50 ways to beat boredom
- Create a grouping of noise-makers. You can use traditional instruments (i.e. kids' instruments you might have in the house) or look for things that make unique noises in your house (pan "drums," etc.). Turn on marching music and march around the house. Go under and over unusual things as you march (i.e. under the desk/chair/table, over a big pillow, etc.).
- Pull up a chair, don aprons and make these easy muffins together. Eat them outside or in a fort or on the floor... Somewhere different.
- Draw a big bubble bath at an unexpected time of the day. Dump in loads of plastic containers from your Tupperware/re-use drawer and see what the play brings.
- Find seasonal items, string them together on yarn and create a fantastic, nature mobile.
- Make oobleck.
- Create some activity centers together (start with one, make a new one the next day... pretty soon you'll be set!
- Collect art supplies (paint, crayons, paper, index cards etc.) and let go of everything you had planned. Mail this artistic bounty off the next day to grandparents and the like.
- Grab a snack you don't often have (i.e. here it's graham crackers and juice) or stop by the bakery for a cookie. Go to a park, sit on a blanket and eat, then play a bit in a different space.
- Depending on the weather: water plants outside, fill a spray bottle with water and experiment with different sprays, run in the sprinkler, etc. Is it raining? Dress appropriately and go out any way. See if you can stomp in twenty puddles. Watch how different objects splash in different ways (rock vs. leaf vs. pine cone, etc.). Do #3 when you return, if necessary!
- Use chalk to draw a huge train track or road system all around your house, leading to your front door. Walk or ride all along it, draw lots of trains/cars or bring out your own small vehicles to enjoy the new pathways.
- Crank up the music (stuff you like too) and dance, boogy, shake, wiggle. If you need a little wiggle guidance the tried and true preschool Greg & Steve CDs are favorites for many young kids (check them out from your library-- a little scary, but a worthy sacrifice to improve the direction of your day together).
- Grab a big tote and visit the library. Find lots and lots and lots of books. Return home to cuddle and read on the couch (or on the grass outside as weather permits!).
- Create a fort or pop up a tent in the middle of your living room. Stock it with snacks, water, books, stuffed animal friends...
- Make colored pasta noodles (step one, step two) together.
- Make play dough together and then smush, build, roll, squeeze... create.
- Wander through your yard or neighborhood and create a seasonal display.
- Scroll through the Kids Craft Weekly newsletters for a topic you both enjoy. Find an activity and just do it!
- Fill the kitchen sink (or a big, plastic tub) with dish soap and warm water. Collect small creatures (Little People, our Schleich animals, etc.) and a washcloth and scrub everyone clean (any water play requires you to be very close, but you knew that).
- Move some toys around. Never underestimate the power of toys in a new location (i.e. the play kitchen in the middle of the living room, toys from the closet front and center for an afternoon, etc.).
- Play dress-up! If you don't have specific dress up clothes, dress up like Mama or Daddy or Grandma... Find winter hats and gloves in the summer. Dig deep for crazy shoes. Be silly.
- Make colorful maraca shakers.
- Turn some old socks into puppets. You can draw on them with markers, or get fancy and sew on button eyes. Glue yarn for hair. A curtain rod in a doorway can become a magical puppet theater with a few cuts of an old sheet, or even just with draped fabric. Use a hot glue gun to create a pocket in the fabric for the rod, if you don't want to sew, or you can even just pin it in place. Just make sure you can open and close the theater curtains (that's the only really important part!).
- Throw a reading party for all of your stuffed animal friends (and dolls and anyone else who wants to join in the fun). Place them all around the living room, give them each a book and then read a few yourselves. When everyone's done you can all take a nap (requiring a blanket for each) or give them all a drink (imaginary, of course) of water (requiring a cup for each). Multiples. It's more fun than you'd think.
- Call someone to play with you. They likely won't care if the house is a mess. If it's too bad, go outside to play or meet at a playground. Just adding other people to the mix can change a mood (throw in a snack or two and you're set).
- Make a life-size body outline and color it in. Hang it on the wall.
- Clean out the refrigerator together. Exhausting. Distracting.
- Cut (or tear) out fun pics from old magazines.
- Create glue art (lots o' Elmer's, cotton balls, cake sprinkles, etc.).
- If you have a peanut-friendly house (as in, everyone's already tried it and is not allergic), collect pine cones, tie string around them and smear with peanut butter for the birds. Hang outside.
- Head outside to putter with a camera. The adult focuses on getting fantastic pics of the child without interrupting play, and the kid gets to explore. It's interesting for both (parallel play).
- Print some kid pics and staple them (or tie through hole punches) together to make a mini-book. Talk about what the child is doing in each picture and write a simple sentence below. Read it together.
- Sort through buttons together. Categorize in different ways. Look for special things. Count holes. Talk about big, small, bright, bumpy, smooth...
- Use paint and make apple prints on paper (or try other fruits and veggies... Star fruit is fun!).
- Just find a way to get out of the house. Find a shopping cart and browse. This is when you're really desperate. Get coffee while you're at it.
- Take everything out of a closet, from under a bed, etc. and sort through it together.
- Paint hands and make hand prints. You can later add details to turn these into flowers (stem and leaves), turkeys, etc. (seasonal fun).
- Create an obstacle course in the house or yard (with pillows, small stools, etc.).
- Go through the house or yard or neighborhood and collect items to make a texture book/wall/gallery (focusing on touch...).
- Make crowns for the family out of paper, newsprint, felt and/or tin foil.
- Decorate the dinner table together to make an ordinary meal special. Streamers, flowers from the garden, maybe a tablecloth or special place mats, fold the napkins in a fancy way... Do it all together to make something routine special.
- Play hide and seek. Start with stuffed animals and find them together, then work up to each other.
- String fruity-o cereal (or the pasta from #14) together to make necklaces (always keep a close eye on little kids with necklaces, but you knew that).
- Finger (or foot) paint.
- Make a terrarium (you can keep it super-easy with moss, sticks and a figure). If you use fancy plants make sure they're safe.
- Try stacking different types of objects. See how high you can go with blocks, books, thread spools, magazines, pillows, etc.
- Plant some bean seeds in clear, plastic cups or glass baby food jars. Avocado seeds are fun too.
- Make popsicles, a snack food in an ice cube tray and/or jello jigglers together.
- Glue a favorite magazine picture onto cardboard, then punch holes (use an office-style three hole punch for bigger pieces, and randomly place holes). Use a child's plastic needle with yarn (or tape the end to make it firm) and practice lacing.
- Make your own matching game with photos. The best photos for this have only one, clear, well-loved person/object in them. Print out two of each (for maybe a total of six to eight to start?) and lay them out, face up to start out. It's early "Memory."
- Set up various pouring activities in an OK-to-be-messy place. Collect various pitchers, cups, bowls and measuring spoon sets and use either water, lentils, beans or rice (or combinations). A smaller plastic tub set inside a bigger plastic tub can contain some of the spillage.
