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Holidays Learning Games Nature Physical Education Preschool Spring Summer

180+ Summer Boredom Busters for Kids

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This post may contain affiliate links.

If you need some Summer boredom Busters for your kids, you have stopped in to the right place!

We are so ready for summer around here.  I have really hit that wall where I am ready to be done with school.  I am just trying to push through the end of the month.  We are slowly finishing off our curriculum & have been doing less & less structured school and more outside exploring, reading and playing.  It has been quite nice-low stress.

I was recently invited to speak at a Mom’s meeting about beating Summer boredom. So, I compiled a massive list of fun things to do to keep kids from telling you how bored they are.

First, I suggest you make a summer schedule with your kids.   Have one regular scheduled outing a week where you go do something fun as a family.  Have a craft day, a cooking day, a service/kindness day, etc.  If you have a plan, things will go smoothly.  Or, just relax and enjoy the down time for a while!!

180 + summer boredom busters

Something I have had for years is a little “Bored Box”  with index cards full of Summer boredom busters inside.  Each card has a simple, fun idea that the kids can do. Many of them can be done any time of year, not just Summer!

They will often flip through the cards when they are trying to think of something to do. It sparks their imagination.  The box has been really helpful. Their cousins and friends like to look through the ideas, too.  When I think of some new things, I add them into the box so there are fresh ideas in there.  It is a simple thing to keep up on and to make.  Another simple thing you could do is write the ideas on popsicle sticks & keep them in a jar.

 Grab a printable list of these Summer Boredom Buster ideas, too!

Summer Boredom Busters

Ready for some ideas to keep your kiddos busy?  Hope this inspires you this summer.  Don’t feel the need to do all of even a quarter of them.  These are just ideas to get your creativity flowing.

Outside Summer Boredom Ideas:

Hiking
Park hopping- try a new park each week
Texture rubbings- on trees, rocks, etc.
Nature collage
Nature journal- draw birds, trees, flowers
Slip-n-slide
Climb Trees
Splash pads
Swimming at neighbor pools, or local city pools- try new ones
Ride bikes/scooters
Go fishing
Collect rocks & paint them
Star gazing- learn constellations
Play in sprinklers
Camp in the back yard
Make a mini obstacle course in your back yard
Have a car wash, pet wash, bike wash
Fly kites- make homemade ones
Pick wildflowers and press betweenbooks – make into bookmarks with contact paper
Have the kids make treasure hunts for each other
Bug collecting & identifying
Water balloon fights
Homemade bowling with water bottles
Learn Geocaching
Make bird feeders or bird houses
Picnics
Bubbles
Build towers with rocks
Go on a night walk with flashlights & glow sticks
Feed ducks at the pond
Roller skating
Water gun fight
Plant a garden
Frisbee
Mini Olympics
Nature, Photo or Alphabet Scavenger Hunt
Bury toys in sand box & “excavate”
Mud pies
Host a neighborhood parade
Melt crayons on hot rocks
Flash light tag
Look at cloud shapes
Learn bird calls
Have bottle races in the river or paddle boat races in the bath tub!
Make milk carton boats
Lemonade stand
Paint the driveway or fence with water- or homemade sidewalk chalk paint
Have a trash cleaning day outside or at park
Play parachute with a sheet
Sidewalk chalk painting

Traditional Games for Kids:

See my post with Classic Outdoor Games for Kids

Hide & Seek
Charades
Red Light-Green Light
Mother May I?
Jumping Rope
Hula Hoops
Simon Says
Leap Frog
Kick the Can
Hopscotch & other sidewalk chalk games
Tic-Tac-Toe
Sardines
Capture the Flag
4-square
Kick Ball
Jacks
Freeze Tag

Fun Indoor Summer Boredom Busters:

