Well, hello friend! I’m so glad you came to visit today! Looking for a boredom buster activity to help you out with the kids? Thousands of people on Pinterest have loved this Washi Tape Boredom Buster Jar and I know you will too.
Here’s a question for you…Can you feel it? Feel what? The warmer weather, the longer days. The school bell’s last ring of the year.
It won’t be long now before school is out and the kids are home!
Every. Single. Day.
Does that make you a little nervous? Because it makes me nervous.
Day after day after day of refereeing the Brother Bickering Match isn’t my idea of a good time. Back when I didn’t spend my days chasing three little hooligans and trying to keep them entertained all day, I lived for summer. Now, I’m a little apprehensive when summer hits full force.
We live in the desert, which means that it’s too hot to play outside from about 11 am until around 5 pm. That’s a lot of hours inside. Climbing and bouncing off the walls. Pulling out every toy we own, all at once. Hiding in the closet eating chocolate.
That last one might be me.
I have a hard time coming up with ideas of things for us to do on the spot and my boys get tired of the same thing all the time. So, I put together a list and then made us our very own Boredom Buster Jar. Actually, two jars… they wouldn’t all fit in one! There’s no excuse now. Let the fun begin!
Materials:
– Craft sticks
– Permanent Marker
– Washi Tape in seven designs
– Jars or containers to hold your sticks
Directions:
– Gather ideas of activities your kids would like to do. Include things like projects you can make together, things they can do on their own, activities that will help get the wiggles out, and even places to go. I had a running list on my phone that I kept adding to for about two or three weeks. When I came upon something else I thought my kids would enjoy, I’d add it to the list.
– Write each activity on a craft stick with a permanent marker. Doesn’t need to be fancy, just legible. You could type them up on the computer, print them out and then glue them on the sticks – but that’s too time intensive for me.
DIVIDING THE ACTIVITIES INTO CATEGORIES
I divided the categories up so that my kids would be able to use the boredom jar on their own.
By putting the activities into categories, I was able to control the kind of activity and still allow my kids to choose what they wanted to do, randomly or by picking sticks until they found something they liked.
My categories were:
- Things we can do
- Things we can make
- Energy Bug – activities that help focus their bouncing off the walls into something a little less destructive
- Quiet time activities – things for my preschooler to do on his own while his brothers nap
- Family activities – things we wanted to do as a family, like outings. This was perfect for weekends!
- Outside play time – activities to do outside. A lot of these involved water
- Fun with food – activities to do with food, often ending with snack time
– Tape each stick in a single category with the same color washi tape. You could also paint the ends or use some other method of distinguishing the sticks. Washi tape was quick, easy, and mess-free. If you have a problem with the tape sticking, a small piece of scotch tape or a swipe with a glue stick should fix the problem.
– Store your sticks in a jar (or jars…) and the next time boredom strikes, prepare to be a superhero!
This is a really great idea and one that I think we’re going to be trying out. Thanks for the inspiration!
Did you pick the activity or let your kids pick? I guess you had all the materials together in advance?
I usually let my kids choose. They thought that was more fun than the actual activity half the time! Most of the activities could be done with things we already have around the house. If they chose an activity I didn’t have all the supplies for, I would give them the option of choosing something else (which they almost always decided to do… because picking the sticks should have been it’s own activity…) or we could make do with out it and figure out how to improvise. The latter encourages problem-solving, so I didn’t feel too bad if we ran into things I didn’t have all the supplies for. I keep basic art and craft supplies on-hand. If you are worried about it, you could pick a few activities you do have or can get the supplies for and just let them choose from those. They still have fun and you don’t have to worry about having everything on hand all the time. Hope that helps a little! =)
Do you have a copy of the list you used with all of your ideas?
I don’t have a list, sorry Katie. I made it on my phone and then deleted it once I finished the project. I would suggest making a list of things your kids like to do (blocks, legos, color, paint, the basic entertainment ideas) and then check pinterest for more. You can search summer activities or quiet time activities and then just scroll through and write down the ones that catch your eye. Most of the ideas I used were one’s I’d pinned to my {for the boys} pinterest boards (you can find them here, fifth row of boards down, I believe). That’s what I did. It worked well and was pretty quick.