Works for Me Wednesday- Mom I'm Bored

Well for this special edition of Works for Me Wednesday, it's about handling that oh so famous question, "Mom I am bored! What can I do?" Now my daughter is constantly saying that to me and I can not figure out why she could possibly be bored. I go through the list every time of what she can do with the various toys she has, books she can read, coloring books to color, games to play and so forth. She usually ends up making some fort thing with pillows, bringing out stuffed animals to travel in it, or playing with a ball or a box. So really why do I get toys????

So of the things we do to fill out the time during the summer months are to totally take advantage of the free days everywhere. Most museums and zoos post them on their website. We actually have a free day on a Wednesday to the museum in a week or two. Saturdays are free days at the art museum and the first Monday of the month is free day at the Denver Botanic Gardens. I have also done searches that pull up all sorts of summer festivals and events all over Colorado during the summer months to take the kids to. This makes up the "field trip" part.

Now for when we are at home and not going anywhere, out come all the crafts. I like to stock up on things from Hobby Lobby, Michael's or Jo Ann's and save for a "I'm Bored" day. They have lots of wood pieces to paint, those plastic cups to decorate, stickers, scrap booking pages, and so forth. We have gotten window art, magnets, ornaments and things like that, as well as t-shirts to dye, put paint on or draw on with markets. Now if you are not into the crafts, you can always grab journals for the kids to write in and draw in, when you go for walks, or if they go outside to record all the things they see.

Taking household items and having the kids race to see what they can make out of them is also a fun game. Stacking up the Tupperware to see who makes the tallest tower, or who can make something usable out of paper plates, cups, spoons, and straws.

Building forts and clubhouses out of boxes is great too. Kids love to decorate them and bring their stuff inside and play in those things for hours!

So what do you do when your kids tell you they are bored? Do you have any special tricks to entertain them? Let me know! I am always looking for new ideas!

Oh and don't forget to head over to Rocks in My Dryer and see all the other wonderful Works for Me Wednesday posts!

~Dawn