Summer Boredom Busters??

[jacksmom]

Hi! I am trying to come up with some budget ideas to keep kids busy this summer! I was just wondering if anyone has any good craft sites or craft ideas to share? Thanks!

 

[PaulDavid's mom]

Oh this is a good question! I would like some ideas too. Anyone have any??

 

[CrazedDisFan]

Tye dying is very fun. It can be done fairly cheaply. Remember you can tye dye old shirts that you have around the house.

Also, please check out a local zoo. We can purchase a family membership at our zoo that offers is like $65 for the year with free parking and 10% off all purchases. We buy the zoo cups and they can be refilled each visit. We make many, many zoo trips each summer and pack picnic lunches. After the initial expense, it's basically a free day.

Our community offersfree library programs. This summer they are offering cool program where the kids will learn a ton. The library is bringing in fruit bats and other interesting animals.

I also suggest going to a nearby rest area or large gas station that has brochures on local activities. You may find some interesting and cheap things in your local community you never knew were there.

 

[Bibbidi]

Both Rave Motion Pictures and Regal Cinemas offer free G rated movies for kids during the summer. Here in Ohio the Rave has movies every Tues/Wed at 10 am and Regal is similar with it's schedule. They're all movies that were recently in theaters. Great way to beat the heat or the rain in the summer.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Check around your community to see if there are any free tours. My kids have toured the fire station, the police station, the town greenhouse, the water filtration plant, and a chocolate factory.

Many libraries have summer programs with stories and crafts for free.

Are your kids interested in nature? I've done nature journals with mine, where they watch for birds, animals and plants each day (even if it's just in our own backyard) and then (depending on the child's age) write down what it was they saw, or draw a picture to help identify it, maybe what they saw it doing (eg a cardinal building a nest), etc. You can help them look them up online to identify them. It makes a nice record at the end of the summer of what they've seen.

Do they like to colour? There are many websites that have colouring pages on different themes.

Teresa

 

[wildfan1473]

My kids and I are going to try tye-dyeing from an article I found in Martha Stewart Living

We are also going to try to make our own ice cream.

We also have great library programs, and our community has a weekly concert series in the park on Wednesday nights for free.

I second the zoo membership - it is a great investment if you are close to a zoo.

If you like the outdoors, REI has a great journal for kids that you can download and print. I have a book I found at Sam's Club, Hiking in Minnesota with Kids, that lists lots of kid-friendly hikes that have been tried by a mom with her kids. We also have a nature center near by, and lots of state parks.

If your kids like sports, check out local team websites for special events. Our family is a bunch of sport-a-holics, and the Minnesota Wild will be having their summer caravan next week, with some players coming to our town, so we will be heading over there! On Sundays, we can take the kids to the Twins baseball games for free, and they can run the bases after the game. We also have 2 local amateur baseball teams we can see for free.

 

[summerrluvv]

www.familyfun.com has a lot of great craft ideas, etc.

 

[binny]

Family fun is great as is

http://crafts.kaboose.com/


http://www.freekidscrafts.com/


http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/kids-crafts-aloha.cfm

www.starfall.com has some great activities for the kids. This is one the kids' teachers always recommend.


And for out of the house stuff here is what we are doing.



don't forget the library!


We just went to this one for the first time in 2 years and was amazed at how much they had going on! Between keeping track of their reading to get prizes (which can be double dipped at B&N and Borders for their programs) and all of the free movies, story times and puppet shows they could keep busy 3 or 4 days of the week with that stuff alone. they also offer a lot of stuff for teens!


Also our community offers free movies in the park as well as concerts usually once or twice a month at least.



try whatever parks and Rec has to offer too. DS will be taking a cooking class at the local extension for $25, its only a week long but hey that is one less I have to worry about.


Local pools are pretty cheap too.


Of course we will be doing a lot of just chilling out as well. This has been a really stressful year for everyone and we just need the time to relax.

If you don't mind looking around at local churches you can see what VBS programs are going on. I know a lot of people who go to several during the summer. They're either invited by other kids or just go to see what is going on at churches. Its a great way for the kids to make new friends as well.

 

[westjones]

Water Balloons keep my kids entertained for quite a while. They cost about $2 for a package and they get about 3 times from a package (less is a lot of kids show up also).

DJ

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

I'm not sure how old your kids are but try...

www.crayola.com and www.michaels.com .

 

[binny]

bump for a similar request on page one

 

[iheartdisney]

How old are your kids?
Mine are 5,4, and 2, and I've bought myself a HUGE chunk of housekeeping time with a new play-doh set.
Also summer-only things:
*bubbles
*sidewalk chalk
*sand box (be prepared for the bathtub to look like the beach)
water sprinklers (don't mix with the sand box!)

