Summer Boredom Busters
compiled by Kari Mitchell / ga06072007


 

For an Enrichment Activity, I compiled a list of over 200 things that can be done during the summer.  They are not all my ideas and I didn't list all of the sites I used.

Make up an "I Won’t Be Bored List" of things to do for summer.
Set a personal goal and work to accomplish it before the end of summer.
Make puppets and create a show.
Care for your “personal garden”.
Walk the dog.
Read a book.
Go to story hour at the public library.
Prepare a Family Home Evening.
Sweep the walk.
Do something nice for a sibling.
Do something nice for a neighbor.
Do someone else’s household chore in secret.
Bake cookies and share.
Learn to sew.
Learn a new skill/talent.
Paint a mural.
Draw on the sidewalk with chalk.
Work on a Humanitarian project.
Create an obstacle course.
Make up a new tag game.
Do a jigsaw puzzle.
Play school.
Have a neighborhood talent show.
Construct the “Armor of God.”
Go on a Scavenger Hunt.
Do the 12 days of Summer Service.
Work on Faith in God.
Work on Duty to God.
Practice cartwheels.
Work on Young Women’s Personal Progress.
Water Balloon toss.
Read children's stories and record them on a cassette then donate them to hospital.
Video Scavenger Hunt.
Picnic in the park.
Plan and prepare an Unbirthday Party.
Make up a Line Dance.
Play Frisbee Bowling. Find or make your own rules.
Make Packages for Missionaries.
Make Friendship Bracelets.
Write ten things on a gratitude list.
Play Button! Button!
Play Duck, Duck, Goose.
Have a Stick Pull.
Jump Rope.
Ring Toss (with Mason Jar lids).
Play Leapfrog.
Taffy Pull - Get a traditional taffy recipe and pull taffy together as a family, just like the pioneers did. Have fun twisting the taffy into your own original designs; then enjoy eating it together.
A Day in the Life of a Pioneer Spend an entire day without using any modern conveniences. Turn off the television, don't use the telephone, and walk everywhere you go. Sleep outside in the backyard as a family with blankets. Wash your hair in a tub of water, make butter together, and do some wash by hand. That evening, talk about the blessings of living during this modern time, and the things you feel you could live without.
Handiwork Each year, work as a family on a handicraft project. Work on a quilt, or try hand-stitching some hems on clothes or towels. Find someone who can teach you to knit or crochet, and have family members make their own items to pass on to their families someday.
Write a poem.
Write or draw in your journal about your day or week.
Name the modern prophets in order.
Memorize the names of the Apostles.
Color.
Write and send a Thank you note to someone.
Make a quilt.
Learn origami.
Learn to twist balloons into animals or flowers.
You Name It! Test your family’s talent for description with this shout-it-out-loud word association game. First, make playing cards by cutting out pictures of common objects, people, and places from magazines and gluing each to an index card. (We found that 40 cards made for a good game.) To play, divide the group into two teams of two. Each team has 30 seconds to go through as many cards as possible, having one person describe the object without actually naming it while the other guesses. Each correct answer earns a point. Teammates swap roles with each round. Family Fun Magazine, April 2007, p. 20.
Build and fly a kite.
Pull weeds for your neighbor.
Add to your gratitude list.
Build a “pinewood derby” car.
Fold and fly paper airplanes.
Frozen Tag - if you're tagged by 'it' you freeze until you are rescued. Use your creativity for rescuing techniques: you have to limbo under an arm; the frozen person makes a shape that you have to go through or under; you have to give the person a hi-5; both of the person's hands have to be tapped before they are unfrozen, etc.
Tag with safe zones - kids call this being 'T', whatever that means. In not-so-young-at-heart terms, this means being 'safe' from the person who is it. There are endless ways that you could come up with for players to be safe: they have to touch a certain color, they have to link arms with another person, lay on their back like a dead rat, sing a Hilary Duff song, somehow get themselves off the ground (I call this version Floating Tag - great on a playground), touch a tree...
Chain Tag - 'it' is now a group of two, holding hands, when someone else is caught, they join the chain, when the chain has four people in it, it breaks to make two groups of two and so on until everyone is part of a chain.
Blob Tag - if you get tagged, you hold hands and join the 'blob' which keeps growing until everyone is part of the blob.
(You need a restricted playing space for these last two versions) Sitting Tag - if you get tagged by 'it', then you sit in one place. If you are able to touch someone who has not yet been tagged, then they sit and you are back in the game.
Everyone's It! - just shout this for the final variation and see what happens!
Paint a picture with lemon juice on white paper and hang it in a sunny window and see what happens in a few days.
Have a neighborhood bike wash.
Play flashlight tag.
Play Kick the Can.
Check out a science book and try some experiments.
Make up a story.
Arrange photo albums.
Start a collection-- bugs, coins, stamps, leaves, marbles, etc.
Do some stargazing.
Catch butterflies and then let them go.
Play hide-and-seek.
Create a symphony with bottles and pans and rubber bands.
Read a story to a younger child.
Find shapes in the clouds.
String dry noodles or O-shaped cereals into a necklace.
