As the initial excitement of summer vacation wears off, children may be searching for ways to fill their time normally spent in school. Summer days most likely feel longer for children as they transition from spending their weekdays filled with content, routines, and tightly wound schedules at school to a looser summer schedule. And while your child may be enrolled in summer school, camps, sports, or other activities, it can be challenging to fill an entire day with engagement all summer long. So, what can you do when your child is looking for “summer fun” on a slow day or a day without pre-planned activities? Here are some boredom busters to boost your child’s excitement this summer.
Physical Activity
Create an obstacle course and try to beat your previous record each week!
Watch self-guided fitness or mindfulness videos that model how to complete exercises.
Find movement-based brain breaks for kids. These can easily be searched on YouTube! There are many to explore until your child finds a specific type they like.
Create active routines: riding bikes, taking walks, practicing sports, etc. for a specific amount of time each day.
Spend time doing outdoor activities: jump rope, hula hooping, jumping on the trampoline, etc.
Invite water play, such as running through a sprinkler, swimming at the pool, or using a Slip N’ Slide.
ways to Express Creativity
Create a Summer Boredom Buster Bucket List and pick one task to complete each day.
Complete a scavenger hunt.
Pick up new hobbies, such as painting, drawing, dancing, jewelry making, pottery, and more! Many stores have kits you can buy for guided practice.
Try cooking or baking new recipes.
Draw pictures using guided videos from Art for Kids Hub.
Explore photography with a class or on your own by taking pictures of different interests.
Build with legos, blocks, or other household items.
Run a lemonade stand.
Play with sidewalk chalk.
Try journaling or expressive writing. Kids can set a timer for free-writing, write about nature topics, write stories in sidewalk chalk, keep a daily journal reflection, etc!
Learning opportunities
Explore a new language with different apps, such as Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, Gus on the Go, and more.
Make observations and/or hypotheses about an interesting topic. If up for the challenge, create a plan to test the hypothesis.
Keep an exploration journal of new places visited, nature walks taken, or parks visited!
Spend time focusing on handwriting practice: always check for correct capitalization. punctuation, spelling, and complete sentences!
Try puzzles, strategy games, chess, educational apps, logic puzzles, etc.
Create and complete a reading challenge, especially with a fun, new book.
Make a daily routine and hang a poster in your room with the details.
Help plant or care for a garden.
Make an invention. Draw a picture, create a model, write about it, and explain how the invention can be used by others.
Summer can be the perfect time to try a new hobby, explore new ideas, or strengthen the skills your child already has. There are many ways to help empower your children this summer! Children can use this time to create daily routines of their own and feel a sense of independence. However, as you help fill your child’s summer days with engaging activities, don't forget the importance of downtime, which can be a great way to incorporate different mindfulness activities, such as drawing, journaling, or yoga!
Written by Ami Z.