5 Kid Activities to Bust Summertime Boredom

School is out for summer and freedom sets in. Finally, kids can ditch quizzes and homework for neighborhood bike rides and games of hide and seek — until boredom hits. And it will. If your family is plagued by boredom, try these five ideas that can revive that summertime fun:

Kidproof Darts

Do your kids frequently get in trouble for throwing things? With a homemade “dartboard,” your kids can safely throw things without punishment — it is summer after all. Create a target out of painters tape in a rainbow of colors. Hang the tape horizontally with the sticky side facing out to the edges of a doorway or in a narrow hallway. Next, make paper airplanes and crumpled balls out of recycled paper with your kids. Challenge your older kids to throw the paper airplanes through the door without touching the tape. Your little ones can throw the paper balls to stick on the tape.

Chefs of the Household

Rather than cook dinner for your kids as they whine about being bored, invite them into the kitchen. Involving the kids in the entire cooking process provides them with a way to contribute to the household, from choosing healthy meals to following a recipe. You can turn each step into a lesson in the following ways:

Meal selection: Offer meal options with healthy ingredients to teach the importance of nutrition.
Grocery list: Show how to plan and prep for a task.
Grocery shopping: Teach the value of a dollar and how to stay within a budget.
Unpacking groceries: Provide kids with organizational and orderly skills.
Cooking: Teach math skills by measuring ingredients. Serving a cooked meal fosters a sense of accomplishment.

Name That Tune

If your family loves to listen to music, add an element of competition and make it into a game. Pull up YouTube on your tablet or laptop to find classic tunes like the “Indiana Jones,” “Star Wars” or “Jurassic Park” theme songs. The first family member to correctly guess the tune earns a point. This game is also a fun way to bust boredom during a summer road trip. Use the Google Nexus 6’s dual front-facing stereo speakersas a boombox and see who’s the most musically inclined. Once you get bored with this game, it’s time to battle it out with a lip syncing competition.

Mega Obstacle Course

An obstacle course with hula hoops and tires in the backyard is a summertime tradition. But, including the indoors takes it to a whole new level. Transform the inside of your home into an obstacle course to get your kids moving with these ideas:

Attach crepe paper to the hallway walls at varying heights. The goal is for the kids to crawl beneath or cautiously step through the “laser beams” to make it safely to the end.
Create zigzag pathways using masking tape on your floor or carpet. Your kids have to walk the pathway with one foot right in front of the other to get to the end.
Make a hopscotch course (also using masking tape) for kids to hop across.
Use large kitchen bowls to serve as targets. Your kids have to throw (X) amount of bean bags into the bowls from a certain distance before moving on to the next obstacle.

Indoor Campout

Bring their love of camping indoors with a homemade fort. Drape sheets over the dining room table or over a cluster of chairs and furniture. If you want to get really crafty, cut a large piece of printed or colored cloth material and iron on letters that spell out your kids’ names or “no girls allowed.” Late at night the kids can tell ghost stories using a flashlight, make s’mores on the stove or in the oven (with your supervision!) and sleep overnight in sleeping bags.