10 Summertime Boredom Busters

Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime. 

 Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime.

That's right the kiddos are officially out of school for the summer here at the double wide.  Instead of singing songs you maybe hearing the ever popular.

MooooooooooooooooooooooooooM

I'm bored!!!!!!!

So I put a list together of TEN of our favorite Boredom Busters.

#1~ Sign Up For a Summer Reading Program.

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Most local libraries have a summer reading program.  In every town we have lived in I have been able to find a summer reading program for the kiddos.  Most of them offer rewards for reading a certain amount.  

Our local library is awesome.  You get a small prize for every 2 hours you read or have read to you. (up to age 12 then it's 4 hours).  Even my youngest kids love this program.  They also have activities every week.  from movies to magicians.  Best of all, it's all FREE!!  

Some libraries don't have an incentive for the kids to read.  It would be easy to give them a small reward for reading. Or you could have one big prize for the entire family at the end of the summer if you reach the goal you set for yourselves. (my sister's family did this last summer)

My oldest got so many prizes last summer that he saved several to give to his brothers and sisters for Christmas.

 

#2 ~ Kids Bowl Free

 Have you heard of this?  It's awesome.  Last year was our first year and it was so much fun!  You sign your kids up (for free) and get 2 free bowling games per child every day of the summer.  How great is that.  If the parents want to bowl you have to pay for yourself.  So if its to hot or raining you have a ready made back up.

#3 ~ Switch It Up

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 We have a pretty good playground at our house.  The kids love it and play on it almost everyday.  However, we have an awesome playground just a few minutes drive away as well .  It's nice for the kids to go somewhere even if it's just to a different playground.  They get as bored as we do doing the same thing over and over. 

#4 ~ Summer Movie Clubhouse

If you are lucky enough to have a Cinemark Theater near you you can participate in the Summer Movie Clubhouse. 

Sadly I don't have a theater near me.  My sister does and she loves the program.  If you buy your tickets ahead of time you can get 10 shows for $5 dollars.  They are older movies but again it is fun to do something different than just watching the same movie at home.

#5 ~ Stock Up Craft Supplies

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A couple of months before school gets out I start hunting through the stores for crafting supplies on clearance.  A lot of stores have several things on clearance at that time because they are rolling out the new summertime products.   

I always try to look for things that might help them learn something new.  For example I bought my oldest a leather cuff with metal stamps kit. 

As a reward for my oldest daughter's great grades this year I let her pick out a crafting kit.  She got a charm and bead bracelet making kit.  I'm just as excited as she is to dive into that one.

#6 ~ Get a Season Pass

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Every year one of the things we buy with our tax returns is a season pass to our local zoo.  We all love to go to the zoo.  If you can find a place that your kiddos love  and you enjoy going as well consider getting a season pass.  It will save you money in the long run and you will always have a cheap activity in place if/when boredom hits.


#7 ~ Make It Fun.

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I got one of these cookbooks for the summer.  It is full of very easy ideas to make snack time, lunchtime and even dessert more fun.  I plan on making one or two things from it a week (depending on how board we are).  We have already gone through the cookbook together to pick out what we want to try first.

#8 ~ Plant a Garden

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It doesn't have to be big. It doesn't even have to be a garden, some flowers in a pot in the house is enough.  The kids can get involved with the entire process from planting to, weeding and watering.  
Our kids LOVE to get their hands dirty.  They all still get so excited to see the plants grow and bloom.   If you do grow veggies, when you cook with them they are more likely to eat something they grew themselves. 


#9 ~ Make Your Own Water Park

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Taking a large family to a water park is soooo expensive!  Paying for gas, parking, tickets to get in, and food can take a huge chunk out of your budget.  We like to take the kids to a water park when we can.  However making one at home can be just as much or even more fun.
Here's what we do.  We put the sprinkler under the trampoline, another sprinkler out in the yard to be ran through, put out the pool, we put a tarp by the pool so the kids can slide on it.  Then we get them all water guns, splash balls and turn them loose.  They all have a blast.


#10 ~ Chill Out

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I always have tons of homemade and store bought popsicle in our freezer.  The homemade ones are great because I can control what goes into them.  The kids like to help come up with new concoctions too.  
While it's not a boredom buster, I try to apply this to my attitude in the summer too.   It's crazy with everyone home all day everyday.  5-7 people in the same house gets....., crowded.   So, I try to take a deep breath, eat a popsicle and CHILL OUT.

What about all of you?  What are your boredom busters?  I really would love to hear them. Leave your favorite boredom buster in the comments.  


Thanks for stoppin' by and hangin' out.

I will be linking up to these fantastic parties.