Sticking It To Summer Boredom with “Fun To Do” Jars

In my house we have been waiting, working and longing for summer and its finally here! So now what? After all the excitement of having a care-free, nothing to do summer wears off, we might find that summer boredom hits! I try to take my kids on outings or have outdoor playtime in the mornings to get us out of the house for a while. However, for us the hardest time of the day is the late afternoon when my little girl naps and it can get way too hot to be outside. These are the times when boredom can set in, and we are searching for something fun to do!

To tackle this  summer boredom, my son and I  put together this fun and project!

Summer Boredom “Fun To Do” Jars

Materials:

• Mason jars
• Large Popsicle sticks
• Sharpies
• Stickers/ decorations

We started by gathering a few mason jars from around the house to make our “fun-to-do” jars. For our family we decided to make 3 jars: one for activities for my son and I to do together (while my little girl is napping), one for activities for the 3 of us to do together, and one for some summer school work to keep our brain working!

Then I sat down with my son and we wrote down some of the things he would like us to do together onto the Popsicle sticks. Since we had different jars we used different colored sharpies to color code it and keep things organized.

Some of the activities my son came up with were:

• Legos
• computer games
• baking cookies
• building a fort
• balloon ping pong (using a balloon and two paper plates as paddles)
• writing stories
• art projects
• making inventions

I also searched through some of the things I had pinned on Pinterest, and found some activities of my own to add to the jars. I came up with:

• making and sailing paper boats
• obstacle courses
• photo scavenger hunt
• making a couch cushion trampoline
• painting with ice cubes
• making a used water bottle marble track

Then I let my son decorate the jars with the stickers, put the sticks in, and we were done!

The great thing about this project Is that you can totally personalize it for each of your kids and make it into something that they are truly excited about! Now when I see my son starting to get at a loose end, I tell him to go and pick a stick and he is so excited to do it! It’s a great way to keep him busy and out of mischief and really makes me feel like we are having a fun time together and making lots of summer memories!

 

Leanne Cox is a guest writer for CleverHousewife.com. She is a stay-at-home mom to two kids, and a credentialed preschool teacher. Leanne teaches “mommy-and-me” and “preschool style” music & movement classes through her business “Little Stars Music & Movement Classes” . She is passionate about encouraging early childhood education through hands on learning and exploration.