So, what do you guys do all summer when you're trapped inside day in and day out. I'm here to pick your creative brains.
I don't know how many times I've heard the phrase "I'm bored, what can I do now?" and then "What else?.... What else? ....What else?" I can't blame them for feeling this way, I too get bored doing the same thing over and over. But now I understand why my mom would often say "Well, I have a list of chores here if you can't use your creativity." Of coarse we had a ton of siblings around my age to play with. Tyson and Saydee aren't quite on the same wave length.
I did find some fun innovative activities and crafty things for kids on the Internet but most of them require my help or constant supervision, which are great for when I can. But if you can relate its those times when I can't give my undivided attention that seems to be the problem. I guess play dates, Lego's and action figures can only take you so far. So if any of you have any ideas, no matter how seemingly simple, I'd love some suggestions.
12 years ago
5 comments:
Ok, this is one we did the other day and my boys thought it was a lot of fun. We used paint but you could use colored paper and than just "paint" with water. We used different vegetables as our paint brushes - celery leaves (can also use the end as a stamp), cilantro, cut potato as a stamp, cut carrot as a stamp or use the leaves as a paint brush. The possibilities are endless. My boys thought it was so silly to be painting with vegetables but they had a good time.
And if all else fails, there is always play-doh. :)
Good luck!
Can you get Heath to find a big box somewhere? Like a fridge or stove box? My kids loved playing in them for hours on end, castles, forts, hide and see, let their imaginations go with it. If not big ones then smaller ones that they can pretend to be cars or machinery, let them paint them up the way they want. You can even cut holes in them for their feet, poke holes in the side, thred string so as to make sholder straps so they can carry them and race each other(sort of like the Flintstones). They could take objects and hide in the house and then give each other clues on what they are looking for. This one needs a little supervison but once Tyson gets the hang of it he can help Saydee do it. You take small amounts of paint, put them on a paper plate, take a piece of string, yarn, whatever you have and put string in the different colors so the string has multi colors on it. Take a piece of paper, colored or white, fold it in the middle and then put the string in the fold and have them pull the string out of the fold while applying a little resistance. The pictures come out really cute, just abstract designs but fun all the same. I will try to keep thinking of things. I'll ask Tysha, she's real good at this stuff.
Lots of luck.
Love you all so very much.
I am thinking. I got on to post about the box fort thing but mama Tree already used that one. I will get back to you!
Hey I nominated you for a blog award. Go to my blog for details
Jen
When Malcolm was about 8 months old, I was complaining to my sister that he was just so fussy all the time. She gave me the suggestion that I give him a plastic shopping bag to play with. Now normally this would not be a good idea of course, but if you’re sitting right there in the same room it’s really not a big deal. Well, I tried it, and sure enough it kept him occupied for about half an hour. Why am I telling you this, when your kids are obviously much too old for shopping-bags-as-entertainment? Well, one thing I’ve learned over the years is that if I give my kids something to play with that they’re not normally allowed to play with, and if I’m close by but not 100% supervising, they enjoy themselves quite well.
So, maybe a deck of cards that you wouldn’t minding losing a few out of; or a pan full of dry beans with cups and funnels; a roll of masking tape; a pan full of oats and scoopers and toy cars; flashlights (this is a particular fave at our house!); a bucket of winter hats and gloves; dominoes; post-it notes; paper towel tubes and cars; small buckets of water and a paintbrush (we let them “paint” our sidewalk, but you could always let them paint your balcony or something—something that will get darker when wet).
Also, when Malcolm was about 18 months old he loved it when I would fill a big dishpan full of soapy water and then I’d give him a couple of sponges, a scrub brush, and a bunch of our plastic dishes. I’d put a towel down in the middle of the kitchen floor with the dishpan in the middle of it.
Another thing he loved at that age was a metal food-storage can I had that I cut a whole in the plastic lid. I gave him baby food jar lids to drop in there and it was just noisy enough to be entertaining.
One thing my kids do now—I think someone else mentioned this—is that Malcolm hides an object in the room and Summer finds it and then they take turns. My other game for Malcolm that I can do while I’m sitting down and feeding the baby is “I Spy.”
I have a lot of things in the top of the boys closet that I only get out on special occasions (like when they’re driving me crazy)—playdough; some puzzles; alphabet magnets for the fridge; etc.
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