"I'm bored..." children - please help

Kazonline

My children are driving me potty. I don't want them permanently glued to a screen, whether it be playstation, games online or tv.
The two that are being a 'challenge' today are aged 8 & 12, both boys. I've suggested the park/playing footie, but the older of two won't go (youngest too young to go on his own). Walking the dog is met with a 'boring/don't want to' as is riding the bike.
Can anyone please come up with something FREE that they can do, that will grab their attention - preferrably outdoors so they can get some fresh air and I can crack on with some stuff in the house?
Cheers all
Kaz x

angchris

when i was a kid (too many moons ago now to mention!:o ) my mum used to give my brother and i some cellotape, paper and a pen and a empty washing up liquid squirty bottle filled with water each and send one of us off 5 minutes before the other and the one in front squirted arrows on the floor and left clues as to where he was going. we used to cellotape the next clue in writing to the postbox for eg and we spent hours literally going around and around the village in circles looking for clues:rotfl: which ultimately ended up in a water fight. this obviousely suited my mum down to the ground as we were out of her hair and we enjoyed it and it made us think up little poems etc for clues and use our brains. other than that ask them to help with the housework and you wont see them for dust it always works with my son!:rotfl:

thriftlady_2

Hi Kaz,
My boys aged 9 and 11 have made themselves bows out of long bendy sticks and string. I had to help them cut notches at each end for tying the string securely. They are making arrows out of the prunings from my quince tree. The elder son's bow has turned out to be really powerful :eek: . I've given them the lecture about not aiming when there are people or animals about, but they are keeping mainly to our garden (not big).

It's keeping them amused, I'm just waiting for one of them to get hurt :rolleyes:

Gabriel-Ernest

Get them digging the garden and offer them the alternative of helping you tidy and clean.

Counting_Pennies_2

How about giving them lunch to prepare.

Pizza, etc. Give them a different base each and get them to decide on their own toppings, cook it and then eat it.

I also think giving them the suggestion of park or helping to dust and clean around the house will make them instantly get up and get out there

angchris

Gabriel-Ernest wrote:

Get them digging the garden and offer them the alternative of helping you tidy and clean.

this reminds me of a few summers ago i told my son and his mate to dig up the garden once, they duly raided the shed for tools and all was quiet for a few hours untill...... we heard louds shouts and screams and both of them came rushing into the kitchen with a skull claiming they had dug up dinasaurs:eek: :eek: they had only chosen to dig up the one corner in a very large garden where my mum had buried her old dog!!!:eek: :eek: all the bones were laid out on the ground :eek: :eek: i could of died of embarrassment on the spot! mum wasnt best pleased either its funny looking back on it now though :rotfl:

Sallys_Savings

uummmmm ...outside..........

At that age my boys used to love making courses for their remote control cars ...making ramps, bridges etc..giving them boxes, wood, bits from the garden etc.

Do they like skateboarding/rollerskating/bikes(and they've got pads) can they make a jump in the garden from anything?

See how many items they could bring home begining with a letter?

Have you a digital camera you would trust them with? See if they can take photos of themselves in certain locations and see how fast they can be back...give them long distances apart from things ...i.e. the post office, the tree on the green, the bench next to the chippie, at the top of the playground, next to a road sign, the school gate, etc. etc. You could perhaps give them a mini challenge of taking as many photos of different dogs as possible?

An old fashioned bike ride?..perhaps with a few pennies for the end destination?

How about making skittles for a bowling alley in the backgarden?..or a football alley?

If i can think of anything else i'll pop back on....goodluck

System

At the moment my 10 year old is getting a great deal of enjoyment out of a couple of old ball point pens, a strong elastic band and a make shift target outside in the garden. He hasnt broke any windows yet and he aint allowed to play with it in the house....... we might unlock the door so that he can come inside soon (only kidding!).

Kazonline

Thank you everyone,(huge amounts) there are some fantastic ideas there.
What I'm going to do is write out each of them (in brief) on a slip of paper, put in a vase, and whenever the 'I'm bored' creeps up they have to pick one.
On top of that there will be several cleaning/housework options in there so that if I get a 'that's boring, don't want to do that' they can pick again..... but if they then pull a cleaning one they HAVE to do that one

Please do keep them comming if there are any other ideas - and I can get a vase full. I'm sure there are others out there that'll benefit too.
Kaz x

jellyang

My youngest was like this, always bored but prefered to be outside.
One day my brother said to her I will pay you 1p for every slug or snail you find me. Well it kept her entertained for hours & cost him a quid! She was in great demand as a slug catcher after that!!

When we were kids we use to build a leaf mountain & play all day collecting & then jumping on it, or just throwing them at each other.
The best games are always free. It is a good idea to encourage your kids to use their imagination.

mikey-mike_2

“Do you want to tidy your room/wash dishes/clean bathroom or go over the park?” always got mine out of the house like greased lightning.