30 Ways to Beat Summer Boredom and "There's Nothing to Dooooo!"

I'm raising two fun-loving, independent, spirited monkeys but sometimes we hear the summer call of the jungle: 


Monkey: "MOOOM! There's nothing to do and I'm...  I'm....
Me: Don't say it.
Monkey: "... I'm really really really really totally totally..."
Me: Don't.... you've got a room full of... and three computers... and a flatscreen with HD... and a Wii...
Monkey: BOOORRREEEDDDD.
Me: Oh man, you said it.


I'm not one for thinking that I have to entertain a 12 and 9-year-old every moment of the day. They go to camp, they visit with friends, but there are a few times when they need some creative juices flowing about what to do when the usual culprits aren't appealing to them.

Here's My Shiny Monkey's list of 30 Shiny Summer Boredom Beaters for Tweens, Unplugged Edition:


1.  Sidewalk Chalk - and now, cool 3D Sidewalk Chalk.  Hours in the driveway, making a maze or writing words that hopefully aren't inappropriate to passing drivers.
2. Bikes.  Go. Ride. Neighborhood. Now. Wear your helmet or no biking.
3. Scooters. See above.
4. Library. Yup, I said it. But once they are there, all I hear is "lookit this one! Mom, can I get this one too?"

5. Baking. Cookies, anyone? Banana bread?
6. Make playdough. Recipe here. Totally easy and fun.
7. Find a big huge box at the grocery store. Give them paper, markers and paint. Imagination, kick in. Even tweens like this challenge.
8. Feathers and dress up clothes - "hey kids, let's put on a show". Channel your inner diva and demand cookies. See #5.
9. Think of the most outrageous combination of words... write them down, and give prizes for whomever can draw them all.
10. Music - make some. Listen to some new music. Give them old records and a record player via eBay or garage sales, or borrow one from a friend. Imagine their amazement watching the discs go round and round.
11. Dance break! Get your Glee on and give the kids a dance break to whatever plugged-in play they are doing.  Every good story needs a dance break.
12. Lego play. We love those little plastic bricks, and sometimes giving Legos a new background/place makes all the difference. A big box of sand, water in a kiddie pool, in the grass, outside on a picnic table... moving old Legos to a new scene can turn on the imagination.
13. Lego movies. Sure, this is plugged in, but it is one of our faves. And you have to create the storyboard, music, and a general plan first, so it isn't ALL plugged in.
14. While we are going there, our little videocamera makes for some unusual imaginative play.  We filmed our bulldog Major doing, well, not a whole heckuva lot, but added some fun narrative and made a "Major Motion Picture". That was fun.
15. Take the kids for a drive and make your own adventure - we once spent 20 minutes behind a car with a dog hanging out of it and imagined his name was Sassy McDaniels, who "sassed" people out the window. Harmless fun. 
16. Buy or borrow a metal detector and go to the beach, searching for buried treasure.
17. Fly a kite. Yea, another thing tweens won't want to do until they see it up there, flying and soaring...
18. Learn sign language.  Check out this site to get started.
19. Learn another other language. Check out this site to get started. 
20. Backwards day!  Do everything backwards, including clothes, meals and speaking.
21. Have a picnic in the backyard, but with a twist. A royal picnic? Renaissance?
22. Camp in the backyard, but with a twist. See above.
23. Blow bubbles. Blow them at your dog.  Blow them at your sister or into your neighbor's yard. Try to shoot the bubbles with water guns - your own shooting gallery!

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24.  Drop water balloons off your deck, porch or out a back window, safely of course.
25. Draw a self-portrait.
26. Make a collage or decoupage of photos from old magazines. Create a "dream board" of stuff you'd like to do next summer when you are B-O-R-E-D.
27. Make popsicles in ice cube/popsicle trays out of weird drinks and see if they freeze. A chocolate milk pop? A coconut water pop?  Add grapes or small pieces of fruit to see if they freeze within the liquid. Here are 50+ recipes.
28. Check out Do Something. Volunteer. Make cupcakes and deliver them to a nursing home or senior center or local community organization having a meeting.  See how happy they are. See how happy YOU are.
29. Make pretend your family pet is going into space (aka cardboard box decorated like a rocket). Conduct extensive (but safe) training practices. Write a letter to NASA notifying them that their next candidate is ready for the next program.  Make sure they have a helmet and spacesuit.
30. Make your own shiny "Teen Choice Awards," from nomination forms to voting and the actual show.  Cue the music...