Category: Creativity

Whether you live in a city, a small town or the country, there are always fun things to do with kids if you just put your mind to it. There are places to explore and activities to take part in that are ideal during the summer holidays. It just takes a little thought and some planning to take advantage of the beautiful summer weather.

Here are eight great things to do with your kids this summer for before starts up again, no matter where you live. We’re talking about simple inexpensive and mostly free things families with kids can enjoy while staying safe.

1. Interact with nature

The summer months have the best weather to explore the outdoors with kids. Why not go on a bird hike with a bird watching book or wander in the wetland to see what is hiding in the vegetation. Go on a geocaching pirate treasure hunt and collect plant species. If the holiday season is around the corner, consider taking the exploration outdoors with beach tours for some fun in the sun!

Kids also enjoy forest walks and nature play with their parents. Teach your kids how to press flowers, find a pet rock to decorate or create a nature collage from their explorations.

2. A star gazing party

Have you ever heard of a scavenger hunt in the sky? Download a star finder app and have a star party. The best thing about these apps is that you can find the locations of stars even during the day. Point it to the ground and you will see the exact location of stars you’ve never seen on the other side of the world. Of course, going out at night is even more exciting when kids can see the names highlighted of visible stars in the night sky. A star locator also helps you to find and follow the directions of constellations in the sky.

3. Camping in the backyard

Camping is what you make of it. You don’t have to go to a campground to have fun. Gather up some sleeping bags, a tent, and some flashlights. Bring out blankets and pillows from your bedroom. The kids will enjoy sleeping outside with you and there will be no complaints that there is nothing fun to do at home. It can also be inexpensive to buy a portable backyard fire pit and purchase a small bundle of firewood at a local store. If you don’t have a backyard, you can pitch a tent in your living room or basement.

4. Go for a walk

How far can you walk as a family within an hour? If you have a toddler, how far can he/she walk before getting tired? Challenge your kids to experiment on that. Kids love it when you take ordinary activities and give them a fun twist. Make a loop while you’re at it, or take a new route home just to spice things up. Go for a self-guided walking tour around your neighborhood.

If you are close to where you grew up, drive to the town or neighborhood and take the kids on a walking tour. This is your chance to talk about your children with real memories connected to where you used to play.

5. Teach them how to swim

Whether you go to a local pool or a local or faraway beach, teaching kids how to swim is also a great way to cool off while learning something new. If you cannot make it to a beach or a pool it may be worth looking into buying a small above ground backyard pool. It doesn’t take much water to teach kids the basics, including how to tread water, which is a basic survival skill all kids are taught while taking swimming lessons. Swimming is also a chance to bond as a family on more personal level while having fun. Swimming lessons in a formal settings are also something all kids should take for their own personal safety through life.

6. Hold a dance party

Teach your kids how to find a rhythm when dancing to a song. Share with them some fun dance moves that you learned when you were young. They will love experiencing your earlier life. Take turns as a family choosing each person’s favorite song to dance to. Or just sit in your living room and discover the music while each family member shares why each song is one of their favorites.

7. Teach them to cook

Cooking is an essential life skill that your young ones should possess. Download cooking tutorials or watch YouTube videos to learn recipes for different meals. If you have traveled outside the country and learned to cook a foreign meal, teach that to the kids. It’s also a great opportunity to teach kitchen safety. Who knows, maybe it will develop a routine of everyone taking turns helping with weekly meals.

8.   Plant a flower

Kids generally think that working in the yard is hard and boring. So why not start with teaching them how to plant a flower or plant. It can be an enjoyable positive experience learning how to dig a hole, fertilize the ground and plant a flower they can take care of. They will be able to watch it grow throughout the summer. It can also be a good segue into teaching your child how to pick weeds to keep all the plants healthy.

Next Steps

May this be a fun and creative summer that will build lasting memories for both your and your kids. Who knows, maybe it will inspired everyone in the family to come up with new ideas for great summer fun.

• Staying home?  Share these online summer safety tips with your child.
• Discover other ways to have fun on holidays throughout the year.

With so much access to technology as compared with human interaction and physical activity, it easy for to begin to feel run down and get bored. We may feel unchallenged mentally and soon realize that watching TV is not as fun as it seems.

If you want to challenge yourself and have fun, it’s important to realign your goals and seek more knowledge. Learn something new, try a challenge you consider undoable, change your life’s path if you can, or stretch your limits and imaginations beyond what you previously thought was humanly impossible.

