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Picture this, you’re mid-way through the summer enjoying the nice weather and longer days when your child comes up to you with that dreaded statement, “I’m bored, I have nothing to do.”
How many of us have heard this before? Luckily there are plenty of activities that you can do, both indoors and outdoors to keep your children entertained and more importantly having a blast. Below is a list of ideas for some summer activities that you can do to beat boredom struggle.
• Hold a family talent show. Have the kids show off their skills, it can be as simple as telling a few jokes or as elaborate as a choreographed dance with costumes.
• Create an outdoor scavenger hunt. You can keep it in your own backyard or expand your area and use your whole neighborhood. If you didn’t want to have the children look for something specific, you can use more broad terms like “find something yellow or find something squishy,” etc…
• Host a picnic lunch. Instead of having your lunch at your kitchen table, grab a blanket or towel and enjoy your lunch outside. You could even go to a nearby park as well.
• Create a time capsule. Have each member of your family choose or make something that signifies this time in their lives and place them in a box to be locked away. You can even write a little about why these items were chosen. Just be sure to explain to your children that these items won’t be seen for a very long time.
• Stargaze at night. Use your daylight hours to research major constellations and then see if you can find them in the night sky.
• Make homemade freeze pops. These are tasty and a perfect treat for staying cool in the summer heat. Find a recipe online that best suits your child’s tastes. Most recipes are very simple as well.
• Plant something. Plant some seeds, a flower or some vegetables and see how they grow and change over time. If you don’t have room outside in a garden you can plant in an upcycled container such as an empty milk jug or plastic bottle. If you want to go a step further you can have your child decorate the container before they plant.
• Spray bottle/squirt gun painting. Fill up a few small spray bottles or squirt guns with watercolor paints. Set up an easel outside with some paper and let your child go wild. You’ll be surprised at what they end up creating.
Remember that all of these activities can be adapted for older or younger children and different skill sets. Even though these activities may not have been what you were planning on doing that day or what your children were expecting, they can still be just as enjoyable. Don’t let the boredom bug bite this summer.
Michelle DiNardo
Program Coordinator
Colonie Youth Center, Inc.