Subscribe to some kid magazines
Origami
Paper Dolls
Block towers
Play Dress up
Paper Airplanes
Tea Party
Build Forts
Cootie catchers
Write letters to relatives
Puppet shows (or shadow puppets)
Sticker books
Scrapbooks
Journals
Magazine collages
Fruit, veggie or leaf prints
Check out craft books from library
Make taffy
Play I-spy ( or make a book with printable I-Spy pages)
Trade houses with friends for a day
Start a book club
Make a piñata
Make sock puppets
Make your own music videos
Make up skits
Manicures/pedicures
Make homemade board games on poster board or with a box
Homemade popsicles or ice cream
Make flavored popcorn
Bake treats & share with friends
Have a homemade pizza party
Host a toy swap with neighbors
Blow up balloons & draw faces with sharpies
Have an indoor picnic on floor
Play with glow sticks in bathtub in the dark
Make necklaces
Have a pajama day
Finger painting (or a mess-free version)
Water color painting
Make edible necklaces
“Let” kids wash all the windows
Make a homemade movie- and host a screening party
Create a time capsule
Make Ice cream in a bag
Learn to sew or knit
Have Lego building contests with themes
Crayon painting
Tin foil creations- sculpt with a roll of foil
Build with marshmallows & toothpicks
Make marshmallow guns out of PVC pipes
Homemade puzzles– photos on popsicle sticks, or old cereal boxes
Write your own books
Write poems
Paint/decorate white canvas tennis shoes
Make jam or salsa
Do secret service
Let the kids plan & make the meals
Have lunch all in a muffin tin or ice cube tray
Living room racetrack with masking tape & cars
Have a silly photo day- take photos of each other in silly poses
Thumbprint pictures
Paper bag puppets
Cardboard box houses
Freeze Dance- play music & freeze if turned off
Have a doll spa
Build card houses
Giant jigsaw puzzles to work on all summer
Hide 10 buttons or pennies- try to find them all
Tie-dye t-shirts
Repurpose old crayons- melt and pour into a mold
Shaving cream painting
Pudding painting
Rainbow Rice Sensory Box
Make a collage on sticky side of contact paper
Make homemade soaps
Go fishing in the bathtub
Make an art box for kids- full of crafty things they can use whenever
Get a city map & mark out places you go regularly
Make feeling box with Kleenex box.  Put things inside & feel to guess what they are
Set up a mini town with toy cars, houses, animals, etc.
Bowl of bubbles- warm water in a bowl with dish soap & some straws- let them blow or try Square bubbles!
Participate in reading reward programs– Barnes & Noble, Chuck E. Cheese, Scholastic, Sylvan
Homemade musical instruments
Make Cloud Dough
Recycled trash art- save bottles, t.p. rolls, cans, etc. There are so many crafts to make out of old trash!
Make crystals

Around Town:

Petting Zoo
Dinosaur museum
Children’s Museums
Planetarium
Library story time
Local City festivals
Parades
Bowling- sign up for kids free summer bowling through http://freebowling.amf.com
Movie Theaters- often have $1 summer movies
Outdoor movies & plays & concerts
Rodeos
Summer camps
Mini golfing
Pioneer museums/ historical sights
State parks
Water parks
Ice skating
Volunteer at Humanitarian Centers
U-pick farms- pick berries
Zoo
Art Museum
Hardware stores host free craft days
Tour a factory
Sporting Events
Craft Stores have fun classes

Plus you can add in fun crafts & science experiments.  Search around my blog for some fun ones.  I hope this list helps inspire you.  I was glad I was asked to do this so I could refresh my memory as well!  There are so many fun & simple things to do to keep them from whining about how bored they are!

Learning games and Manipulatives
Reading Lessons


11 Comments

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Comments

  1. Enchanted Homeschooling Mom says

    May 25, 2012 at 9:15 pm

    THANK YOU for this post! I am so busy planning next school year and wrapping up this school year that you have made our summer vacation so easy. As always you are on top of it Karyn!

    Reply
  2. Deb Chitwood says

    May 26, 2012 at 4:00 am

    Great list! I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page and pinned it to my Summer Fun board at http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/summer-fun/

    Reply
  3. Carla at Preschool Powol Packets says

    May 30, 2012 at 12:21 am

    Wow! This is an amazing list! I love it! I’m going to pin it too–thanks so much for sharing it at Teach Me Tuesday!!

    Reply
  4. Mrs. Nerdy says

    May 30, 2012 at 11:57 am

    This is fabulous!!!

    Reply
  5. Nicole says

    May 30, 2012 at 6:16 pm

    WOW! This is such a great list of summer ideas! We will have to add a few to ours, thanks so much for sharing.

    Nicole
    Mama Of Many Blessings

    Reply
  6. Becky says

    May 31, 2012 at 10:42 am

    LOVE IT! I pinned it! Thanks for sharing your GREAT ideas!

    Reply
  7. Michelle says

    June 2, 2012 at 3:56 am

    This is an awesome list! Thank you for sharing with BTT!

    Reply
  8. Mrs. Sherman says

    June 3, 2012 at 9:25 pm

    WOW! I think this is the largest list I have come across yet! You will be busy for sure! Have a Great Summer 🙂

    Reply
  9. Kelly says

    June 4, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    Wow, you have so many great ideas! We’ve never been able to finish a bucket list yet, but it sure has been fun trying. I’m so glad you linked up to the Summer Bucket List Party. Have a wonderful summer!

    Reply
  10. Lacie says

    November 23, 2018 at 1:08 pm

    This is an awesome list!! Thank you!!
    Where can I find the printable version on tourney page?

    Reply

Trackbacks

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    October 18, 2013 at 11:15 am

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Hi! I'm Karyn.
I am a former teacher turned homeschool mom of four kids. I LOVE teaching! I believe learning should be enjoyable and engaging. My goal is to ease the burdens of educators by offering memorable learning activities.
Questions? Contact me here: karyn@teachbesideme.com
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