School is out, or almost out, and the kids will be home with you for a couple of weeks. After the hustle and bustle of the holidays and the running around is over, some of you may find you are at a loss of things to do. This never happens at my house because there is always somewhere we need to be or something we should be doing, but I have heard others talk about this crazy notion of boredom. Well, get your thinking caps on parents and put those little bodies and/or minds to work! Be inventive!
In the rare time we find moments to just sit and enjoy each others company the fun begins. We have a cabinet full of games and the girls, being 6,4,4 and 2, are now getting old enough to really grasp concepts and game play. Some we have played are Scrabble, Candy Land, Jenga, Racko, What’s Gnu?, Memory, Go Fish, UNO, Crazy Eights and Old Maid. My husband has broken out the chess board with my 6 year old a couple of times too.
Some more inventive play can really get the family going and move those little bodies too! We have gone on “trips around the world” in our special “car”, “train” or “bus” or “magic carpet” (really whatever you can make that you all can fit into). When you step out of your amazing world traveling machine you are in a new part of the world discovering native animals and people and seeing sites specific to the area. It is a great geography lesson and fun to use your imagination. I did this with a two year old while holding twin infants in my arms and sitting on a child seat, so anyone can do it! These days the four girls and I pile into the pop up tent turned “travel machine” and go. You could do this through time as well and make it about history.
Turning a room into a huge fort is always fun too. Find the biggest blankets you have and go at it! Leave it up for a day or two and it is fun for all.
My husband and I had built up a coin collection so we told the girls to go and get their donation banks from their rooms. I had a dry erase board and would ask level specific questions to each girl and when they got them right they would earn money toward their donation banks. We emptied our change holder, the girls had fun and more money was donated. A win all around.
Hide-and-go-seek is always fun, along with freeze tag. How about some Mommy or Daddy Says game (these are eerily similar to Simon Says!).
Puzzle-Mania is a fun project we do sometimes. We take all 30 something of our wooden puzzles and dump all the pieces in the middle. You have to mix them up well! The kids love that part. Then put all the empty puzzle trays all around the outside of the circle and put them all back together. This takes a while, but it is a fun goal. Every time one is finished it gets to go in the “done” pile.
Doctor, restaurant, library, store, zoo, school, beauty parlor and many, many more! You name it, you can play it. These are fun things that can occupy hours of time and bank hours of time spent with each other. Crafts are another great thing you can do with each other, but that list is far too long to add to this one. I will write about the crafty play another day.
I hope this helps some of you cope with the holiday vacation and winter season hibernation boredom you may face in the next few months to come. There is ALWAYS something to do even when you have nothing to play with. The kids will love the time with you and will remember when…
Happy Playing Friends!
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