Today is a themed Works For Me Wednesday. The Mom - I'm Bored! Edition.
We've all been through it. Kids griping, moaning and groaning every morning for the last 3 months asking when summer vacation is finally going to be here, and then when it does indeed arrive ... usually about 45 minutes into day 1 of their 2 month break, they plop down on the sofa and exhale deeply as they mumble, "I'm so bored. There's nothing to do!".
Sound familiar?
The mere words "I'm Bored" are like fingernails on a black board to me (speaking of which, did you know my kids have NO IDEA what a chalkboard is? How sad.). I mean, really, the crap these kids have these days, compared to the stuff I had growing up, you'd think they'd be entertained every single moment of every single day of summer break ... but no, that's just not the case. Though it should be in my opinion.
Our school district isn't officially on summer break until tomorrow, but I have compiled a "TREASURE HUNT" for when those words first pop out of my boys mouths. Which will more than likely be Friday morning about ... say ... 8:30am.
This is what I've done:
- Hide some objects around the yard. The front, the back, the sides. The bigger the space, the more hunting that can take place. I hid sand shovels, flip flops, tennis balls, frisbees, etc (any object that can withstand the outdoor elements since I choose to have this all done days before hand, therefore am able to send them out as soon as the dreaded words are uttered). I do all my hidden objects in different colors for reasons I will explain below.
- Once all objects are hidden (I hid 20 objects, but you can do as many or few as you want) you need to make a treasure map. I drew a map of our yard, showing where the house sits, where some trees are, where the swing set is, etc.
- On my map, I placed a colored X where the items were hidden using the corresponding color to the item I hid. For example, I placed a pink X on the map where the swing set is indicated on the map because I placed a pink flip flop in the sandbox. I placed a yellow X on the map by the front door because I hid a tennis ball in the bushes next to the door.
- On the bottom of the map, I list all the things they must find before their hunt is complete.
- To make the map look old, I tore off the corners and some edges and then rubbed a used tea bag over it gently and then crumpled it up a few times. A couple hours to dry and I then rolled it up and tied a string around it ... and it's now waiting for them to be home and bored on summer break.
- When they complete their hunt and all the items are brought to me, they earn their "treasure" ... which for us will be a trip to Dairy Queen for the ice cream of their choice.
- I've done this in the past and it can take up to 3 hours to complete the hunt. Your kids can do it all at once, or over the course of a couple days. My kids do it all at once because once the challenge is given, they want to complete it ASAP or it drives them nuts. I do make mine kinda hard so that it takes longer ... but Jake likes it because it's challenging for him.
It sounds like a lot of work to prepare, but it really isn't. It only took me about 40 minutes to put the entire treasure hunt together.
Works for Me ... hope it works for you. For ideas to keep the "boredom blues" away for the other 59 days of summer break, visit Rocks In My Dryer for many great ideas for you and your kids.
Have a great and fun filled summer!
