The Children Are Bored And Fun Is Missing – What Can Parents Do?

by Inspiration4Living.com

How often have you heard your kids say, “I’m bored. I never have any fun!”?

You know they have tons of toys to play with both inside and outside with their friends, so what they really mean is, “Mom, think of something fun for me to do.”

If your children do this a lot, then it will help if you’re prepared! Have a shelf set aside somewhere in the house where you can stash emergency supplies to use for crafts on a rainy day. You can pick up supplies cheaply at your local dollar store or at craft store sales and save them until you are desperate for ideas on how to occupy your children.

Here is a short list of things you might find useful:

• Card stock for making artwork and hand made cards
• Scrapbook paper
• White glue
• Bags of shells and glass beads
• 1 foot square sheets of felt
• Yarn and needles (if you think you can teach the children to knit)
• Inexpensive glass bowls or vases that can be half filled with sand or shells to make candle holders.

You might also want to save old magazines for collages that the children might enjoy making. You can also use these to cover a shoe box that can be used for homework supplies, photos, or just for ‘treasures’. They won’t be bored and may even have some fun.

Look through your old photos and get the children to make a scrapbook. Or save some of the photos and anything the children want to keep, then put them in a decorated shoebox to make a time capsule that they can open in a few years’ time.

If they’re old enough to be working in the kitchen, you could help them make some fudge – or cookies made from pre-made cookie dough. They’ll have fun making the goodies and will be quiet and not bored while they’re eating the results! If you have an ice cream maker, let them make some ice cream and experiment with a different flavor – one that hopefully will be edible!

If you have some squares of felt stashed away, they could have fun sewing a needle case for Grandma or using it to make an artwork collage by gluing cut-out shapes onto card stock. They could even make handmade cards to be given out later in the year.

If you have a large vase that you aren’t using, you could turn it into a small aquarium for a beta fish by placing thoroughly washed pebbles or stones in the bottom and anchoring a living aquarium plant in them. Put the fish into the water (according to the instructions you received with the fish) and you’re done. You can only have one beta fish in the vase or container as they will fight with each other. It’s also not a good idea to put two beta fish where they can see each other! This is the voice of experience speaking – boys, especially, think it’s great fun to see the fish trying to kill each other – and they are certainly no longer bored!

If none of the ‘craft’ ideas are going to alleviate the boredom and provide some fun for your children, perhaps you could think of a relatively inexpensive and fun trip to your local zoo or aquarium. Or perhaps a nearby ice rink or bowling alley would fit the bill. They certainly wouldn’t be bored and are sure to have fun!

As a last resort, turn on your computer and find them some new fun games to play!

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