Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Spring Break Boredom Busters


Are your kids off school this week? Next week? It's SPRING BREAK SEASON, and most parents are trying to figure out how to entertain the kids for a whole week with no school. Our baseball teams are even on hiatus, leaving the boys without their usual activities. While it is a nice break for them, keeping them occupied is a challenge. Here are a few ideas for spring break boredom busters!


1. DIY Dinosaur Dig. I don't know about you, but I have zillions of those little plastic dinosaurs. Little J (now 7 years old) has always loved dinosaurs, so we have many of these plastic toys that aren't being use right now. And this would keep him busy for a while! Mayhem (5) would also enjoy this activity. You can make it as elaborate as you want, but the more elaborate- the more time it takes them to finish! You can also do Dinosaur Fossils, where you press the plastic dinosaurs into salt dough, and bake them. 

2. Make your own crayons. Another item that most parents have in their home is many, many random broken crayons. You can give them new life! Breaking up crayons and baking them in a silicone mold in your oven is fun! And when they cool, you can use them to make new artwork!

3. Bathtub Fishing. Use magnetic letters and a magnet on a string to fish in your bathtub! Make it more interesting for the older kids by having them spell a word! Spell their name! Or the toddler can just try to catch anything. I have not tried this yet, but it sounds so fun!

Image Source: http://www.redtedart.com/
4. Races. You can have races with ANYTHING. And my boys love to compete with each other. You can race things down the stairs with pool noodles, or planks of wood. This mom blogger made marble races with dollar store items, including a pool noodle cut in half! The marbles make me nervous, since we have a toddler in the house, but... maybe while he naps we can do this!

Image Source: http://www.homespun-threads.com/blog/marble-racetrack
5. Legos. My oldest loves to sit an build a Lego set uninterrupted, of course. If I can provide him the peace and quiet to do that, while I play with the younger two- I know I will have made his Spring Break dreams a reality! We are also looking into signing up with Pley.com, so we can trade in Lego sets and get new ones when he's done!

Since we are lucky enough to live in Southern California, our weather during Spring Break is lovely! I'm sure the boys will spend quite a bit of time at the park, with unscheduled activities- and that's great! What are your plans for Spring Break?