Summer is so cute.
…The kids.
…Not in school.
…The sounds of giggles and expression of boredom fill our homes.
The overall claim is that our mothers made us play outside and they didn’t entertain us. The words I read and hear about today’s children is they are spoiled and helicopter parented and can’t think for themselves because we have raised our kids to be lazy and parent co-dependent.
I disagree.
I remember exasperating my mother with my summertime discontent.
If I had a penny for every time she gently *ahem* encouraged my sister and I to…”GO OUTSIDE!”…
The problem is as old as the tradition of summer break.. even if your kids are well-trained and great problem solvers, it is entirely likely your child will turn to you, MOM OR DAD, for ideas on how to kill the abundance of time available in the summer.
It’s not bad… it just is.
Enter: The Boredom Buster Jar!
On those little sticks, my daughters wrote easy chores and fun activities.
And then they decorated the sticks with yarn and washi tape. Which was a great activity to kick off the summer.
If a kid acts, says, or even slightly appears bored… “Hey. Get a stick from the jar, yo.”
It saves me from having to come up with something on the fly. Also, sticks can be easily added or removed. The jar can be decorated on the outside too… yet another activity.
I only allowed activities to be added that the kids can take-on independently. If I am not busy, I can play frisbee or go for a walk too. However, part of all of this is helping the kids entertain themselves and I work from home and have other responsibilities during the day outside of entertaining the kids. Independence. It’s a really is an important skill and sometimes they need a little help along the way. The Boredom Buster Jar helps parents AND kids.
This little treasure is easier that easy to make. You’ll need:
- > a vase (mine was thrifted)… or old flower pot, small bucket…
- > sand (I had leftover sand from another project)
- > popsicle sticks (I like the chubby ones)
- > yarn (mine was leftover from this my yarn wrapped ornaments)
- > washi tape (or any decorative tape, or paint pens…)
That’s it.
No glue. No fuss.
*I originally shared this in June 2014 on New Day Northwest.