Make up a song.
Make a teepee out of blankets.
Find an ant colony and spill some food and watch what happens.
Play charades.
Make up a story by drawing pictures.
Draw a cartoon strip.
Make a map of your bedroom, house or neighborhood.
Search your house for items made in other countries and then learn about those countries from the encyclopedia or online.
Plan an imaginary trip to the moon.
Plan an imaginary trip around the world, where would you want to go.
Finger-paint with shaving cream.
Collect sticks and mud and build a bird's nest.
Make food sculptures (from pretzels, gumdrops, string licorice, raisins, cream cheese, peanuts, peanut butter, etc.) and then eat it.
Create a scavenger hunt for someone else.
Make a bike obstacle course. Can you do it? Can you improve your time?
Do a crossword puzzle.
Do a Sudoku puzzle.
Practice a musical instrument an extra 15 minutes.
Create a crossword puzzle with the names of family, prophets, friends, etc.
Create a family chant.
Make and cut out paper dolls.
Make dinosaurs, animals, birds, etc. out of clay.
Help cook lunch or dinner.
Play Frisbee golf.
Challenge someone to a game of checkers.
Practice your soccer skills.
Do Tangram puzzles.
Work with some Pattern Blocks.
Create a mosaic.
What is the least number of Dominoes that you can use with a sum of 100?
What is the largest number of Dominoes that you can use with a sum of 100?
Organize your “game closet” and play one game a week until you have played all of them.
Create and color a “scribble” picture.
Search for items in a “Hidden Picture.”
Sponge Tag - get 2 or 3 large car sponges and several buckets of water. “It” grabs a sponge and gets it wet. If you are hit with the sponge, you are “it.” Avoid head hits.
Make and share a word search with someone.
Problem solving: Make three triangles using only four toothpicks.
Make and share Holiday Word Scrambles. (ex. eifr kreccar = fire cracker).
Make up a game and play it with friends and family. Write the rules down so that you can teach those playing and refer back to them when you want to play again.
Travel game idea-- try to solve the specialty license plates, (ex. MSPRFKT = MISS PERFECT).
Create an exercise routine for the summer. Use your exercise routine 3-4 times a week.
Finger paint a picture using pudding or acrylic paints.
Travel game idea II- Like Travel Game #4, but find pairs of numbers and count as far as you can. (Also use license plates to find the numbers.)
Make a basket.
Make a string art picture.
Write about the day you were born. Include the statistics of your birth as well as any unusual events surrounding your birth.
If you have been baptized, write about the special day in your journal, if you haven’t already.
Play marbles.
Do a dot-to-dot.
Do the dusting for Mom.
Organize a game of Dodge Ball.
Plan a breakfast up the canyon with your family, make up the list of items. Then help your mom and dad get things ready for the special morning.
Look at a “Where’s Waldo” book or an “I Spy” book.
Write a letter to Grandpa and Grandma.
Build and hang a bird feeder out of a milk or juice carton.
Wash dishes.
Vacuum the floors.
Make the beds.
Clean the clothes.
Iron your clothes.
Rake the yard.
Blow bubbles.
Problem solving: Make six triangles using twelve toothpicks.
Do the games in the Daily and/or weekly newspapers.
With a family member or friend, create a code.
Paint a color by number picture.
Create a sand art picture.
Write the name of a summer month vertically. After each letter, write 3 or 4 adjectives that begin with that letter.
List all the different sounds you hear for the next 10 minutes.
List the thirteen original colonies.
List the 50 states. Can you do it in alphabetical order?
Design a poster for the 4th of July or another summer holiday.
Draw a sunset with crayons and then describe it in a poem.
Pack your suitcase. Write what you would take for a week at the lake or in the mountains.
Write about your favorite sport or hobby.
Make a word search using the names of your body’s organs. (eyes, heart, etc.)
Design an airplane. Tell about your design.
Write a haiku poem about an animal. It has three lines with 5-7-5 syllables in each line.
They’re back! Write a poem or story about the return of dinosaurs.
Give each letter a cent value (a=1 cent, b=2 cents, etc) then add up the value of words. Cab would be a 6 cent word-c=3 cents, a=1 cent and b=2cents. What is the value of your name? How many $1 words can you find? “Excellent” is a $1 word.
Make a necklace of beads or buttons.
Work on a merit badge.
Make a picture or design using the beads that you melt.
Read a joke book.
Write a riddle about an every day object. (salt, table, clock, etc.)
Problem solving: Make fourteen triangles with twelve toothpicks.
Problem solving: I had some money. I gave half away. Of what was left, I spent half. I lost five cents. That left me with just five cents. How much did I starts with? (Hint: Sometimes beginning at the beginning is not the easiest way to solve a problem.)
Problem solving: Arrange twelve toothpicks to make five squares.
Problem solving: You know how oak trees look--tall and beautiful. Our school gardener is very proud of the oaks he planted in the front yard 50 years ago when he first took the job. He brags that they are planted in five straight rows, each having four oaks in it. Yet there are only ten oaks altogether! How did he do it?
Learn about Roman numerals. Write to 100 using Roman numerals.
Write the two letter abbreviations for the 50 states.
MXVI is written in Roman numerals. What is it in our numbers (Arabic)?

