Ideas for fun, unique, out of the ordinary things to do during the day?

[ChristusG]

Sometimes I feel like our non-school days just go by in a blur. The kids get plenty of playtime together, we eat lunch, I read to them some, I send them outside if it's not too hot (which, in Florida during the summer, it usually doesn't cool off till about 8 PM), etc, etc, etc.

 

I want to do some more fun, interactive things with them. But something more than just making a craft or playing a game. We do pleny of that.....and I'm the one who gets bored LOL. I need something more entertaining to me.

 

For example....today we read the book called "The Big Green Pocketbook." I happened to have two small green bags I picked up at Michael's for really cheap. I hid things around the house (tickets such as the ones the girl got on the bus, boxes of new crayons I had purchased for school, lollipops, a few quarters, a pack of silly bands I had stashed away, a pack of organic gummy bunnies...I tried to keep it similar to what the little girl put in her pocketbook throughout the story, but didn't have everything she did). Then I made clues and each time they found one of the trinkets, they would put it in their purse and read the clue attached (well, I helped read it). So they traveled through the house, collecting things in hiding places to put into their "big" green pocketbook. At the end, the last clue was a box of crayons and they were instructed to draw pictures (like the girl in the story did) and we would mail them to their cousins.

 

Let me tell you, they absolutely LOVED this.

 

Another example is that last week we made "princess twirlers". Really simple....tape a long piece of crepe paper to a pencil. I instructed them to choose their favorite song and I would get it out and get it ready. They were to go into the playroom, dress up in their dress up clothes, choose a toy instrument, make up some sort of march or dance together, and perform it while twirling their new princess twirler. They were to let me know when to start the music and they would parade out and perform.

 

I'm looking for more unique things to do like this. Any ideas? Sometimes my brain hurts from trying to think of creative things to do LOL.

[helena]

Sometimes it's fun to gather up some giant boxes to play in. I found a huge box on craigslist last summer, it was like a small apartment :).

 

Gathering up a ton of plastic and styrofaom containers, a funnel, a whisk, etc. for water play. I use food coloring to make primary colors, and give a little cup of dish soap. They mix colors, pour water, and make bubbles and have a great time. Sometimes they'll add perfume, and bottle it up. Sometimes they use diffusing paper to paint with it.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/roylco-color-diffusing-paper/

[Pippen]

When my kids were little and we'd have a thunderstorm, we'd often do a picnic on the living room floor.

[Parrothead]

Some of dd's favorites are the sock fights and hide the stuffies.

 

Sock fights can get dangerous if your girls don't have good aim or throw too hard. We play it here like capture the flag.

 

Hide the stuffies keeps dd busy. It is hide and seek. I hide the stuffies while dd counts.

 

If you don't mind the mess - shaving cream wars are fun too. (Make sure dh has an extra can handy though)

[Frontier Mom]

Well, a big hit here was a treasure hunt. I left clues throughout the house and my dcs used to beg for another treasure hunt. Mine are a bit older now so fun is an ongoing game of Spades.

 

We also liked to turn the music up loud and have a Dance Off. Of course Mom must participate too.

 

And, hooking sponges to our feet, wetting the floor and mopping!! Much fun.

[Food4Thought]

Another variation on the hunt is to make Pirate Treasure Maps. We sketched out our house plan (which is about 850 square feet, so fairly simple) on several sheets of paper. Then we let the kids hide the gold, and DS drew maps to it. My DS got so into it, he made false maps to lead people *away* from the treasure, as well as the real maps. We used them to find pirate's gold (some party favor I picked up for cheap), and whoever found the most gold won. Until I stole it all, pirate-style, at the end to give them all a dose of reality. :lol:

 

We have sock wars too.

 

Yours are about the same age as mine. Mine have these interesting life cycle games that we play all the time - mostly involving either plants or butterflies. For the plant version, they start as seeds and I "plant" them in a bucket (I have those big play ones with the rope handles). Then I bury them (blankets or stuffed toys), water them (tickling), then wait for them to grow. Usually I have to turn off and on lights to mimic a few days passing, and they "bloom" into sunflowers. I have to take off their seeds (usually more tickling), and the cycle starts all over.

 

The butterfly version is less labor intensive for me - lay the "eggs" somewhere safe. Then they hatch as caterpillars and crawl all over the house - then I have to help them wrap up into a chrysalis, and they hatch as butterflies and fly around until they turn into eggs again. I think the kids invented these games, so maybe some variation will be more appealing to your girls.

[cougarmom4]

We just had a fun day today...I made up a list of 26 different things to do, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. We called it our ABC day and my kids *loved* it! I was surprised how much they liked it. The list included things for them to do (on their own or with sibling)--there were a few chores, a few educational things, a few really silly, a few physical exercise, a few electronic...but they could go in any order they chose...as long as they did them all. (The alternative was to be my cleaning assistant for two hours). It took them all morning and they all had a great time!

 

Some examples of what I did: Bicycle around the neighborhood; Quickly get dressed & make your bed; Vanquish a cyber-foe for twenty minutes (computer game...V is hard to think of verbs!!!); Study scripture for ten minutes; I scream, you scream...go eat an ice cream!; X-amine a book of your choice; Entertain little sister for fifteen minutes.

 

Now I've decided I'm going to do this periodically with different types of lists...number lists, have them make up lists for each other, color lists? Write ideas on popsicle sticks and see how many they can finish by a certain time. I haven't thought it all through very much yet, but after the response I got today...our three bathrooms were cleaned, kids were dressed w/beds made, scriptures read, little one entertained, piano practiced...and I didn't have to nag. at. all. Plus they had fun...so I felt like a pretty cool mom (for the day!).

[amyable]

These are some great ideas!

 

One of our favorite "shake up the day" things to do is make up funny games for meal time. We give it a name and make up rules. One was called "Dice dinner" and you had to roll dice to see how many things to get on your plate (i.e. 4 carrot sticks, roll again for 6 grapes, etc) then how many bites with a different roll, taking turns. Simple but the kids loved it. Another was "Let's make a deal" where they could trade in their plate for Covered Dish Number One - which could have been a plate of cookies or a salad. We tried to make it fun like the game show. Hat Night was a favorite, where we would play music and pass hats around until the music went off and then you had to eat for a few minutes with that hat on....repeat. The kids still talk fondly of Pig Night where we ate right off the plate with no hands! LOL, I don't repeat that one often. :lol:

 

Silly things, but they made memories that have lasted years and the kids always want to try one again.

 

I forgot, another one the kids like is "Marshmallow Challenge" where we ask them academic questions while they sit lined up on the floor -if the person gets their question right we throw a mini marshmallow at her and she tries to catch it in her mouth.

 

Guess we like food games around here! Makes it special since with several kids with multiple severe food allergies, food can be a drag sometimes!