Book: Busting Boredom with Family Time by Kell

Posted by raisingdeeproots on June 14, 2010 · 1 Comment 

There is nothing like a lazy day in my mind….but for a 5, 3 & 1-year-old, there is little room for lounging on the hammock with a cup of tea & a book for 3 hours!!  I am the first to encourage the kids to have down time every day- a good book, some pretend play, a little creativity…it is important for them to learn how to entertain themselves.  Yet we seem to have moments in our day that are more difficult than others and in desperate need for some parent guided fun-ness .  The post dinner/ pre-bed is one of these moments in our house.  I have been trying to replace this difficult pocket of our day with some fun family time.  These “pockets” of time seem to be the most tempting times to escape our responsibilities as parents.  They are the easiest time to turn on the tube, check email or fb and “let the kids work it out.” (You KNOW you have said & done it too!!!!)  And then everything turns into chaos and you spend the next 30 minutes regretting that you ever walked away b/c child 1, 2 & 3 can’t stop crying.  Sound familiar??!!

In effort to overcome, we have introduced the boredom busters jar.  This is a great idea from FamilyFun magazine for families with kids of all ages (book available at Amazon for .49!!!).  Family time is incredibly important….time to teach, time to play, time to talk.  It brings security & identity to a child’s life.  There is nothing like our undivided attention to our children.  It looks different in each family- for those with teens it may be a post dinner trip on the lake for a little water fun, for those with middle schoolers it may be a board game tourney, and for those of us with toddlers, the boredom jar is a great solution.  Here are some of the things in our boredom busters jar which has become the highlight of the day and the numbers in the book that go with them….

Chair Choo Choo #119

Splash Dance #146

Juggle Sock Balls

Make Pet Rocks #14

Chase the Dog #57

Red Light Green Light/ Duck Duck Goose/ Simon Says

Four Square #62

puzzles

Crab Soccer #91

Make a Paper Clip Chain

Popcorn & a Movie (Movie tickets to invite neighbors if it is planned out)

Paper Bag Puppets

Gather Household Items & Create a Story with them

Indoor Campout #78

Shower of Ideas #150

Octopus Tag #66

Bubble Fun (Make your own wands w/ fly swatters, paper clips & hangers)

No-peeking Sketches #27

Rose Colored Windows pg.92

Kentucky Card Derby #129

Coffee Filters & Watercolors

Pet Vet #120

Button Art

Bull’s Eye Bounce #60

Build a Fort w/ Couch Cushions

Stopwatch Fun pg 45

House of Cards #7

Bean Soup Relay #22

Sidewalk Creatures #100

Penny Hunt pg 70

Car Wash Fun (Lots of buckets, sponges & spray bottles!!)

Home Office #177

Jump the Trap #95

Switcheroo #98

Indoor Explorer #76

Cards: Go Fish, SlapJack, Concentration

Butcher paper Table Cloth & Candlelight dinner

Butcher paper City & Road for cars/trains

King of the Dribblers #58

Paint to Music #17

We did outside games on green paper, rainy day games on blue, and indoor games on red & orange so that we could “direct” their choice a little.  I just make a huge list of all the items we would need for this spur of the moment play and have it all hiding in my closet!!  Hope you enjoy filling your hard moments with precious family fun!!

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Filed under Book Review, Family Fun, Family Time