Summer boredom buster activities
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Are your kids killing you with the I’M bored and What should we do?? Covid has not helped and my kids are needing something to do. SO I set out searching for some boredom busters for those summer afternoons.
First off, perler beads. We got our first beads for Easter, and they are STILL a favorite for killing boredom. When Ethan has watched ONE too many youtube videos about Minecraft and I want to pull my hair out, I can just pull these out and the kids can be creative. (vintage trailer perler bead pattern from THE SCRAP SHOPPE BLOG).
These beads have been a hit for both kiddos, I love playing with them, and we even got dad to join in once to create…so that is a win at our house. AND I just found THIS fun blog post about creating Minecraft figures from beads and THIS one on making Minecraft keychains…so that is going to make me a boy mom hero for sure!!! I also have a whole Pinterest board HERE full of perler bead crafts…and even a HOW TO on ironing the beads correctly:)
Next up, Brick Loot. Brick Loot is a fun subscription box for the Lego lovers in your life. Each kit has a fun theme and contains surprise figurines and kits that you can only get through Brickloot. We recently got a SUPER fun Wild West themed kit and it was fun for both Emmy and Ethan to put together. PLUS, there is JUST something so fun for kids about getting something in the mail with THEIR name on it. Subscription box days are some of the best days of the month at our house:)
Check out our Brick Loot un-boxing video here to see how cute this Wild West Kit was…those horses were my FAVORITE!!!
And my FAVORITE summer boredom buster activity of them all, Usborne activity books. I have no problems getting Emersyn to read over the Summer, but Ethan is a VERY reluctant reader, so getting him to sit down to read a book is almost a daily battle. BUT getting him to sit down and work on fun activities…while also reading (sneaky mom trick) is no trouble at all.
He loves these Bear Grylls adventure activity books because they are alllllll about outdoor adventures, animals, and fun facts (and I like that they are under $5). Beastly Bugs and Dangerous Animals have been Ethan’s favorites so far. And in my cart for next time are the Bear Grylls coloring books. Even at 9, Ethan needs to work on his coloring skills, and I love that each page also has facts about the animals and the countries they live in…perfect for older kids!! My goal is JUST to get him to use his brain for at least a FEW minutes per day during the Summer…haha.
Deal alert: you can get 3 activity books combined with a coloring book in the Wild Animal Activity book and In The Wild activity book and save $5.00 off of the full retail price of all 4 books.
Soooo THAT is how we are attempting to beat boredom during this crazy pandemic summer. It is a daily struggle to keep them off TV and tablets, but having plenty of fun summer activities around for them to keep their brains busy seems to be helping. Another fun idea for those of you (like us) who are still in the lower phases (phase 1.5 here in WA), is to pick an activity and have a friendly zoom challenge. For example, Ethan hosted a zoom challenge with his friends to create a Lego boat. They all just created together and chatted and then shared their creations. They could all create with perler beads, draw the same thing, color a picture, create fancy fingernail art, practice a fun hairstyle, build with blocks, watercolor, bake, frost cookies, make friendship bracelets…the list is endless. For our youth group activity we had a zoom pancake making challenge that was SUPER fun. The girls were all in their own homes, but creating pancakes using the same theme. Keeping kids busy over Summer is always a challenge, but adding in a pandemic has REALLY made it difficult this year. Share your favorite summer boredom busting activities in the comments for everyone to enjoy and have a wonderful summer friends. Let’s chat soon. Jess
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