Boredom Busters

Hey everyone!

As you know, there is no way to plan every second of every day during the summer holidays. There will be down-time, especially when mom has to work (I cannot afford to not write all summer!). And so, we've created a Boredom Busters jar!

 

 

What is it?

Well, it's a little jar (actually a Nutella-knock-off from Shoprite), all decorated with fun papers and filled with lots and lots of great little ideas.

The plan - whenever my kids tell me they're bored, they'll have to dig into the Boredom Busters jar and pull out an activity that they can do by themselves, right away.

What is important is that if you have one, you set rules about using it, otherwise your kids could end up pulling the thing apart looking for what they like, rather than trying new things or doing 'chores' they might pull.


One way to set it up is that when they say they're bored, they HAVE to do the first thing they pull. Another way would be to let them pull, say three, and then they have to choose one of those three.

What should the little slips say?

Really, that is entirely up to you, but be sure to take into account your children - their ages, abilities, likes - when you create your list. Something that might be in my jar may not work for your kids. Likewise, things I've found on other lists I've found across the internet won't work for us. For example, we don't have a backyard, so lots of those kinds of things are really out for us.

To create my slips, I typed my list of suggestions in Word (well, actually, I use Open Office, which is FREE and does most of what MS Office does), then I changed it to double-spacing and printed. The double spacing made it much easier to cut the little slips up. For smaller children (or a bigger jar) you may want to make them much bigger than the tiny slips I used. You could even use coloured index cards.

Decorating the jar?

I cleaned out my jar and then ran it through the dishwasher. Once it was completely dry, I simply took strips of paper and wrapped them around using double-sided tape.

If you're not sure what size strips, take a measuring tape and wrap it around the jar to determine the length, and then measure the width. My jar had indentations 'built-in' which framed the original label, so I used that spacing for the width of the strips. I also cut a circle to fit into the lid and used some scrapbooking stickers to finish of the label.

The list?

There would be no point to this blog post if I didn't share this list with you! Of course, my list reflects the ages, likes and abilities of my two sons (aged 10 and 6-1/2). I've also included things that I wouldn't mind seeing them do, like memorize a Bible verse or a poem, and even chores around the house.

You will notice in the list that somethings are duplicated (like "Do a Chore of Mom's Choice"). I've left these duplications in, so that if you decide to just copy and paste, they're already there for you.

Play a board game

Build a fort

Draw a map of the neighbourhood

Copy a famous painting

Bake cookies

Perform a random act of kindness

Make leaf rubbings

Make a book

Write a letter for a family member

Make a puzzle

Blow bubbles

Make a movie

Make a time capsule

Read a chapter book together

Paper airplane contest

Picnic on the front porch

Make home-made play-doh

Trace your hand then turn it into something else

Have an indoor treasure hunt

Skype a friend

Take a nap

Make your bed

Laundry hunt

Dirty dishes hunt

Make a door knob hanger

Make a collage

Make a puppet

Write a story

Draw a picture

Make a comic book or comic strip

Make a joke book

Put on some music and dance

Find shapes in the clouds

Plan a treasure hunt with clues

Write down 10 things you love about each member of your family

Write in your journal

Organize your room

Create a play

Make popsicles

Memorize a Bible verse

Memorize a poem

Draw a picture of a desert island with all the things you want on it

Create your own board game

Make a list of things you can do without a grown-up

Mix liquid hand soap, cornstarch and food colouring and paint the bathtub

Do a chore of mom's choice

Do a chore of mom's choice

Do a chore of mom's choice

Do a chore of mom's choice

Interview a family member

Collect the trash

Find 5 toys to donate

Read for 15 minutes

Play hopscotch

Look at a photo album

Play with sidewalk chalk

Watch a movie

Organize your toys

Go for a walk

Color

Play hide & seek

Plan a family activity

Plan dinner

Have a photo shoot

Thanks again for looking!

GroopDealz Giveaway

Check out this awesome giveaway at GroopDealz!


















a Rafflecopter giveaway

Setting up for the Summer Holidays

Summer vacation starts in just one week, and my boys can't wait. But being on a budget, and me working from home, leads to a new set of issues during the summer.

It's a challenge to keep myself organized to keep writing through the summer months - I'm now working for three different publications - as well as keep the boys happy and occupied. On top of that, there's the added difficulty of preventing summer brain drain.

I've been looking at lots and lots of websites and blogs (Thanks Pinterest!), for ideas to not only get organized, but also things for the kids to do, including craft activities, science experiments and recipes.

Over my next few posts, I'll begin to show you some of the things I've done, so far, to prep for summer vacation.

While I have had inspiration from stacks of web pages, I must put in a plug for Susan Heid, aka The Confident Mom. She's put together a really awesome, visually enticing Summer Survival Guide, which has really inspired me. It includes lots and lots of ideas and web links, as well as sheets to print and help you plan everything from your daily schedule, meal planning and even establishing a Summer Standard Operating Procedure! The Summer Survival Calender & Action Guide can be purchased for $9.

Two other really good downloadable/printable guides are the "100 Days of Summertime" by Jennifer Tankersley from ListPlanit.com ($5), as well as the "Summer Survival Guide" from Life As Mom, $9.

Now on to my hard work!

