Family Matters

If you have been reading my posts this week, you probably know that this is the final part in the 5-day series “100 ideas for things to do with your kids“. I hope you are keeping track of all these easy, fun ideas and that you now feel you have enough ideas to make sure your kids will never be bored.

Another 20 fun things you can do with your kids (81-100):

1. Grab a box of old makeup or some face paint and paint one another’s faces. Yes, this includes YOU. Everything comes off with soap and water or with some makeup remover, so lighten up and be part of the action.
2. Build a cubby house with the kids. Such a project can keep you all busy for the entire school break or for a good number of weekends. Use the opportunity to teach the kids about planning, about safety, about budgeting, about making decisions, about teamwork and about solving problems. They will carry this wonderful memory with them for years to come, not to mention the endless play time they will have in their new cubby house.
3. Go for a walk around your neighborhood with the kids.
4. Make puppets with your kids. You can use old socks and teach them to use needles to add buttons or to glue body parts to the puppets.
5. When you are done, make your own puppet show.
6. If you have a sewing machine, teach your kids to use it. You can buy cheap fabric and let them make something for themselves. Do not start with baby or doll clothes, because the smaller they are, the harder they are to sew. Make a pillow, a beanbag, a pencil case or any other simple thing that only requires going in straight lines with the machine. I bought my daughter some fabric to make pajamas when she was 10 years old and she did a great job. Ever since then, she fixes all her pants clothes. The final product does not have to come out perfect. It only needs to give your kids a great sense of achievement.
7. Preparations for a birthday or Christmas can be great fun. You can dedicate many hours to decoration, organizing and making exciting plans. Kids love this. If it is their birthday, they get to enjoy it longer. If it is their sibling’s birthday, they get to help make it a wonderful day. If it is a holiday, they get to celebrate it for two or three weeks and not just on that particular day.
8. Many board games can keep a whole family busy for a long time. Monopoly is one of those games that you can play for hours and teach kids strategies. Most homes probably have many different board games.
9. Get a magic book from the library and teach kids to do magic tricks with cards.
10. Buy a big canvas for the whole family and make artwork together.
11. Use a skipping rope and compete with your kids who can jump the most without stopping.
12. Bring a tent inside the house and have a sleepover in it with a flashlight, popcorn and snacks. Your kids will have wonderful memories for years to come.
13. Buy some paint in the hardware store and keep the whole family busy for a while. Use a weekend or some days in the holidays to paint a wall, a bed, a door, the fence or anything that might give everyone a nice new feeling.
14. Make a volcano from wire and paper-mâché and make a mix with baking soda and food color to see it erupt.
15. Buy air-drying clay and make decorated dishes for a display.
16. Use pots and cutlery to make music with your kids. There are famous bands around the world (like “Stomp”) that make music from bottles, lids, pipes, brooms, etc. It may sound noisy at first, but wonderfully creative things can come from it.
17. Give your kids a camera and go for a photography day outdoors. If you explain the value of the camera and demonstrate how to be careful with it, even very young kids can take photos. With today’s digital cameras, it is so easy and cheap to give kids a camera. They can take hundreds of photos and it will cost you nothing. My 7-year-old daughter takes amazing photos of our house. She does it from strange angles and it is hard for us to recognize that we are looking at parts of our house.
18. On summer hot days, you can teach your kids to make milkshakes with fruit, milk, ice and a bit of sugar. It is yummy, healthy and exciting for them to make their own shakes while you all prepare breakfast together.
19. Take old CDs that you cannot use anymore and make artwork from them. You can hang them on the balcony for them to dance in the light. Make a mobile and use beads to write your family name on it, then hang it at the entrance to your home.
20. A good, fun, bonding activity I love doing with my kids is to send them emails and love letters. From the age of 6, I teach them to touch-type and we can email our love to each other. My love letters can keep them busy reading and writing and they contribute to the love we have as a family. Who can ever get bored of receiving love letters?

As you can see from the list, there are many things you can do with your kids to keep them busy and happy. If you decide to take a different idea each time and spread them over 52 weekends and 8 weeks of the school holidays, you may not even have to repeat any of them throughout the same year.

If you have missed the previous parts of the list, here are the links to them:

• Mom I’m Bored (part 1)
• Mom I’m Bored (part 2)
• Mom I’m Bored (part 3)
• Mom I’m Bored (part 4)

Happy joyous time with your kids,
Ronit

You can still share your own ideas in the comment box below. I am sure other parents (and their kids) will enjoy them.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

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