To start you off, here are productive activities and fun ideas to help you beat boredom.

1. Learn a new language

Learning a new language, local or international, is a good way to remain mentally active and improve your life while at it. Set a goal now to work at it a little each day to learn Spanish or Mandarin, for example. This is your chance to learn an extra local lingo if you come from a multilingual country, or even learn the American Sign Language. All you need to learn a new language these days is a language app or an online class that teachers a new language. 

2.  Have a campfire in the backyard

This is simple: Make a fire pit and share quality time with your family around the fire. You can even roast marshmallows or steak to bring out the real camping experience. If you live alone, reading a book around the campfire could also be fun. Try anything, conventional or unconventional. Normal is boring, after all!

Note: This is illegal in some regions, so you need to confirm with your neighbors or local authorities first.

3. Learn a skill online

Take an online dance class and practice with a family member. Try a pottery class and do pottery with your kids in the backyard. If you are a business executive, hone your listening or management skills. If you are into art, learn how to write movie scripts, draw, or even how to write interesting children storybooks.  Anything you are interested in has a free tutorial online.

4. Cook

Does one person in the home do most of the cooking? Why not lend a hand while learning how to cook? This is your chance to try out the recipe you brought back from your trip abroad. Try making varied dishes from all the trips you have made, or from the TV shows you’ve watched. With a little creativity, innovation, and improvisation in your cooking techniques, you will be surprised by how many “secret” recipes you will invent in the next month or so- recipes that will remain “family secret” for tens of your future generations.

5. Learn How to Code

While many parents are getting their kids to take online coding classes there are plenty of games that teach you how to learn how to create the games while you play.  Computer coding is the unique language that computer programmers use to create software, make websites work and invent games.

6. Play games

Your parents may have been trying to get you to reduce your time looking at screens. You know what it’s like to play your Switch, Xbox, PS4, and iPads until you can’t focus anymore. Now get the old board games and play Trivial Pursuit or poker with your family. Learn how to play chess or see how good you still are at the epic game of Monopoly. We are talking about the long versions here. After all, you have all the time to push your limit.

7. Make a DIY clock

Someone made a clock using Chrome running in Kiosk mode, a Raspberry Pi, and a spare touch screen. The clock is basically a JavaScript-based web display on a Raspberry Pi 4, with the display being a local website whose textual representation is minutes, hours, and days. If technology or coding is your thing, this is a good idea for making something mechanical for yourself, in an artistic approach.

8. Plan a Comedy Show

Choose a night when the entire family can get together. Create and print free tickets that you can give each family member. Rehearse these funny jokes for kids and then tell them from a makeshift stage in your family room.  It’s your own comedy show.  Many of the world’s famous comedians started at home telling jokes to their mom, dad, brothers and sisters.

9. Exercise

There are tons of exercise and fitness apps/online platforms. If you love hitting the gym, look for trainer videos, and keep the momentum going. If you are new to this, you don’t have to jump directly to full-blown workouts; start with the calming Yin Yoga, short sprints in the backyard, or jumping rope for 10-20 minutes.

10. Paint By Numbers

This activity is a great way for family members of any age to see if they like painting.  Even beginners who try painting by numbers are able to achieve satisfying results while learning how to paint with a steady hand.  For school aged children, it also helps them a develop a myriad of skills as they learn and grow in the pursuit of art and creativity.

11. Learn How to Play Cribbage

Cribbage is a card game that combines elements of strategy, arithmetic, and probability, where the objective is to be the first player to score 121 points through card combinations in hand and play. This game is particularly beneficial for kids as it encourages mathematical skills, critical thinking, and strategic planning, making it a fun and educational pastime. Learn how to play

Conclusion

If you feel like time is becoming rather blurry, that is a sign that whatever you are doing is becoming monotonous. Don’t let boredom dim your spirit. Move on to a tougher challenge and by all means, make sure you have loads of fun in the process. 

We all have days at home that are boring.  You can’t think of anything to do that’s fun and exciting.  You just feel like just hanging out in bed watching videos on your phone. After all, what else is there, right?  Wrong. You don’t have to fly across the country or spend lots of money to have a fun, interesting time.

No matter where you live, bored kids can enjoy creative fun activities that will also bring world of adventure into an otherwise boring day.  All you need to do is use your imagination.

Here are a few ideas. Once you start thinking about the world around your home, you’ll see other activities that you can do to have fun without spending any money. By the way, you still get to use your phone when doing these things.

