Summer vacation can be a such a great break for kids. But it can also lead to the the dreaded comment, "I'm bored." (If they only realized how much they would love a little boredom as an adult!)
To battle the boredom and get my son off the computer, I created something right up his alley: a paper fortune teller (a.k.a. a cootie catcher). You remember these from when you were a kid, right? As I recall, it told me how many kids I was going to have, who I might marry and nice things like, "You are pretty." It may have also said negative things, but I choose not to remember those. ;)
This past school year, my son asked me to help make him several of these fortune tellers. I was a little rusty at first, but this past week with a square piece of paper in front of me and my daughter whining how she was bored, a light bulb went off in my head.
I immediately began folding the piece of paper into a fortune teller. Once it was folded, I opened the flaps to write 8 different activities the kids could do when they are bored. Here's my list:
1. Draw and color a picture. When finished, hang it on the fridge.
2. Find a toy in your room that you haven't played with for a while. Either play with it or donate it.
3. Read a book for 10 minutes.
4. Write a letter to a friend or family member (or color a picture) and send it in the mail
5. Jumpy rope for 15 minutes.
6. Play a board game with Mommy or Daddy.
7. Quiet time in your room for 20 minutes.
8. Create a dance routine to your favorite song.
Obviously, I picked activities that I knew my kids would do. You could certainly customize your activities to meet your kids likes and your needs (ie. quiet time for 20 minutes is definitely more for me).
On the inside of the fortune teller, I was able to spell the word "ACTIVITY" to help tie in the theme of my fortune teller.
And while I was excited about my little invention, it really was nothing more than a piece of paper I spent way too much time with if the kids didn't respond positively to it. That is why I am so happy to report that my kids love our activity fortune teller! My daughter loves it so much she actually picks it up and asks me to help her choose one of the activities.
If you don't know how to make a paper fortune teller, click here.
This fortune teller has proved to be a great boredom buster. Plus, it is easy to transport and the kids can even help you decide on the activities and create the fortune teller.
What have you come up with to cure summer boredom? We'd love to hear your ideas!
Posted by Leslie
1 comment:
Oh cute. I remember playing with a few of these in middle school with the girls. I don't recall them saying anything mean. Just cute stuff. What a good idea for activities with the family. I might need to make one for myself because I sometimes have too many choices in what to do and don't know what to pick first ha ha.
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