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Home › Articles › Activities › Beat Boredom

Beat Boredom

Creative Summer Games

By Julia Rosien

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They play old favorites like ringer (drawing a circle and shooting marbles in the circle), castles (knocking your partner's castles down), and spannies (shooting and trying to get opponents marble). Try hangman, tic-tac-toe and jacks with your children when the sun gets too hot. Quiet games are as important as active ones.

Most games can be made from things around the house. Get them started and let them go. Encourage them to stretch their imagination, and they'll keep their minds and bodies active, learning without realizing it. And best of all, they won't be saying there's nothing to do.

A few more mom- and kid-tested ideas for beating summer boredom

  • Encourage your child to talk to a grandparent or an elderly neighbor to learn the rules of marbles. Remember pick up sticks? I bet Grandma does. Both will benefit from the encounter.
  • Help them make their own games of Bingo or Checkers and then teach them to beat the pants off their friends.
  • An old basket tied up to a tree makes a great basketball net and lawn chairs and a blanket are ideal for badminton or volleyball. Any kind of marker will do for a soccer match.
  • Don't forget how much fun a tent set up in the backyard can be. Some junk food and an old record player with '45s will keep them amused for hours. Scan those garage sales!
  • Let the kids take something apart. An old typewriter, record player or radio are great for building motor skills in little fingers.
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