Travel Games from Kids Turn Central

  Color Match - Choose a color and watch out the window for objects of that particular color. Let's say you pick the color orange. Whenever you see an orange object, you say:, "I see an orange (object)!". Try to list ten objects before choosing a new color.
If two or more kids are in the car, you can compete to see who gets ten objects first, or you can cooperate to get ten objects together, with an adult keeping score.
  Red Car/Yellow Car - Choose a color and watch for a car of that color. Whoever spots the right color car first calls out, "(Color) Car!" and then gets to choose a different color for the next car.
  Alphabet Hunt Using the alphabet, starting with A, watch out the window for road signs, billboards, store signs, etc. with the called out letter. Once you find an "A" move on to "B" and so on until you complete the alphabet. Then repeat!
  Number Hunt - Similar to above but use numbers. Watch out the window for numbers from 1-9, in order.
  Scavenger Hunt This is a good game for long drives. Give child/children lists of things to watch for during the drive. Children can cooperate or compete to see who can find all the items on the lists.
  The lists can be made up ahead of time or during the drive, and adjusted for the type of scenery and the age of the children.

Scavenger Hunt Examples:

CITY LIST Flashing red light
Bus
Sign in a foreign language
Dog
Grocery store
Railroad tracks
Playground
Billboard with child on it
Billboard with cat on it Police officer

SUBURBS School
Flashing traffic light
Grocery store
Person on a bicycle
Statue
Church
Playground
Flower garden/snowman
Children
Pickup truck

RURAL LIST Silo
Railroad tracks
Post office or school
Cows
Dirt road
Pond or lake
Tractor
A fence
Gas station
Horses

TODDLER LIST Tall building
Lake or pond
Person on a bicycle
Bridge
Red car
Animal
Truck
Stop sign
Store
Person wearing a hat

  Tic Tac Toe
  Print out lots of Tic Tac Toe sheets for everyone to play!
  Cow count - Watch out the window for a field of cows. First person to spot the field of cows and call out the number of cows in the field, gets to keep the cows. [Guess the number of cows if you can't count them all]. Keep track of each persons cow count. For a twist, first person to see a cemetery announces "cow loss" and chooses a person to eliminate their cows. That person goes back down to zero. First person to see a church doubles their cows. [Cows got married]. First person to 500 cows wins!
  License Plate Game See how many different license plates you can find. Keep track of what states, provinces or countries you see plates from. The person who finds the most plates wins!
  Animal Naming Game - You have to name an animal in alphabetical order. If a letter sounds like one, but really isn't, you do the real letter. For letters like q,x,y, you don't have to do, but you get an extra turn if you do. Submitted by Fashion Queen

The following came from the website End of Year and Summer Activities for teachers, parents and children.

