
101 Things to Do When Kids Say "I'm Bored"

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"I'm bored!" If you’re raising children or you're a nanny or babysitter, chances are you're all too familiar with this phrase. But what do you do?
To optimise your chances of getting – and keeping – children’s attention, you should aim for activities that engage the senses and are age-appropriate: So, neither too easy, nor too challenging.
Don’t feel down if you're having a hard time brainstorming inventive new ideas--children, even young ones, are perfectly capable of entertaining themselves with a little push. So the next time your little one whines “I’m bored!”, nip boredom in the bud and check out this list of 101 fun, parent-approved, low cost and low stress activities to keep your children occupied and happy:
The Care.com 101 Things to Do When Kids Say "I'm Bored" List
- Plant a tree.
- Bake cookies for the neighbours – or your family.
- Explore nature and go geocaching.
- Act out your child's favourite book.
- Make lanyard key chains.
- Visit an interactive museum.
- Play catch in a local park or the garden.
- Build an indoor tent or fort with couches and some bed sheets.
- Play Frisbee.
- Visit the local library.
- Turn on the radio and dance.
- Play Simon Says – an oldie, but a goldie.
- Dress up in last year's Halloween costumes and have a have a costume parade.
- Put together a jigsaw puzzle.
- Create something out of papier mâché.
- Make homemade play dough.
- Follow a no-bake recipe.
- Play DIY bowling: Spray-paint two-litre bottles as makeshift bowling pins and use a football instead of a bowling ball.
- Plan a scavenger hunt.
- String together macaroni for jewellery.
- Host a picnic lunch – indoors or outdoors.
- Learn how to tie-dye t-shirts.
- Pull out the dressing up box, put on funny clothes and have a photo shoot.
- Head outside for bird watching.
- Create a time capsule.
- Write a letter to a your teacher.
- Play balloon volleyball.
- Have a sack race.
- Arrange a Jenga tournament.
- Camp in the garden.
- Make up a secret handshake.
- Count how many times you can spin in a circle without getting dizzy.
- Make fruit kebabs.
- Create a market stall.
- Draw murals with pavement chalk.
- Play leap frog with small rugs and towels strategically placed throughout the playroom or living room.
- Construct an indoor obstacle course.
- Choreograph a dance routine.
- Host a movie night. Plan for it by drawing tickets, making popcorn and setting up the room like a cinema.
- Make fizzy bath bombs.
- Pull out some old socks and draw faces on them to make sock puppets – then put on a show.
- Play "Mother May I?"
- Make a friendship bracelet.
- Exercise those finger-painting skills.
- Pull out Twister.
- See if you can name all the Australian districts.
- Take silly pictures with a camera.
- Make up your own version of Mad Libs.
- Host an at-home sports day, complete with tug of war, egg and spoon race and team colours.
- Explore small areas of nature with a magnifying glass.
- Experiment with science. Make a papier mâché volcano and mix baking soda and vinegar for an explosive reaction!
- Learn a new card game.
- Host a tea party.
- Partake in brainteasers, such as Sudoku, crossword puzzles and word searches.
- Set up a game of table tennis.
- Teach children to hula hoop.
- Get out the skipping rope.
- Go on a walk and let children take pictures of their favourite things in the area.
- Break out the pots and pans and practice drumming skills. Ear plugs required for parents!
- Rearrange your child's bedroom.
- Find and write to a pen pal.
- Make homemade bubbles: 1 cup of granulated soap or soap powder, 1 litre of warm water, and liquid food colouring.
- Make sandwiches and deliver them to a homeless shelter or the local food pantry.
- Set up a platter of new foods, maturing your little one’s palette.
- Sew a pillow. Just grab some fabric, scissors, stuffing and a needle and thread.
- Play Hot Potato – use anything from a bean bag to a bar of soap.
- Explore the world with Google Maps – find your home, your child's school, favourite spots, etc.
- Name that tune.
- Ask "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and then plan your day around that career. What would a fireman wear? What would a teacher do?
- Build an outdoor fort with tarpaulin and bungee rope around trees.
- Make up a secret language.
- Phone a friend. Better yet, use Skype or FaceTime.
- Set up a make-your-own-sundae stall.
- Host a watercolour night where everyone paints their favourite (fill-in-the-blank).
- Count and roll loose change lying around the house.
- Construct a family tree.
- Rollerblade.
- Create a miniature garden.
- Run through the sprinklers.
- Give the family pet a bath.
- Reminisce about your favourite family holiday and draw pictures of everything you did to make a book.
- Search for four-leaf clovers.
- Learn magic tricks.
- Run relay races.
- Make up a fun song about the family: My name is Jim and I like to swim, my sister’s name is Kate and she likes to skate...
- Write a letter to someone special, like grandma, Father Christmas, the tooth fairy, your favourite athlete, and then mail it.
- Research popular constellations. At night, head outdoors to spot nature’s bountiful creations.
- Publish a pretend newspaper.
- Learn origami.
- Organise a playdate with a friend.
- Try to replicate a famous painting.
- Learn the alphabet in sign language.
- Set up a lemonade stand.
- Pick flowers (from your own garden, of course) and create a flower arrangement for the dining room table.
- Practice cartwheels, somersaults and handstands in the garden.
- Memorise all the Kings and Queens.
- Practice manners by pretending to go out to a fancy restaurant (at your own kitchen table).
- Construct a sundial.
- Write a haiku poem.
- Make an eye-spy scavenger hunt (something shiny and blue, something round that makes noise, something clear, etc.).
- Head to the local farmers market and look for products you've never seen and tested before.
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