conquering summer boredom

[Onceuponatime]

This is starting to worry me already. Next week is our last week of school. I've already got next school year mostly planned. We have very little extra spending money and rarely will have any kind of transportation. I've got a nice size yard and two growing boys. I don't want them to spend inordinate amounts of screen time. I'm thinking I need some things to do to. The garden won't really need more than half an hour a day. All these hours stretching ahead look daunting. I don't need tons of structure but I will go crazy with nothing at all.

 

I need a list of options and possibilities. What kinds of things do you like to get done in the summer? What kind of things keep your kids busy and happy?

[Julie Smith]

We school.

 

I find for where we live the best time for "summer vacation" is the fall and spring.

 

But in the past we have made missions. One year it was to bike to as many local interesting places as possible. Really just parks, grocery stores that gave away a free kid cookie with each visit, and out door pools. We managed to hit about 40 places and we mapped them all out on google maps.

[QueenCat]

My younger ds will be volunteering two days a week at our church. On a third day, we will go "somewhere": Zoo, botanical gardens, historical site, and other things of that nature. He has one friend that is likely to spend a day with us each week.... or ds will be at his house.

[Jenny in Florida]

When my kids were younger, we used to pick one or two subjects and buy inexpensive, colorful workbooks. Each kiddo did a page or two of those as review each day.

 

Then, together, we did "summer school." I would choose a topic -- ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Egypt, art history, whatever -- and we did an extended, loosely structured unit study for the summer, heavy on reading aloud and craft projects, maybe a library trip once a week to check out more books on the subject.

 

I found that a sort of booster shot of intellectual stimulation and structure early in the day, followed by outside play time or hitting the pool, followed by a DVD in the afternoon made for a nice routine that passed the summers quite pleasantly.

 

We also used to choose one week to be our "vacation." Even in the years in which we couldn't afford to go away, we'd take one week and do something fun and summery every day. My husband would take off as much time as he could from work so he could go along, too. We'd hit a local water park, see a movie and have lunch at the mall food court, play mini-golf, spend a day at the local science museum, go to the beach, whatever the kids wanted to do that we could fit into our budget. We'd pack snacks and lunches whenever possible and come home every evening, making it much less expensive than actually going away anywhere. We'd let the kid set up our small tent and camp out in the living room, and I made huge vats of popcorn for them to eat while watching summer-themed movies . . . They looked forward to it every year.

[lllll]

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[Tita Gidge]

I have kids your age, too.

 

I like Jenny in Florida's phrasing of the intellectual booster shot :) as others have suggested, we do informal schooling during summer hours. Not only is it a nice booster, but it's a great time to explore interests without pressure. Plus it kills time, which is your (and my!) primary objective.

 

What's it like where you live? From home my kids can walk to a park and library, so we do those a few times during the week. We take tennis racquets or a volleyball or soccer ball (all can be found inexpensively and are a smart "investment" for the summer season) to the park. My kids can also bike to a nearby nature center, so they do that a few times each week also. There they can walk, hike, get dirty, play in the stream, etc. We have cheap, old shoes for these jaunts so they're not wrecking their good pairs. Sometimes I give them an assignment, kind of like a scavenger hunt, and if I'm feeling nice I let them take my camera to photograph their finds. This only works once a month or so, but ... I'll take that once a month if it's all I'm getting!

 

What about geo-caching or letterboxing? For the times you do have a car, you can hit up a few sites. On the days you don't have a car, have the boys create a box and leave it locally for someone else to find.

 

Or turn their screen time into something productive. Have them make a YouTube channel and give them assignments. I assigned my nephew to make me a Minecraft 101 video so I'd know what in heaven's name he was talking about when he kept telling me about this Minecraft thing. I still have zero interest, but it bought me a few days and sparked an interest in him. He's since made other Minecraft related YouTube videos.

 

I have a school rule of no electronics-for-play until after lunch. I hold to that during summer. Any computer or television related activity before lunch must be academically inclined. I'm game for proposals and being convinced, if the kids choose to try. We had one great debate about "edutainment" last year that resulted in me relenting SOME and them getting an opportunity to argue a case. With each other, towards a common enemy LOL. This rule helps moderate electronic use during school breaks, for us.

[Seasider]

Limit summer to a shorter period of time. We will take July off and the first week of August. No three months off here. That makes for a rough reentry come September, ime anyway. We will do different things - more art and science and field trips - but I try to keep some program in place.

 

Yes, I do need a break myself, but I won't get it if I leave the kids entirely to their own designs all season!

[dbmamaz]

we do things like find cheap science experiments to do, watch documentaries, walk the dog twice a day, play board games - schedule some 'scheduled stuff' and let them have some free time - they will enjoy the free time more if they are also engaged in interesting things part of the day

[LibraryLover]

When my kids were small they spent hours playing with Playmobil, Lego, toy animals, blocks, plastic horses and fairies etc. We always had a sand pit which we filled with little cars, planks, buckets, plastic animals, pots, pans, ladles etc. I also let the kids run the hose there. Water and dirt go together. ;) They also built things with downed branches (I know not not everyone has woods nearby). We live near the ocean so we went to the beach multiple times a week. We did a lot of free summer library programming over the years as well. The offered various various crafts, reading discussion groups, film nights, and visitors from zoos and museums. The snake guy was always fun. (Ick)

 

Can you invest in a bike rack for your car? Are there any good bike paths nearby?

 

....jump ropes, hula hoops, chalk, bubbles, basketball hoop...

 

Any trees in the yard? Dh and I set up a faux ropes course between two of our trees. They walk across it, balance, swing etc. It's still pretty popular with visiting children.

[jhschool]

What about making costumes and putting on a play?

 

My biggest problem is I don't have enough time. But if you have time,

this would be great.

 

You can get really cheap fabric and make them by hand. Or you can make

them out of big paper bags and paint.

[JFSinIL]

Turn off the electronics. Have lots of good books available, sports equipment, also scrap lumber. nails, hammers etc. in the back yard and let the kids use their imaginations and figure it out. It may take a few days of them pestering YOU for ideas but let them come up with ways to fill time.

[LibraryLover]

Kathy, that is a seriously good list!

[lllll]

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