Homeschooling 101

Lesson 7: Everything in Its Place: Getting Your House in Order

Mom! I’m Bored!!!

You will soon find out that “schooling” your kids doesn’t take nearly as much time as it takes teachers. We are usually done with school by noon (sometimes a little later) leaving a big chunk of time before the boys’ friends come home from school.

Normally, my kids are pretty good at finding things to do, but occasionally, I hear the dreaded cry “Mooooooooooom! I’m Boooooored!!”

I feel that every child should be taught how to rely on their own resources when it comes to entertaining themselves. It fosters healthy character development, a sense of independence, and as studies have shown, later in life when faced with peer pressure, will help keep them out of trouble.

One way we have worked at teaching our children to be independent thinkers is to offer help with entertainment. There is, however, an element of risk. Let me explain. One day, after hearing the battle cry of the bored for what seemed like the umpteenth time, I decided enough was enough. I called a family meeting and we all got to work. We came up with a list of seventy-five super fun, whiz bang boredom busters…. And twenty-five not so fun, mom made me do it activities. We printed the list, and cut them out. This is where the fun starts! We decorated a big plastic jar (Dad is a Chef and brought one home, but you can ask a local restaurant to save one for you) with paint, stickers, scraps of paper and anything else they could get their hands on. All of the pieces of paper were dumped in, and we were ready to go!

Now when I hear "Mom! I’m bored!" we reach for the jar. Before they reach in, they (and I) have to agree that whatever the piece of paper says to do, we do. If it says, “bake a batch of cookies”, we do. If it says, “Scrub the toilet”, they have to do it. That is where the gamble comes in. No backing out! Trust me. After a few of the “not so fun” tasks, your children will become experts at entertaining themselves!

To get you started, here are the lists we used.

Super Fun Read a Book
Make a Mask
Sponge Painting
Work on the garden
Fun With Balloons
Egg And Spoon Races
Puppet Show
Finger Painting
Blow Painting
Make a Birdfeeder
Make A Mobil
Make A Door Name Plaque
Magnet Fishing
Bubbles
Scavenger Hunt
Memory Game
Play Hangman
Make a Smoothie
Make a Mini Pizza
Paint a Picture
Make a Diorama
Make Origami Animals
Have a Water Balloon Fight
Plan a Day Trip to a Local Attraction
Write a Perform a Short Skit
Feed the Birds
Make a Kite
Clean up a Local Park
Internet Scavenger Hunt
Face Painting
Make Home Made Play-Dough
Make a bug catcher
Catch and Observe a Bug
Use Food Color to Dye Paper Towels
Make a Piñata
Paint a Rock
Use Food Coloring to Dye Macaroni and Make a Picture
Paper Airplane Contest
Longest paper Chain
Make A Mobile
Make a Magnet
Make a Soap Carving
Make Stamps Out of Potatoes
Put on A Magic show
Trivia Contest
Make Cupcakes
Make Ice Cream
Write Some Jokes
Make a TerrAqua Column
Science Experiment http://freeweb.pdq.net/headstrong/control.htm
Alka Seltzer Rocket
Make a Homemade Greenhouse
Make an Optical Illusion
Make a Picture Frame
Send an email to President Bush
Make a Newspaper Windsock
Make a Collage about you
Watch our Favorite Movie
Take a Bubble Bath
Build a fort in the living room
Play Hide-and-Seek
Put together a puzzle
Build paper ships and see if they float in the bathtub
Make a homemade snow globe
Have a Jammie Day
Obstacle Course
Have a pillow fight
Dance
Go to the Library
Me a map of the neighborhood
Make pipe Cleaner Art
Build a Card Tower
Play Tag
Have a Picnic in the Living Room
Exercise

Mom Made Me Do em’s 100 Math fact drill
Clean the Bathroom
Vacuum one room
Clean out a closet
Clean out the silverware drawer
Wash dishes
Wipe down kitchen cabinets
Wipe down kitchen appliances
Clean glass inside house
Dust the furniture
Fold and put away one load of laundry
Vacuum along baseboards
Sweep out garage
Clean two shelves/drawers in refrigerator
Clean out from under couch
Look up and write the definition of 10 new words
Figure out what time it is in 6 other countries (mom picks)
Write a letter to Grandma
Research and discuss what life is like for kids in another country (mom picks)
Sweep front walk
Wipe down front door
Look up an endangered animal, and think of 5 things you can do to help save that animal
Look up an endangered plant and see what you can do to help save that plant
Alphabetize one book shelf
Clean the guinea pig cages

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