OH! And we went fishing for memorial day...and the leftover bait became our new pet worms! You would be surprised how entertaining it is to dig through a box of mud for some worms!

 

[Plantlady]

http://www.thetoymaker.com/

It is printables for paper toys that you make yourself.

 

[dare2dream]

Do you live near a Regal Cinema? During the summer they offer FREE showings of kids movies. Check out this link.

I have never attended this but I imagine it can get crazy so make sure you get there good and early.

 

[LSUDis]

If you live near grandparents. . .

my mother is going to teach my daughter to can food (she's 10)

my father is always trying to get my DS12 to learn to garden with him.

maybe they could do a project in which they interview older people around the neighborhood about what their lives were like growing up--Keep the kids busy and provide interactions for shut-ins/older folks AND provide info. for a bang-up social studies/science fair for next school year.

If they are nearing junior high/high school age, the summer is a great time to volunteer (good for college resumes). Nothing huge necessary--just mow older people's lawns, help serve at church/senior center functions, help out at daycares?, bathe dogs at Humane Societies, dogwalk for neighbors, cook and share with neighbors, plan/decorate for a very simple kids' party, learn to knit/crochet.

--all depends on the age of the kids

 

[jacksmom]

Thanks for all the ideas! My kids are ds11 and dd2! So, I need ideas for a wide variety of ages! Sometimes it is hard to keep them both busy, though ds does spend a lot of time with his friends! But, as soon as he does not have playmate I hear the "I'm bored!" We do have a community pool and an above ground pool in the backyard. Both kids love the water! Plus ds will be going to 2 sports day camps! But, I am always looking for more ideas (there is nothing worse than 2 bored kids)!

 

[nannerbadnanner]

A friend of mine has been telling me about letterboxing. I had never heard of it, but it sounds really fun. Check out www.letterboxing.org

 

[PaulDavid's mom]

Found this thread, and thought I would bump it up! We could all use some good ideas!

 

[Grumpy140]

AMC theatre's offers a MOVIE CAMP on Wednesday that is either free or $1.00 to watch a newer movie. The kids love it.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

These are things for older kids, but:

1. Make 2 models of the solar system.

A. Find the diameter of each of the planets and the sun and figure out how big you'd need to draw each to be able to cut and paste a model of the sizes on your bedroom wall. (Note: The Sun will take up an entire wall and dinky planets like Venus and Mercury will be itsy little things.)

B. Find the distance between the planets and figure out how many inches to millions miles you'd need to make a distance model of the solar system. Measure out in string inches to millions of miles between planets, putting markers at each planet. Roll up the ball of string and go outside and use a block or two to unfurl the string. This will do more than anything to impress upon a kid the distances between the planets. (Even adults will go by with this look of "Dang! I did NOT know the solar system was THAT big!")

I am told you can do similar things with molecule models made out of fruit and toothpicks, but chem wasn't my thing so we never did that. . .


2. Make your own pottery.

You can find websites and books that describe how to find clay on the banks of creeks, then turn it into the kind of clay or slip that's used in making pottery (beware your current pots - you need grog, ground up old pottery, to make new pottery!) and then fire it in a garbage can kiln. This will pretty much take up an entire summer if the kids are interested -but it's only for older kids. Still, it's satisfying to turn clumps of dirt into slip through long and tedious watery outside processes, and then form pots using all the various methods (ball and coil mostly) and then try to fire pots (many of 'em will shatter in firing, but that's part of the fun - you've made GROG for your next attempt!)

3. Gardening expirements

Buy beans and corn. Put them in papertowels and see how they sprout. Put them on the glass facing of water glasses, shoved in with papertowels and watch the little plants grow.

buy sweet potatoes, pineapples, potatoes, carrots - you can grow plants from all of these as well. And, you can plant them in flower beds and watch 'em grow!

4. Make your own movies

Collect old costumes, go to thrift stores for old formals and old wedding dresses and fun clothes. Set up a video camera to a computer and let the kids make their own movies. They'll have to learn scripting and shooting and acting and dressing up. This can also devour entire decades of summers. (Warning: You'll have to sit through the masterpieces. Several times. And break up catfights between budding little starlets who all think they should be the romantic lead!)

5. Buy a Wal-mart pool
Kids will swim in these things all summer if allowed to do so.

6. The library is your friend. There are great programs and it's all FREE! Plus you can pick up a ton of books full of good ideas to make the summer fly by.

No, I don't have kids, but I've babysat and babysat and babysat when much, much younger. I didn't want MY summer ruined, so I figured out fun things that took up entire WEEKS of time that I didn't mind doing with them. . .