1. Take something apart.

This is really cool, but you need a parent to help you. Ask for a broken machine. It can be a lawn mower or a tower computer or an old toy or bike. Then ask your parents for the tools you need. Before you start, go online and read about the safety steps you need to do the work. You might need eye protection or gloves. Then grab a screwdriver and get going!

You’ll see how gadgets do what they do. You’ll learn about the insides of machines and maybe even figure out what is wrong with them. This also a great way to learn how to use tools, something everyone needs to know. Taking something apart is perfect for when your parents are doing a task beside you.

2. Become an ornithologist.

That long word looks terribly scary, but it means that you study birds. This is so easy and doesn’t cost much. All you need is a book from the library on local birds and a pair of binoculars. You could even use your phone. Just take pictures of any birds you see then go online to find out what kind of birds they are.

Warning: bird watching can be surprisingly fun and lead to a life-long hobby, not just something to do when you are bored.

3. Custom Stickers

Who doesn’t love stickers?  Least of all kids!  Did you know that you can create your own custom stickers that can be put on just about any thing you can think of?  It’s a great way to express your individuality. Stickers can be put on skateboards, leather items, water bottles, binders, phone cases, makeup cases, helmets, pencil boxes, and even car windows.

First, make a list of images you would like to put on a sticker, such as cartoons, a school sports team, or a personal sketch drawing of your. Stickers can also be created to display meaningful quotes, either written by the you personally or by a famous person.

4. Create a Treasure Hunt!

You can go online and read about the different ways that you can arrange the hunt. The best way to get all your friends together and ask a parent to hide the treasure. It could be a batch of cookies or a gift certificate for a pizza or each child could bring one small toy to make up the treasure. Or you could be the treasure master, stashing the prize and making up clues that you hide in advance.

Clues could be something like “Look for the tree with the home-made swing,” or “Find the big grey rock and take three steps south.” Each clue leads to another clue and at the very end, the treasure. Maybe each of your friends could pick a day and hold their own treasure hunt. The hunts can be as long or as short as you want.  This is fun activity you could also do as a family together, outside or in the house.

5. Make a movie.

For this, call the friends who, like you, are bored. Get together and talk about what kind of movie you want to make. It could be a documentary, where your movie is about something real. It could be a drama, where you write a script and play pretend. Then start recording videos. You will need to learn how to write a script, how to talk clearly, how to question people and how movies really work.  Get inspired from watching family friendly movies, which is also another thing do to when you’re bored.

6. Color

It’s a lost art for many.  Coloring books.  That’s a funny little play on words since we are referring to the lost “art” being actual “art”.  Anyways, whether you use pencil crayons or wax crayons, it’s easy to find free coloring pages online of your favorite cartoons or drawings.  From animals to cars, princesses to superheros, sports themes to nature, what better way to spruce up your room’s decor with you very own artwork?

With coloring pages, you can also make a colorful wall montage.  Choose from all sorts of drawings and cover one of your bedroom walls with your own colorful creations. It will be like a wall mural but made up of individual pictures.

7. Have a Box Sculpture Contest!

This is easy.  Just ask your parents to get empty boxes from a grocery or chain store. Make sure you have a lot of them in a lot of different sizes. Then you need strong tape, glue and markers to decorate what you make. You could even decide on a theme, like box spaceships, box forts or box cars.  You can also get creative and spruce up your sculptures with items egg cartons, ribbons and show boxes.

There are so many things a kid can do when he or she is bored.  You just need a few ideas.  Creativity often works that way. Often, you first need to get the creative juices flowing and soon you’ll be coming up with ideas of your own.   Our activities list for bored kids came from brainstorming ideas.  It make be one of many art projects you’ve done in school, or new ideas you want to do at home.  Start by thinking about them.  Then perhaps share them with your friends and see what they think.

8. Build a bowling alley.

You need some outdoor chalk and a flat place—like your patio or driveway or the paved area around the school. With the chalk, draw the place where the “pins” will go, then outline a lane, with a line where you roll the ball. Get some empty plastic pop bottles and fill them about one-third full with water. Then get a ball—a baseball will do.

You will need to practice throwing the ball to make sure that the lane is the right length. The bottles may need more or less water. Play around with your bowling alley until the ball rolls right and the bottles are filled so that they need a good hit with the ball to tip over. Once you start building your bowling alley, you might be surprised by the people who stop to watch you and play.

