excavating
Place some toys in a bowl of water and Freeze. Let the kids dig them out.
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47. Build a volcano
Click here for instructions
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48. Make Ice Cream
If you have milk and sugar, your kids can make their own ice cream! Click here for the recipe!
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49. Nerf guns
Shoot at targets – I made some targets with construction paper and held them in place with play doh.
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50. Jokes
Get a joke book from Amazon, or search for kid’s jokes on the internet and entertain each other!
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51. Create Salt Dough Figures
Click here for instructions
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52. Play “Would you Rather?”
Click here for questions!
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53. Create “Ramp Races”
A really fun and simple activity that can act as a physics lesson and opportunity for an experiment. Make a simple ramp using cardboard or a piece of wood, and roll different objects down: measure how far they go, how fast they roll, or hold races between different kinds of balls to see which wins!
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54. Leaf or Texture rubbings
Find leaves, grass, and other flat-ish items and put them under paper. Color over them.
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55. Take an aimless drive.
- Listen to a podcast or the radio.
- Go through the drive through for ice cream or dinner.
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Bonus Idea: Create a “I’m Bored” Jar:
- Print the 55 options listed above, cut apart each idea, and put them in a container. If your kids say ‘I’m Bored’ – have them pull a paper from the jar and complete that activity.
- It’s OKAY for your kids to be bored and figure it out too! Boredom leads to creativity! Clark was bored when he created his own Cardboard Arcade!
- Boredom leads to new inventions. I look forward to what will be thought up during this quarantine!
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Do you have an idea? Leave a comment!
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