After going through Susan's guide, I sat down with my kids and figured out some of the fun things they want to do, as well as some of the things they need to do every day. After all, even though it is summer vacation, everyone still needs to bathe, brush teeth and dress every day and summer doesn't mean the chores disappear, either. And of course, I want to make sure that my boys don't lose what they learned in school this year (especially math!), so we came up with our list of daily requirements.

Before anything fun can be done, my boys will have to 'earn' their fun time. They're daily list includes:
* Getting ready for the day
* 15 minutes of Math
* 20 minutes of Reading
* Chores

Of course, for my boys anyway, the reading is really easy, but getting them to do math every day is going to be a bit of a challenge. That's why I'm looking at signing up with an online math website that will generate quizzes and keep records of how your kids are doing - IXL.com.

You may want to find a way to reward your kids for doing the school stuff during the summer, as it will help motivate them when they really don't want to be doing school!

My boys will also be doing the Summer Reading Programme at the Bermuda National Youth Library, which themselves give out prizes for reading throughout the summer. It begins on July 2, and they keep the details a tight secret until launch day!

The other thing I've done is plan the different days of the week. I'm not saying I know exactly what we're going to be doing every day during the summer, but I've designated different days for different things.

I've even created this great little chart to print and put on the fridge ("Summer Splash" digi scrapping kit by Sweet Digi Scrap, currently a freebie on her Facebook page!)

Mange Mondays
My oldest is 10, and I think it's high time he at least started to learn his way around the kitchen. He's already excited about learning to plan meals and cook this summer. His younger brother likes to bake, too, so we're planning these fun in-house events for Monday afternoons.


Tour-Guide Tuesdays
Tuesdays are when we're planning on going out and pretend to be tourists. After all, we live in Bermuda - one of the most beautiful places in the world - and so we might as well take advantage of it. I'm sure we'll make lots of visits to the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo, where we have a family membership, but we're also looking to see if we can do tours of places like a local farm or even the printing presses at the newspaper where I publish.

Library Wednesday
Every Wednesday during the summer, they're showing kid's movies at the Youth Library. The cost is a mere $3 per child, to cover the cost of drinks and popcorn. At the same time, we can re-load our bag of books, and read our way through the Summer Reading Programme. On TOP of that, where I go to Zumba is around the corner, too!

Crafty Thursdays
My boys LOVE to make things, especially my 6 year old. Thursdays are when we'll make all kinds of fun things. We're even thinking about customizing our school supplies for September!

Lazy Day Fridays & Family Picnic
It is not summer holidays without a few lie-in days, so Fridays are for chillin' (and giving mom a chance to play catch up with the other stuff!) It'll also give us time to prepare for an evening family picnic when dad gets off work, whether at a park or the beach. Either way, we'll enjoy family time in the outdoors without quite the heat of mid-day.

Thanks so much for reading along! 
Next post? Boredom Busters!

An Angry Birds Surprise Party

My oldest turned 10 yesterday - besides the emotions THAT brings (double-digits, "Tween", mom & dad are getting old!), I thought I'd share some of the bits from his birthday party.

Dad had given him the option - rent a boat and go fishing with his aunties, visiting from the UK, or a party. My boy, who LOVES fishing, opted for the first, which left us the room for a SURPRISE!

He loves Angry Birds, too - doesn't really play the game much (we don't have an iPad or anything like that), but loves the birds, especially the Red Bird, so I thought it'd be a great party theme.

The plan:
His closest friends (aged 9-12) from school and church would get together to play a wet & wild live version of Angry Birds on our church field!

The ingredients:
Water guns, which the boys could take home instead of all that stupid junk usually in party bags
Water balloons & launcher
Cardboard boxes

The food:
Pizza
Cupcakes
Ice cream

The goodies:
In addition to the water guns, the boys would get some homemade goodies to enjoy!

THE PIGS FORT
Empty boxes from the grocery store to build their own forts to be knocked down with water balloons.

THE ATTACK
When my oldest arrived with dad and little bro, his friends attacked him with water guns!

WATER BALLOON WAR
The boys (and aunties) all had an absolute ball throwing them at each other, so much so that only a few got shot at the boxes!

THE CUPCAKES
These lovely confetti cupcakes were decorated with red and white icing, white coconut M&Ms (marked with the black dot using a food pen), cuts of Candy Corn for the beaks, and slices of black Twizzlers for the eyebrows.

CUPCAKE CLOSE-UP
Tip - I decorated my cupcakes the day before out of necessity, but the M&Ms didn't seem to like being in the fridge overnight. However, the icing was nice and firm (especially for a hot day), so everything stayed on nicely without sliding off when the kids tried to eat them.

THE GOODIES - GREEN PIG CAKE POPS
Baked in my cake pop maker, they were dipped in green candy melts. The eyes are Wilton candy eyes and the noses were green coconut M&Ms. Again, because of the humidity, they were sweating in the fridge, and so needed to go in the freezer, which discoloured everything a little...

 THE GOODIES - YELLOW BIRD MARSHMALLOWS
These were so easy! Stick in the big marshmallows and dipped into yellow candy melts. Stuck on Wilton candy eyes and slices of Candy Corn for the beaks. Yummy too!




THANKS SO MUCH FOR LOOKING!!!