  Write numbers from 1 to 100.
  Find an object in your house that begins with each letter of the alphabet.
  Write 5 sentences. Use a number word in each sentence.
  Make something in the kitchen involving the use of measuring cups.
  Go outside and find something yellow.
  Write a story about your pet or a pet you would like to have.
  Write a letter to someone.
  Write the names of five friends, now make as many words using the letters of their names as you can.
  Write the long vowels on a sheet of paper. Think of four words for each vowel sound.
  Make a scrapbook of animal pictures. You might want to choose an animal you like. See if you can find some old magazines or calendars to look for the pictures.
  Read a story to someone.
  Count the money in your wallet or ask mom or dad to give you some coins to count.
  Keep a journal of what you do during the Summer. Write in it at least 2 times each week.
  Write numbers from 101 to 300.
  Write the alphabet three times in your best printing or cursive writing.
  Go outside. Find things for the sense of touch, things that are smooth, rough, prickly, sharp, hard, soft, dry, wet, etc.,
  Correctly spell as many color words as you can, try some of the harder ones too like turquoise and burgundy.
  Write numbers by 5’s to 100 and then to 200.
  Make little signs to name things in your room. Put them up in your room.
  Draw a picture of something outside. Write 5 or more sentences about it.
  Write all the number facts that will add to 10. (6 + 4 = 10, etc. )
  Go on a nature hike. Collect things and put them in a picture.
  Pretend you are a giant. Write a short story about it.
  Write numbers from 301 to 500.
  Cut out words from the newspaper - one for each letter of the alphabet
Use the letters in the word MISSISSIPPI to write as many words as you can.
  Write all the number facts that will add to 7.
Find a recipe that uses a color word in it's title and help your mom or dad make it.
Count out loud to 1000
Write 5 sentences. Use a color word in each sentence.
Write numbers by 2’s to 100 (2, 4, 6...)
Have your mom or dad register you in a day camp program with your community league, library or a church.
Write a fairy tale. Then read it to someone younger than you.
Write the short vowels on a sheet of paper. Think of a five words for each vowel sound.
  Write a poem about the weather, an animal or a plant.
  Plant something outside or help take care of a garden.
  Imagine that you have an alligator as a pet. Write a story about it.
  Cut apart the squares of a comic strip. Mix them up. Rearrange them in the correct order and then rearrange them into a funny mixed up story.
  Compare your bike with a friend’s bike. How are the alike? How are they different? Then do a safety check on both bikes.
  Make a sandwich. Cut it in half and then in fourths, see if you can cut it into eighths too.
  Make a list of everything you can find that is orange.
  Cut out words from a magazine. Make sentences out of them.
  Video tape your neighborhood and any holidays you go on to share with your friends when you go back to school in the Fall.
  With your parent's permission, find one person on your block who is elderly and offer to help them with their yard work one afternoon.
  Write any ten numbers between 1 to 100. Cut them out and mix them up. Arrange them again from smallest to largest.
  Cut out a picture from an old calendar. Cut it into puzzle pieces and then put it back together.
  Take your dog or your neighbor's dog for a walk, read a book about dogs and try to teach it a new trick..
  Choose a flower out of your garden, learn everything you can about that flower.
  Make price tags for several objects in your room. Make some play money and use it to buy the things in your “play store.”
  What would you do if you lived during the time of dinosaurs? Write a story about it.
  Write numbers from 501 to 700.
  Draw a map of your neighborhood, put a treasure (a small box with a few treats) somewhere in your neighborhood and mark it on your map. Invite your friends to try to find the treasure.
  Find objects around your home that begin with the sound SH . Draw a picture of each of them or have someone help you write them down. (sheets, shoe, etc.)
Look at a British Columbia map. Find Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George, Kelowna, Nelson.
  Write your name. Cut out each letter. Arrange the letters in A,B,C, order.
  Pick anywhere in the world and find out more about that place by going to the library or searching on the internet.
  Read 26 books, starting with a book in which the authors last name begins with A, and then B until you get to Z.
  Write numbers by 10’s to 500.
  Look at an Alberta map. Find Calgary, Edmonton, High Level, Edson, Camrose and Lethbridge.
  Go to the library and check out some books about space.
  Go outside and find 3 different kinds of leaves. How are they alike and different?
  Write numbers from 701 to 1000.
  Go outside. Learn which direction is north, south, east, and west. Walk 10 steps north and then 5 steps west. Where are you? (Stay out of the street!)