9. Learn How to Fly a Kite!

Kites are relatively cheap to buy, but many kids prefer to learn about kites online and make their own. This activity requires you to follow the weather and look for good places to catch the wind, usually a park or a hill. This takes those reflexes that help you play video games and uses them in the real world. And it’s fun.

10. Put on a Kids Clothing Swap!

Ask your parents what they think about this. It would be a good way to clean out closets as well as encourage everyone to recycle. Just make sure that all clothes are clean and mended when they are brought to the swap.

How to Create Your Own Fun Activities

This list is just the beginning or all the fun things you could do when you are bored.  Pick out a couple and ask your parents if you need help to get the fun rolling.  Whenever your faced with boredom, try going for a walk in the fresh air and use your imagination.  You may just find that the adventure will never stop.  It may not feel like it right now, but there is so much fun waiting for you just around the corner.  Finally, when you’re bored out of you mind and don’t feel like putting much effort into anything at all, bring up this page of funny jokes for kids and tell them to your family members.

Learning how to read can be a tedious developmental process. Every child learns at a different pace and in a variety of ways. The goal is to not only teach the skills necessary to get through school, but to also instill a desire to keep reading for life. This is why it’s important to discover ways to make reading captivating.

So, how does a parent or teacher spark a passion for reading in every child? What are the methods to help them pay attention and remain interested?

Fun and Creative Ways to Help Kids to Read

For any type of leaning, making each step of the journey engaging is the key to encourage lifelong learning and enjoyment.  So, here five ideas that can plant the seed of a lasting love for reading in every child.

1. Use Nursery Rhymes and Kids’ Songs

Nursery rhymes and kids’ songs are a lot of fun, and their rhythm and rhyme enable children to hear syllables and sounds in words, which is a good way of learning to read. Phonemic awareness is an important ability required in learning. It entails being in unison when singing and clapping rhythmically together. Such bonding and playful activities are fantastic ways for children to grow their literacy skills that are the building blocks to developing successful reading habits.

2. Displaying Words and Letters in Class and their rooms at Home

Kids are naturally inquisitive. By displaying different letters and words around in class and their bedrooms, they’ll be encouraged to ask you questions about those words. By doing so, they’ll be learning without realizing it. You can also try labeling objects in a classroom and rooms such as doors, windows, tables, and chairs. Or placing words like ‘black,’ ‘red’ and ‘blue’ with the font’s color matching the word. This can especially help the reading skills of boys and help all kids to learn by associating words with what they see.

3. Reading Together Daily and asking Questions

There are many skills children can acquire just by reading the stories out loud. First, they learn the art of sounding out words. Second, you’ll be helping them develop major comprehension skills, expand their vocabulary as well as give them a chance to know what fluent reading is like. But most importantly, regular reading drives your child to enjoy reading. Strengthen your kids’ comprehension skills simply by asking them questions when reading. Use pictures to encourage younger kids to engage and ask older kids questions that are a little bit more complex.

4.  Playing Decoding Games

Decoding is simply sounding out words. Once your kid learns the letter’s sound or the sounds of different groups of letters, they can start to put words together. Learning how to decode is a very crucial stage of learning to read, preparing them for higher subject levels in school. This is because the more a student can decode words, the quicker they can automatically identify different words. You can make the decoding lessons fun by incorporating simple games.

5.  Word Search Bingo

As earlier mentioned, reading to kids out loud helps to develop their listening and language skills while preparing them to figure out written words. Nevertheless, some kids have difficulty sitting still and focusing while listening to the reader; therefore, you need to find a way of keeping them engaged in reading. One such way is by creating bingo games.  Hand out paper sheets to your students containing words from the text you are reading. Ask your students to circle the words on their list that they hear you reading, and in the end, talk about these words. Playing word bingo not only makes the activity interactive but also reinforces vocabulary and comprehension in a fun and dynamic way.

Developing a Love for Reading

Another way to instill a reading culture in your young children is to simply lead by example. It’s been said that kids ultimately develop their life long habits by doing what you do, not necessarily by what you say. Younger kids imitate their parent’s actions. What better way to teach the importance of reading than to have them to see you reading on a regular basis.

It begins at a younger age by taking the time to read with them everyday. Let them pick out the books they want. Make it fun. As they get old enough to read on their own, carve out time throughout the week for them to read their own books while you read yours. Do it together. You’ll not only be instilling a love for reading early on and guiding them towards reading success, you’ll be creating quality time together.

Other ways to encourage reading would be by registering your kids at centers for early learning. To find a reputable early learning center near you, search the internet for valuable venues and resources.