Mommy I’m Bored!
When the weather gets too bad to go outside and play, what do you do the keep the kids entertained? If your kids are anything like mine, they have boundless energy that desperately needs to be released, and if outdoors is off limits, what is a Mommy to do?
We can’t go and spend $50-$100 at the movies or one of those indoor arcades all the time, and you can’t go to the park or the zoo and sometimes even the library can be off limits if the weather takes a nasty turn.
Over the years I have come up with a variety of ways to keep the kids entertained indoors and for next to nothing. (And no, I don’t just pop in a DVD!) I like to give my kids the opportunity to release all that energy and be creative, so here are some of our families favorite ways to entertain the little ones on the cheap:
- Crafts- Always a crowd pleaser, and you can create a variety of crafting options for you kids without spending more than $1.00 for a bottle of glue. I set up a table in our den and cover it and the floor with newspaper or an old table cloth, I give the kids a ton of stuff to create with and they will happily make their little masterpieces. We use empty cereal boxes, macaroni, scrap paper, paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, anything that we can find. Throw in some crayons, markers, safety scissors and glue and you can entertain the kids for at least an hour. If you want to get real fancy toss in old buttons, ribbons and leftover wrapping paper and tissue paper(I save all of it from Holidays and birthdays just for this purpose, the kids love to cut out the shapes and make bookmarks and cards) The possibilities are endless when it comes to crafts, just give your kids the tools and they will do the rest. Of course if you kids are 15, they might not be into crafting with paper towel rolls, but the younger ones will love it, and you don’t really have to buy anything, just use whatever you have on hand.
- Let your kids be the Stars- if you have a video camera, this is always fun. Let your kids raid the closets and dress up to create their very own movie. Let them(or help them) write a script and act it out for the camera. You and your kids will love this and what a fun little treat to email to Grandma? And what a nice surprise for when they bring home their first dates?
just kidding. - Make a Scrapbook- Kids love to look at pictures and either hear or tell the stories behind them. Let them do both. Get copies of some of your favorite family photos and let the kids decorate pages and write their own stories for the photos and put this into a special album. Add more pages each time you have a rainy or snowy day. You don’t need to get anything fancy, just use scrap paper, and anything you find around the house, stickers, wrapping paper, postcards, scrap paper, you name it, the kids won’t know you didn’t go to the pricey scrapbook store. My kids love their albums and love to go back and look at them and talk about making more pages, it is a great way to entertain the kids and create a little family keepsake.
- Try indoor hide and seek, with rules firmly in place!
- Treasure/Scavenger Hunt- Hide “treasures” throughout the house, and give the kids clues to finding them. This is a big favorite at our house, in the summer, we do this outside too.
- Board Games are always fun, but if you either don’t have any or your kids are bored with the ones you have-make new ones. We will set up new rules for existing games, I let the kids make up some of the new rules and I will write them up. They love to think they are “making up” a game. We also make up games with nothing more than a deck of cards and maybe some game-pieces from other games. We do memory games, and I let the kids make up their own by drawing or gluing pictures to scrap pieces of paper. Really all you need is a little creativity and board games can become fun for your kids. I find the more involved my kids are in the process, the less likely they are to complain of boredom.
- Go Camping-Inside. This is another crowd pleaser, the fort. Gather a ton of old linens, and pillows and use them to make a tent or fort. Toss some sleeping bags and hot chocolate and snacks in the mix and you are camping! Have the kids tell campfire stories and “make” s’mores (our version on indoor s’mores is graham crackers and marshmallow fluff)
- Baking- Have the kids help you make something they can decorate, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc. Let them help you stir the batter and decorate the treats! If you prefer to stay away from the sugary sweets, try decorating things like peanut butter toast, or whole wheat pancakes, give the kids fruit and raisins to use to make faces or shapes on their toast or pancakes or whatever you choose to make.
- Living Room Idol- We like to sing around here, so we do our own “Idol” show. We set up a stage (old milk crates and pillows covered in an old sheet) and we all get our chance to sing our songs! Of course, we are all winners, and Mommy usually video tapes this to send to Grandma.
- Charity - Just because you cannot leave the house because of the weather or any other reason, does not mean you can’t do some good. Have the kids make cards for Troops overseas and drop them off at a donation station(most grocery stores and news channels have these things) Or have them help you clean out closets to find items to donate to those whom are less fortunate.
I hope I have given you some good ideas or at least have sparked your creativity. I know how “bored” kids can get, so hopefully you now have some inexpensive ideas to entertain your kids this winter.
What have you done to keep the kids entertained without spending a fortune? I would love to hear your experiences!
Topics: Life & Family |
December 19th, 2007
[...] Lenora Johanson from Mommy Gets PAID divulges creative ways to keep our kids engaged in Mommy I’m Bored! [...]
December 20th, 2007
Great ideas. My 12-year-old son loves baking and cooking. He’s homeschooled, so we consider it at Home Ec course for him.
If the kids to want to watch videos, check out BrainPop.com. They are education videos and they do have some that are free. I’m a subscriber and my son watches the videos as part of his homeschooling curriculum. The kids get to watch cartoons, but they are educational, so they’re getting something out of it, too.
December 20th, 2007
Savvy Frugality- Thanks for the tip, we will have to check it out!
Take Care
LJ
January 1st, 2008
[...] Lenora Johanson from Mommy Gets PAID divulges creative ways to keep our kids engaged in Mommy I’m Bored! [...]
March 15th, 2008
try shaving cream fights in the backyeard, “sculpting” with chocolate and growing herbs or other simple plants.