  Volunteer - ask your mom or dad to help you find someplace in your community where you can volunteer once or twice a week to help (places like the library, a veterinarian clinic, a senior's home).
  Collect bottles from your neighborhood and donate the money to a local charity.
  Write all the names of animals you know and have a friend do the same thing. Who can write the most names in 5 minutes. Have your mom time you.
  Find pictures of objects that when matched will make a compound word. Suggestions: a horse and a shoe: a nut and a shell; a tree and a house; a cow and a boy. etc.. Then have a younger relative try to match all the pictures.
  Look for rocks in your neighborhood. See if you can find 10 unusual rocks.
  Find out something new about your pet. See if you can teach it one new trick.
  Visit 3 tourist spots in your hometown.
  Make a picture journal of your Summer. Each week take 3 or 4 pictures of some of the things you are doing and when you develop the film, put your photos into your journal and write a description about each picture.
  Find out if any of your local museums or libraries have any summer programs just for kids.
Memorize a poem and recite it for your family, or have everyone in your family memorize a poem and have a family poetry night.
  Count out loud from 400 to 500.
  Have a game night each week with your family, try some indoor and outdoor games.
  Make a list of everything you can find that is the color red.
  Make kites with your friends out of newspaper.
  Play the “What’s Missing?” game with someone. Find 5-10 objects inside your home. Arrange them on a tray. Have someone look at them for 5 seconds and then cover eyes while you take one of the items away. Can they guess what is missing? Then let your friend remove an item and you try to guess what is missing.
  Have a paper airplane contest, who can make a paper airplane that flies the furthest.
  Find a neat recipe for a dessert and have your mom or dad help you make it.
  Write a thank you letter to someone who has done a great job or helped you in some way.
  Plan a picnic with your family, make up the list of items you want to take and games to play while on your picnic. Then help your mom and dad get things ready for the special day.
  Think about a job you might like to do when you grow up. Write a letter to someone who works in that job and ask them questions about their job.
  This is the year 2007. Write down 2007 words you can spell or read. You might want to work at this over a few days.
  Cut out food pictures from magazines. Make 4 category cards - Dairy Products, Meat,   Fruit and Vegetable, and Bread and Cereal. Arrange the pictures under the correct category.
  Draw a map of your house and label all the exits you would use in case of a fire. Plan a meeting place with your family in case there ever was a fire and what talk about what you should do as well.
  Measure things in your house. Make up a chart. Measure the items by the length of your finger, hand and arm. Then try measuring using a ruler. Record the results.
  Play the “Direction Game.” Have someone tell you three directions and see if you can do them correctly and in the right order. Example: Clap your hands 5 times. Go look out the window. Write your name on a piece of paper.
  Make up some bubble solution and find some objects around the house to blow bubbles with, try some unique things using straws, string, and other objects.
  Practice the times table. Day 1 do the 1 times table, Day 2 do the 2 times table and go as many days as you can.
  Take your mom or dad to a baseball game or other sports game.
  Go to the library or look on the internet for a neat craft you could make. Ask your mom or dad to help you find all the materials.
  Sign up at your local library for their Summer Reading Program.
  Get a book about birds and spend one afternoon seeing how many birds you can identify that live in your backyard.
  Ask your mom or dad to take you to a Nursing Home or Senior's Home with 2 of your friends so that you can read a story to someone who stays there.
  With your mom or dad's help, go through your old books and donate them to a hospital for sick kids to be able to read.
  With your mom or dad's help find some "good" old toys and clothes and donate them to a shelter in your town.
  On a piece of paper write the dates for 20 days during the Summer months. Beside each date write the name of a fruit or vegetable you ate on that date. See if you can have 20 different fruits or vegetables on your list.
  Choose a sport you like. Either find a way you can play that sport or write a list of new things you have learned about it.
  Write a letter to your last teacher. Tell your teacher the best things about your class last year. Give your teacher one new idea you think next year's class would like to learn. Take the letter to school on your first day back to give to your "old" teacher. If they have moved away, ask the school's secretary if they could send the letter to your "old" teacher for you.

Click here for a website with 201+ summer activity ideas.

If you need more ideas, do a Google search for Summer Activities for Children or Travel Games for Children.